I dont' know why but I started doing this again and did a search "I like to pick my gums" and this came up.
i wondered if it was like because of gum disease or because of an oral fixation or what?

I remember also doing this as a teen - finding sharp things to pick at it - toothpicks were great - floss was a bit too intense - The other week when i started again (much past my teen age years - I found a straw that could fit around my bottom front or side tooth perfectly and dig in hard to give that much needed relieve of pain/pleasure.)

It's perverse - why do we do it?
but as I read this page, all I wanted to do was pick pick pick - (since I was not picking much as I was reading)...so maybe it is a sign of something else?

I did stop for a long time - and I don't know why or how - perhaps I grew out of it - I suspect I will again - someone mentioned boredness - and I realized as I was starting doing it tonight - it was because I was bored.

oh yes - and I remember that it is embarressing being caught in public doing it - it is prob worse than picking your nails - because your hands are reaching into your mouth - (my fav place is on the sides)....

ok and lastly - as it still rings hurt from my last pick - it feels like it craves more sharp pressure - so why do we really crave this feeling?

(I also am not really into pain as pleasure any where else - so what gives? is it oral fixation? something else? my teeth are pretty good otherwise...)

(ok and THOUGH i have had a tooth surgery and pulling before and never picked at them - right now I'm almost craving a wound in my moth to pick at - what gives???? I would never want to pick at a cut on my body?)

argh!

I registered here just so I can post in this thread. I found it through a google search - I was afraid I was the only one suffering this problem!

I'm 19 years old and I just started doing this a few months ago. I have no idea how I started - I think I was just sitting at the computer and all of a sudden I just started picking at my gums with my fingernail. I do it often now, not all the time but pretty often, and I stop for a few days but always go back to it without noticing (I'd be watching a movie or something and catch myself doing it again).

It's horrible. It's putting my gums in really bad shape.

I hope everyone gets past this. I haven't used anything else besides my nails but I really don't want the habit to become any worse. It's only been a few months so hopefully I haven't damaged my gums, but I'm just going to try to stop completely. I can't believe I just picked this up out of the blue. It's really depressing, actually, I don't want my teeth to fall out..

(I've read all the above posts and I'm sitting here crying.....I don't know what to do. I have an almost 3 year old who does this and I'm struggling to make him stop. It breaks my heart to hear that some of you have been doing this your whole life. And I can't imagine how I'm going to handle this all through my child's life.)

My two year old has a very bad habit of picking his gums. He started this bad habit right before he turned 2. He picks them until they bleed. He picks them at night when he's falling asleep or when he's watching a movie in his room during "down time" before bed.

Our dentist said there wasn't anything we could do except keep telling him not to do it. We talked to him about it and he stopped for a while and his gums healed.

He just started doing it again and his poor gum line on the bottom incisors is really dug in. We have a reward/star chart up right now and it worked for a few days but tonight while watching a movie he did it again. I just broke down crying because I don't know what else to do. He ended up crying with me because he felt so bad....I think I traumatized him. He will be 3 in 2 months.

Can anyone help? please.

I've read all the above posts and I'm sitting here crying.....I don't know what to do. I have an almost 3 year old who does this and I'm struggling to make him stop. It breaks my heart to hear that some of you have been doing this your whole life. And I can't imagine how I'm going to handle this all through my child's life.)

My two year old has a very bad habit of picking his gums. He started this bad habit right before he turned 2. He picks them until they bleed. He picks them at night when he's falling asleep or when he's watching a movie in his room during "down time" before bed.

Our dentist said there wasn't anything we could do except keep telling him not to do it. We talked to him about it and he stopped for a while and his gums healed.

He just started doing it again and his poor gum line on the bottom incisors is really dug in. We have a reward/star chart up right now and it worked for a few days but tonight while watching a movie he did it again. I just broke down crying because I don't know what else to do. He ended up crying with me because he felt so bad....I think I traumatized him. He will be 3 in 2 months.

Can anyone help? please.

Many times I have searched to see whether there was something about this habit on the internet. I always searched it as "digging nail in gum" or something and rarely found anything! I'm not really surprised I have because I imagined a lot of people would do it.
I've always done it, my mum does, a friend of mine does and even one of my dentists did!

I really wouldn't worry about it. That dentist actually told me that it's good for your gums, as long as you don't bleed. I don't know how true that is, but I just wouldn't worry about it. The sensation is so nice...

But you're right - it's a really odd thing to do, and I don't know why we do it!! I always used to get annoyed because people would say "stop biting your nails" - and I knew I wasn't, but then I'd have to explain what I was doing.

A strange thing I used to use was the back of the remote which covers the batteries. The corners are really sharp.... hahaha

Whenever I get a cold or sinus issues, i have the urge to do the same thing with my gums. I think it is definitely sinus related. It hurts but feels good like relief at the same time. Problem is you pay later.... it causes swelling and soreness the next few days.

I really think this has to do with either gum/dental issues, and or/ sinus issues. Whenever I get a cold, I have the urge to dig my nails into my gums. It feels good and hurts at the same time, but just the constant pressure of my nail on the gum feels so good. The only problem is, the next day and few days after, they are really sore and swollen. Thank god I only do it when I have a cold. I still think it's a bodily urge rather than a phsycological urge. Your body is trying to tell you something. Just like a misquito bite... feels so good to itch, but eventuall it bleeds and hurts.

haha, and here i thought i was weird and all alone. Guess not. I like using tooth picks. and when the gums are nice and sore i like to Dip...(i know its bad but the sensation is soooo goooood)

Im picking at my gums as I type with a nail file! I can't stop! It just feels too god, LoL! I was surfing the web and couldn't believe it when this forum popped up! I thought I was the only one! If anyone knows how to break this habit before I end up with false teeth or gum disease, please let me know asap! I NEED TO STOP BUT IT JUST FEELS TOO DAMN GOOD!

Like one poster above I only enjoy doing it in the spot in between my two front teeth. Sometimes though I'll do it on the sides of the front two as well. During one summer when I was 13, it got bad. I found a "perfect" thin sewing needle and would alternately use the sides of the needle to apply pressure and the point to poke and draw blood. Then I would use a cotton swab to dry it out and then all I would have to do is touch it with some pressure to get a burning sensation. I soon realized that doing it just made me want to do it more and that I never reached any point of satisfaction. So I quit and very, very rarely do it anymore. But the urge is still there especially when I get stressed. Sometimes I fantasize about having my two front teeth removed so I could really "get at it" and then have them replaced afterward (which isn't possible, of course).

I grew a beard for the first time recently and subconsciously started to manipulate the hair below my lower lip right into that spot. This started me doing it again (a .7 or .9 mechanical pencil has been my recent tool) and this made me to google this topic and led me here. I just shaved off the beard this morning.

Here's where it gets a bit weird (or weirder): as much as I love to do it to myself I love to have someone else do it to me. When I go to the hygenist I always hope she will stick that metal vibrating thing that cleans your teeth right into my gums between my two front teeth. I had my girlfriend do it to me with floss and her fingernail but she teased me so I never asked her again. Maybe she forgot because she hasn't mentioned it since. Sometimes I look at a girl with long fingernails and imagine her jamming a pinky nail right in between my two front teeth.

hehe, i cant stop doing it as well. I bite nails but then discovered that poking with nails, folder paper, hair, fishing line, sticktape, anything with a sharp edge feels great. The funny thing is I have this imaginary feeling that there is always some calcium bits or something between my teeth. So i grind that same spot until is sorta bleeds a little. LOL, feels great even though it hurts, but damn I cant stop doing this. Tooth picks are the best, when we go to restaurants i used to just take like 10 tooth picks for the going home trip.

im gonna go bald soon, i keep picking out my longer hairs and flossing with them til it hurts my gum. I love using my credit card to floss as well hahahahhaha.

wow..this is absolutely crazy.. i too have picked at my gums since i was a small child. my gums have gotten to the point that they are pretty much no longer healing themselves. Its pretty bad. It has taken me 20 years to notice this, but I finally realized that at the times that I have the urge to pick at my gums, its when my gums are aching, due to a cold or sinus infection (which i get alot) The pain of picking at them fells MUCH better than the aching pain. Most of my friends and family think that Im crazy when it comes to this, but it is true!

Nice to see that after years and years of sticking sharp objects into my gums and creating that oh so wonderful pain...I am in fact not alone! There are other freaks like me that do this. Unbelievable. I have recently caused so much pain in my mouth that I decided to look up why the hell I do it and found this site. Does anyone ever punch themselves in the bone in the gums? I have a tendency to literally press objects into my lower jaw under the bottom lip to cause pain that feels good. I sometimes use a dentists pick to poke through the gum until I cant bear the pain. Why am I doing this to myself?

I was told by a dentist many years ago that I have low-hanging sinuses. Though I am currently going through a episode, I also have been battling a cold - possibly a sinus infection. I truly wonder if that has been a common denominator in all of my episodes. When I poke at/manipulate my gums with a tooth pick, my nails, dental floss or by sucking them, I feel a sensation that can somewhat be felt in my nose - on the same side. I can also get a similar sensation by kneading my temple (on the favoring side) with a knuckle. It is such a weird habit. It begins to hurt and becomes VERY annoying to my mouth. If I become very distracted, I don't do it. However, just as soon as I think about the fact that I haven't been doing it, I begin again. Could it be sinuses? I wonder. I also wish the dentist would give me a shot in the spot that I poke. I think it would first feel good, but eventually numb the area. Another option would be to pull out the nerves in that area. I have been doing this now for almost twenty years - not consistently. The episodes are far and few between, but annoying and painful - even though it initially feels good!

That's it. We are getting a support group for this. I've been at again myself but, I'll save the details for later.

The important thing is to find a good group or forum exclusively for this condition. So, that's what I'm going to do.

I'll be back as soon as I can. Until then, try to avoid anything that makes your gums tingle.

-BG

I am absolutely shocked to see that there are others who do this...I have done it since the age os 10 and now Im 38, my gums are really receeded and I am panicked - but at the same time, resignated_ to losing my teeth. I also pick the inside of my cheeks and pick at my thumb nails so much that the cuticle is gone and there are ridges on the surface. I am always hiding my thumbs lest someone comment on them - which has happened - I get really flustered about it. I am about to start taking Prozac, which my psychiatrist says has the most research done in treating skin picking, more so than the other newer drugs. Any comments on this?

Your issue sounds quite severe and extreme. I have never mutilated or compromised my the health of my gums by poking or sucking them. Don't get me wrong the sensation that begins as a good feeling (for lack of a better description) quickly becomes irritating. I am glad you are seeing a psychiatrist about this issue. I hope everything works out for you.

this is a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. there are many different forms of it. some people pick out all of their hair or pick scabs. i just pick at my gums. its the best stress reliever for me ever but it is really bad for you. it can cause abscesses and swallowing the blood is really bad for your heart and your stomach. taking an anti depressant or some other kind of anxiety medication will probably help you stop the compulsion to harm yourself and help you relax.

seriously shocked other people do this. I chew my fingernails and like to stuck in under the gum on my front tooth. I then try to scrape out the stuck nail with another nail or a sharp object. When I was a kid I would use thumbtacks, earrings or sewing needles. Never even considered the damage I could be doing.

just wanted to say i do it too and i love it...i've done the gums, doing the fingernail thing now and i even have one more its this place on my backbone in between two of them...i will get against corners, the dial on top lockers, anything i can push all of my weight on so i can put pressure on that spot and its like the best drug ever. Once i got someone to dig their elbow into my backbone and it was awesome but they said it was probably bad for me and wouldn't do it again