Alright, so for the past three years or so, I've had this habit that I haven't been able to break. There was a point in time when I sucked my thumb (I finally stopped before getting into high school, but only because the dentist put a special thing at the top of my mouth that would cut my thumb every time I put it in my mouth). This habit started when I was just a baby. Then, there was a time when I had a nail-biting habit. I managed to break that one by myself, only to pick up this new habit that I have--biting my cheek. Maybe some of you who have been around me in the past three years may have noticed that I do this. I usually take my knuckle and push it against my cheek so that I can bite the skin. Then, I rip the skin away from the flesh. Sometimes my cheeks bleed from all the pulling (and yet even through the bleeding, I keep biting)...and I've got a bunch of dead skin in my mouth now. I also have an ulcer. I've had mouth ulcers before from this habit and they usually keep me from biting my cheeks for a while because they're so painful. In the past three weeks, though, I've had three ulcers--THREE! I decided to get a dentist's opinion and he was thinking that I might need to wear a mouth guard during the day. The thing is...it costs $160 and we don't even have dental insurance. *sigh* So I decided to google my habit and I found out that there a bunch of people out there that do it. Cheek biters unite! Whoo! I've got to figure out something, though, because apparently my habit can lead to oral cancer. Grr...I don't want cancer...from what I hear, it's not the best thing, and I've got enough health stuff to deal with.
What less dangerous habit can I pick up to replace the one that I have now? Usually I bite my cheeks when I'm bored, hungry, anxious, or upset. And it's kinda embarrassing when I do it in public. People stare at me, especially in class. The embarrassment keeps me from doing it for a little while, but I always go back to biting my cheek. The urge is a lot stronger than embarrassment. Besides, I'm not one to really care what people think about me or things that I'm doing. I'm my own person and if I'm going to bite my cheek, then I'm going to do it with pride! At least I'm not eating my own boogers.
