Picking At My Gums (Page 1)

I have not been to a doctor. I didn't really think about this being an addiction/psychological problem until last night. I found a forum on here that had other people with the same problem, but no one has offered a way to treat this problem. I've been to the dentist, and of course, all they could tell me was to stop. I can't stop. I've tried. It's like a constant need, which falls under the addiction category. I really don't know what to do.

You are not alone. I have been picking at my gums (among other things) for years! I also have picked my pinky fingernail too the quick all the time. I have not had a normal nail for at least 7 years. It doesn't hurt me either. And, I recently started picking at a place in my ear? Uggg! I also use several types of "tools" to pick. I wear a bandaid on my fingernail, but I pick it when I change the bandaid without even realizing it. I sit & watch TV, read, etc & pick at my ear. (again, without realizing it) I have now had 3 teeth pulled & I have 2 more tomorrow, so that has put a stop to me picking at my gums right now. I don't know if my post is helpful or not, but I wanted to let you know you are not alone. I am a 52 year old grandmother who is very busy - so, it is not from boredom. Hope you can kick your habits better than me!

yur gonna get gum reccession and that is going to hurt..

No resolution for you. But i also do the exact same thing. It doesn't hurt or what I think most people would think hurts feels good to me. I go through phases with it. Actually I got better about it when I had made a dentist app. a while ago. Just didn't want him to see what I had been doing to my gums. It would prolly take will power upon yourself. I know I don't like doing it when I'm around people I'm not completely comfortable with. Maybe put yourself out there more???

Good Luck!!!

I too have picked my gums since i was a small child. my tool of choice is a piece of plastic usually rolled into a sharp point like from a cigarette pkg. and if my teeth feel dirty im worse. I also have healthy teeth, but lately one in the back has beginning to hurt of course around the bottom. its a nervous type thing for me. I bite my nails, bite my cheeks inside and lips or pick at my hair. this could also be a type of OCD ( obsessive compulsive disorder)

That's actually funny. Even though really it isn't. I do all the same things. My "weapon" of choice was actually bitting off part of my fingernail and using that. Grose I know.

The only reason I think I have been able to quit doing it for the most part is because socially it is undesirable. If I had something in my mouth picking at my gums I know I looked funny and other people could tell and I wouldn't talk unless necessary because maybe they would see my "weapon". LOL.

Kinda like sucking my thumb. It was for me more embarassing that I was doing it, so it made it easier to quit.

I have been doing this for as long as I know. I am 24 and have not had normal length fingernails since I can remember. I bite my nails and use the nail to slide and in out of and between my teeth. The more it hurts, the harder I push (feels good). My gums used to bleed but hardly do they ever now. I know it is a gross habit but I have tried to stop. I went a week without biting my nails off but when they grow out, I have an ever larger urge to bite them off! I even purchased a brush to clean under them (I hate dirt under my nails) which helped, but not for long. As I type this now, I have a nail in my mouth and I am constantly poking into my gums and between my teeth. I have tried gum but that only makes me hungry. It is easy for someone to tell you to stop but it does not help. When I get nervous, I bite my nails and I don't even know I did it until I physically catch myself. I asked my mother about it a while back and she said she used to do it when she was younger...Interesting enough. OK, Thanks for listening!

I have done the same thing my entire life (parents said I started around 2 yrs old and I'm 27. I bite my fingernails as far down as I can (sometimes they bleed) and chew and poke them into my gums. Horrible.

I have random times that I can stop, twice a year maybe for a whole week or two. It usually helps if I have someone that knows that I do it (my wife now) who can act as a support and do spot checks daily to make sure that I didn't chew them off.

I'm so glad I'm not completely alone. We need a psychologist in here, stat!

hi 26yo here, i have bitten my nails and pick my teeth with them. I get the strongest urges to do this when I have eaten something like popcorn or ribs and have food stuck between my teeth. I am very resourceful when there is no more nail left on any finger to create a pick; I use straws shaped sharp with a bite and pull with my front teeth, various paper and plastic folded into a triangle shape, pieces of sunflower seed shells (very similar to a finger nail), and various other things. For someone looking for a more public option, you must try the Oral-B tooth pics, which arr rubber tipped and textured. Only downside to the oral B pick is the large diameter, so those looking to poke them all the way through will have to work at it. BTW, i have simaltaneously had as many as 6 nails through various gaps in my teeth at once, anyone else do this in particular?

Reading this while working a rather large toenail from my big toe, in and out of a tiny gap between my front two bottom row teeth. There is a gap there from YEARS of doing this. I only do it to that ONE particular spot, however I bet 6 at once must feel heavenly.

The worst is when I'm using something oddly shaped like a paperclip, and it gets stuck, and I need to work it out, perhaps without anyone noticing

(22/M/CAN)

I too have a picking problem, only it's my cuticals on my fingers that I pick. I have beautiful nails, I am glad I never aquired the nail biting habit. I will pick till they bleed and I find myself doing it almost every second I am not busy doing something with my hands, whether it be watching a movie, or whatever the case. I also tend to chew my cheeks. Not till they bleed or anything (Usually, but it has happened). I don't know if it's a nervous disorder or what the case is. I've had this as long as I can remember but over the last year it has gotten a million times worse. I don't know why. Before I would do it on a weekly basis, now I do it pretty much all day, every day whenever my hands are not busy. Being on the computer generally helps cuz my fingers are busy typing.

I am 32 and I have picked my gums since I was in high school. I do it pretty much anytime I am not using my hands! I have to have grafting done to correct the receding gum line. I have to use an extra soft toothbrush because it is unbearable to brush over the roots that are exposed. I really don't know what to do about it! I was diagnosed bi-polar when I was in high school which has some symptoms of OCD, but it may be more than I thought. I don't think there is treatment for it. Most OCD people have to go through therapy. Has anyone sought treatment for this very odd habit?!

I have picked my gums for over 30 years. I am 38 now. I found out from therapy, it is a way for me to soothe myself. It started early, after childhood sexual abuse. And I get it when you say it doesn't hurt, it feels good. My gums are receding, yet I cannot stop on really stressful days. When I'm engrossed in thoughts, or watching TV, after an anxiety ridden day......it's the worst. I thought i was alone, never personally knew anyone who did this. You don't know how good it makes me feel. I understand the Orajel thing too, the burning of it on freshly picked gums.... Listerine too. It hurts, but it feels good. My therapist says it's why people suffering from PTSD and other disorders hurt themselves.....it's a way to feel something, when you're in pain, it's a way for you to control what you want to feel.....some people pick at their skin, some cut themselves. Gum-picking is our thing. Good luck everyone to cutting back on it and getting emotionally stronger where you need to Patti

I'm so happy to find these messages. I can't believe it's taken me this long to search the net on this! I'm the same, have picked at my gums since I can remember (I'm 30 now). Mum telling me my teeth would fall out by the time I was 20. I even considered getting all my teeth pulled out and false ones to try and stop! One dentist told me people have receding gums from harsh brushing and it's not so serious. I've had so many arguments with boyfriends/family/friends to stop telling me off when I do it. So sad. I get a lot of compliments from my teeth but no one notices the missing gums in between!
Thank you for sharing your story too

Have you had to have gum grafting patti? I have to do that soon or I am afraid my teeth are going to fall out!

OMG, this sounds like me! I've had this problem since high school.I pick at my gums with my fingernails, with needles, with toothpicks...this morning I lit a match, stuck a needle in the flame until it was hot, then dragged the hot point along the raw spots where I pick. It was painful, but it was a good pain, if that makes any sense.My gums are so receded that I may have to go in for grafting. I googled "picking at gums" because I wondered if I was alone in this gross habit. Soo happy I found this thread!

I have been picking at my gums since I was a small child. I think the earliest I can remember doing it was from like 6 or 7. I am now 21 and I literally am addicted to it. I kinda felt ashamed from it because I thought I was the only one out there and you have to admit it is a weird addiction to have. Even now I am sitting here writing this with both of the gumlines around my wisdom teeth and molars just destroyed and bleeding. It hurts so much because now it has gotten to the point where I can't even wait for them to heal before I feel the compulsion. It is literally an urge that I just don't have the willpower to deny.

I'm so glad I found this thread...I haven't done this my whole life or anything but I remember always liking the part at the dentist when they pick at your teeth...I could sit there forever and let them do it! I sometimes pick at my gums when I'm stressed and I've been really stressed lately. My bottom lip has a huge scab on it from me biting it and my gums on the bottom are throbbing with pain...but it feels so good and I so want to pick at it. I've been able to hold back for the last 24 hours but it's getting unbearable! I use those toothpick floss things. Now that I think about it...I've always wanted one of those dentist picks!

i bite my nails and pick at my gums with them too. and i used to bite my nails until there was nothing left (sometimes they bled). but i found that when i started working in construction i stopped doing it as much. i think its because my hands were always so dirty i wouldnt put them in my mouth, but i stopped biting them almost competely for a few weeks... then i got a new job that wasnt in construction and started biting them again.

it was at that time that i realized once they get long enough you can keep biting them AND have normal looking nails, which i thought was great because i always have the urge to bite them and pick at my gums, and i was always really self conscious about my mangled fingernails.

and while im happy i dont destroy my fingernails like i used to, i stil bite and pick all the time... i have a nail in my mouth right now... i want to find a way to stop. i guess in the end its all just willpower.

oh ya, im a smoker too (another thing i cant seem to stop doing..), i dont know if it makes a difference...but between my nails and cigarettes i'v always got something in my mouth. im gonna try chewing gum or something, if this is some sort of oral fixation im gonna try to fixate on something else.

anyway- im really glad i found this site , and to find out that im not alone.

best of luck to all of us

I started picking and prodding at my gums since as far as I can remember, im 19 now, and its not as bad as it was before. Probably since my first girlfreind, I was afraid if she found out about this weird addiction she might feel weird about me. The sensation was painful but it felt good, and id make it bleed. The typical tools were my nails (stil cant break that habit) or plastic, in fact id bite the corners of pen lids and make them sharp on purpose then get on with my job.... Im surprised, I thought I was the only one...