topic Re: Biting My Tongue in Wellness

Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 21:47:32 GMT

I've been biting my tongue, and I can't figure out why. I bit it earlier this morning, and now I have a huge bump in the middle of my tongue. It looks and feels awful. I use Orajel. Is there anything better to use? I drink water all the time, and as soon as I take a sip it washes the Orajel away. I guess that would happen with anything that I use. It does seem to help at night though.

Why would I suddenly have started doing this? It's been happening for several months now.

Re: Biting My Tongue

Montana — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 21:58:54 GMT

@NickNack, Gly-Oxide might help. I have used it for gum irritations.

Re: Biting My Tongue

Kachina624 — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 21:58:31 GMT

Try drinking with a straw on the back of your tongue.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 22:04:59 GMT

@Montana wrote:
@NickNack, Gly-Oxide might help. I have used it for gum irritations.

Thank you @ Montana That sounds like just what I need. I looked it up on Amazon, and it got good reviews. It's available on Prime. I'm going to order it so I can take it out of town with me next week. Hopefully it will help.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 22:05:35 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
Try drinking with a straw on the back of your tongue.

That's a really good idea @Kachina624. I'll start doing that.

Re: Biting My Tongue

SilleeMee — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 22:40:49 GMT

Do you have sleep apnea? Or have you started on new meds?

Re: Biting My Tongue

Sooner — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 23:08:24 GMT

@Nicknack wrote:
I've been biting my tongue, and I can't figure out why. I bit it earlier this morning, and now I have a huge bump in the middle of my tongue. It looks and feels awful. I use Orajel. Is there anything better to use? I drink water all the time, and as soon as I take a sip it washes the Orajel away. I guess that would happen with anything that I use. It does seem to help at night though.

Why would I suddenly have started doing this? It's been happening for several months now.

Well, I don't know how helpful this is, but my mother always told me it was from lying.

I'm sorry but that popped into my mind when I read this. Sorry though because it is REALLY painful to do that and makes you REALLY mad doesn't it? I just thought I might give you a smile!

Re: Biting My Tongue

Lucky Duck — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 23:46:20 GMT

I am serious. It could be your body telling you that you aren't eating enough beef. I haven't investigated to see if a study has been done on this but I do know if I suddenly start biting my tongue and I add more beef to my menu, problem solved.

Re: Biting My Tongue

SilleeMee — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 23:57:51 GMT

It can also be a result of misaligned teeth. When teeth are lost this can cause the rest of the teeth to become out of line causing excessive cheek and tongue biting.

Re: Biting My Tongue

KathyM23 — Sat, 29 Jul 2017 23:58:09 GMT

Could be that the bite (how your teeth meet when closed) of your teeth has changed for some reason, recently having a filling, or tooth worn down or some other reason for a change in your bite. This can also cause you to bite your lip or inside of your cheek.

Re: Biting My Tongue

KathyM23 — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:00:32 GMT

@SilleeMee

Looks like we both have the same idea!

Re: Biting My Tongue

Moonchilde — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:06:11 GMT

From heal cure dot org

Why do I keep biting my tongue? Or what are the causes of biting tongue

Why do I keep biting my tongue or why do I why do I chew my tongue when I sleep, talk, eat and/or at night? Is this accidental biting of tongue and/or cheeks or have I developed a tongue chewing disorder? Could be it caused by stress, anxiety or some disorder? Relax and wait, let us take you through the possible reasons as to why you keep on biting or chewing your tongue.

Biting tongue while eating or accidentally biting tongue 30
Sometimes, someone may bite his/her tongue (and/or lips and inner cheeks) while eating. This is an accidental tongue biting which can be made worse and more often if one has “a disproportionately large tongue or a crowded or misaligned set of teeth” [netwellness.org]. Such tongue bites can mild or deep laceration. This tongue biting cause should not be often but once in a while.

If you bite your tongue while chewing, bleeding, pain or soreness, tongue swelling, and a tongue ulcer or wound is likely depending how deep the bite is. Some cases may require emergency treatments of you are bleeding too much.

Once you have bitten your tongue, you need to be careful while eating or talking afterwards or in the next few days since a little tongue swelling will increase the chances of you biting it again.

How to avoid biting my tongue while eating or talking
If you have a normal bite, you need to be careful while eating. Avoid eating so fast and being involved in other activities that might distract you and concentrate.

However, if you have an overbite, see your orthodontic who may recommend various treatments, both surgical and non-surgical such as tooth reshaping, reconstruction, replacement, dentures, or prosthesis.

Biting tongue habit

Habits are things we regular tendencies or practices we develop which might be very difficult to break off from. To some people, constant tongue biting is nothing other than a habit of biting of tongue they have developed. It is commonly caused by anxiety, fear, stress and other events that cause much emotional experience.

If you are constantly biting tongue, you might have developed an involuntary tongue biting habit that you need to break off from. To treat it, this will require some cognitive behavioral therapies and well as habit reversal technique. Enlist help of a qualified therapist to help you beat your tongue biting habit.

Biting tongue in sleep or biting tongue while sleeping
Whereas tongue biting can accidentally happen as you are talking or eating, to some people it happens while they are asleep especially on the side of the tongue. Sometimes, the biting might be serious and some people find their pillow bloodstained. Do not be surprised if you end up with canker sores due to biting tongue in night.

Questions like ‘I keep biting my tongue in my sleep’ or ‘why do I keep on biting my tongue in my sleep’ are common on the internet. This should be an illustration on how serious the problem is. For instance, here is what a few people who have this problem are saying tongue biting during sleep.

“I constantly bite my tongue while I sleep and it’s getting worse. It doesn`t happen every night, but 2 to 3 times a week. Can you tell me what should I do or what can be done?” [netwellness.org]

“I bite my tongue in my sleep. My partner noticed about a year ago, but I know it’s been going on for longer than that because I’ve been waking up with a really sore, swollen tongue with deep bite marks in it for around two years or more. This is really painful, and I don’t know what’s causing me to do this or how I can stop it. Everyone says it must be due to stress, but I wonder if it’s because my tongues too big for my mouth or my teeth are at a funny angle… Sometimes it’s so bad that it hurts to talk and my tongue bleeds from this. Can anyone offer any solutions?”

Causes of biting tongue in sleep

Biting in tongue in sleep can be a normal problem if it occurs once in a while. While you are a sleep, you can accidentally bite your tongue especially if you have disproportionally a bigger tongue or an overbite just you would bite your tongue while you are awake eating or taking.

However, this might not be what is causing the biting tongue while asleep habit to many people. Instead, it could be caused by nocturnal seizures, rhythmic movement disorders or sleep bruxism. All these three can often lead to a chronic tongue biting since what you could be having is involuntary biting of tongue while you think it is voluntary.

Nocturnal (nighttime) seizures and treatment – Biting tongue during seizure

Having seizures during the night is often associated with tongue biting at night or while sleeping especially if someone has the tonic-clonic seizure where “a person loses consciousness, muscles stiffen, and jerking movements are seen” [epilepsy.com]. Some seizures such as the frontal lobe epilepsy might be quite calm.

“During my last seizure, I bite my tongue. It has been hurting now for a couple days now. Does anyone know a good treatment for a bitten tongue?” [epilepsy.com].

In fact, biting of the tongue is often used as a means of diagnosing patients who suffer from seizures especially epileptic seizures.

How to prevent biting your tongue during seizure

If your tongue biting while you are asleep is due to nocturnal seizures, you need brain wave monitoring and you are diagnosed with it, you need to be treated and this will resolve the tongue biting while having nighttime seizures. There are many medicines for tonic-clonic seizures or even going for vagus nerve stimulation device will help stop the seizures from happening.

Furthermore, wearing mouth guards if you commonly suffer from tongue biting during seizures can be helpful.

Rhythmic movement disorder

The second possible reason for biting your tongue in your sleep could be rhythmic movement disorder, which often involves the head banging and rolling as well as body rocking s and trunk movements. They are common in children but when severe, it can result to tongue injuries but “these repetitive movements may appear as head banging, body rocking or leg rolling and can rarely result in injuries including fractures, and brain and eye injures."

This problem tends to disappear as a child grows and it might not need pharmacological treatments. Ensure our child is treated from sleep apnea as well as be involved in cognitive behavioral therapies.

Bruxism or teeth grinding and treatment

I you keep on biting your tongue while sleeping or your cheeks, it could be sleep bruxism. This is a condition in which you “grind, gnash or clench your teeth. If you have bruxism, you may unconsciously clench your teeth together during the day, or clench or grind them at night (sleep bruxism)” [mayoclinic.org]. Most people who have this problem also tend to have the problem of biting tongue while asleep.

If you have sleep bruxism, you will be clenching or grinding your teeth as you are sleeping. This can be accompanied by other sleep disorders such as sleep apnea where you will be having breathing pauses. Snoring can also be another problem that comes with bruxism.

Treatment requires dealing with the underlying cause and cognitive behavioral therapy is commonly recommended. This treatment can also help in dealing with stress and/or anxiety, which can be causing bruxism. See a therapist to help you break the habit. You will be given some habit reversal techniques that can help.

For stress caused sleep bruxism, which some women experience during pregnancy, try relaxing before going to bed by doing yoga, massage, reading, taking a bath, listening to music and deep breathing. This might help reduce biting tongue during sleep.

These are the three common conditions that can cause tongue biting in sleep. Proper diagnosis and treatment is necessary to deal with the underlying cause and/or cognitive behavioral change and habit reversal techniques. Furthermore, mouth guards might be recommended to stop tongue biting and damaging our teeth. I hope it is clear on how to stop biting tongue in sleep.

Bruxism during the day

Bruxism is not only a problem that happens during the night. Some people tend to grind their teeth even when they are awake especially when anxious or stressed up. If you have this problem, which can also result to tongue biting while you are awake, ensure you record how often it happens and see a therapist for help on managing it.

Other causes of tongue biting

To begin with, some patients who are infected with Lyme disease tend to have the tongue biting problem, especially in the late stage of this disease. This might be due to the “tingling of nose, (tip of) tongue, cheek or facial flushing” that happens when you have this problem.

Secondly, various causes of mouth ulcers and deficiency of vitamin B-12 – can cause tongue ulcers and this ulcers encourage biting own tongue since it will be swollen.

Tongue injuries and trauma can be cause for of biting your tongue off especially among athletes and sports persons.

Tobacco chewing is known to “plaques in the oral cavity, which can also contribute to tongue biting” [simple-remedies.com]. Excessive gum chewing can also increase the chances of tongue chewing.

Finally, some tongue chewing problems have been associated with side effects of some medications especially anti-depressants, medications such as Tardive Dyskinesia.

Re: Biting My Tongue

stevieb — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:10:08 GMT

Just as an FYI, tardive dyskinesia is not a medication. It's a condition of the central nervous system caused by certain medications.

Re: Biting My Tongue

Moonchilde — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:29:50 GMT

Something must have happened in the cut & paste, @stevieb, or the article was in error. I actually do know that. I took a medication once that gave me dysarthria. Scared the kwap outta me. It took nearly a month to go away after I stopped taking the med - whic had also listed a possible side effect of tardive dyskinesia. In people who take such meds long enough, both can become permanent. Yikes!

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:39:16 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Do you have sleep apnea? Or have you started on new meds?

@SilleeMee I don't think I have sleep apnea. I don't snore and don't feel tired in the morning. I haven't started on new meds. I don't bite it while I'm sleeping. It's during the day. It's just really strange that I've never done this in the past.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:41:33 GMT

@Lucky Duck wrote:
I am serious. It could be your body telling you that you aren't eating enough beef. I haven't investigated to see if a study has been done on this but I do know if I suddenly start biting my tongue and I add more beef to my menu, problem solved.

@Lucky Duck Well, I almost never eat beef. I did have a hamburger for my birthday last weekend, but that's the first time in quite a while that I've eaten beef.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:44:32 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
It can also be a result of misaligned teeth. When teeth are lost this can cause the rest of the teeth to become out of line causing excessive cheek and tongue biting.

@SilleeMee I've noticed my teeth are getting crooked. I wore braces in Jr. High and had four teeth pulled at that time. My teeth were always so straight until about five years ago. My mother always had straight teeth, but they got crooked as she got older, too. Maybe that's it. I do have all of my teeth other than the four that were pulled for braces and my wisdom teeth.

Re: Biting My Tongue

SouthFlorida321 — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:48:02 GMT

NickNack sounds like it could be TMJ to me - I've had it from stress on and off for years.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:51:11 GMT

Thanks for looking up and posting this @Moonchilde. I think it must be that my bite has changed since my teeth are getting crooked. I guess I need to discuss this with my Dentist, although I'm not sure what he can do. I don't want to wear braces again.

Re: Biting My Tongue

NickNack — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 00:57:09 GMT

@SouthFlorida321 wrote:
NickNack sounds like it could be TMJ to me - I've had it from stress on and off for years.

It might be @SouthFlorida321. I grind my teeth. I've tried to stop and haven't been able to. I wore mouth guards at night for a while, but was still grinding my teeth. I grind them night and day. My jaw has started getting slightly locked sometimes, too. It's kind of scary when it happens.