Lip Biting in Sleep: Causes & Solutions

Few things are as irritating as accidentally biting your lip mid-meal or when you’re talking. But when that lip-biting happens in your sleep, it moves from “annoying” to “concerning.”

What’s causing this behavior, and how can you get rid of it before it really affects your sleep?

In this blog, we’ll address the causes and solutions of lip biting in sleep to help you reduce the consequences of your subconscious chewing.

Signs of Lip Biting and Why It Can Be a Problem

Chronic lip biting falls under “other specified obsessive-compulsive and related disorders,” specifically a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB). 

BRFBs are a category that includes self-grooming disorders that can harm the body, such as nail biting, hair pulling, and skin picking.

Sometimes these are obvious. In other cases, they’re sneaky enough that you don’t realize you’re doing them until you see the damaging signs. For lip biting, these warning signs can look like:

• Visible sores/cuts on the lip, particularly the inner lip line
• Swelling or redness
• Chapped lips
• Teeth marks

These physical signs tell you immediately that something harmed you. However, less obvious behavioral signs show the repetition of a BFRB, such as pursing your lips frequently or biting your lip when you’re thinking or nervous.

By the time this becomes a chronic behavior, these repetitive motions may be so ordinary to you that you don’t notice them — but they’ll be obvious to those around you often. 

Whether you see the signs or someone suggests they’re there, paying attention to lip-biting behaviors is important.

Lip biting might not sound like a big deal, but the potential consequences can be dangerous, especially depending on the reason for your behavior. Habitual lip and soft tissue biting frequently causes swelling in the area of the bite, but can also bring:

• Infection
• Inflammation
• Ulcers
• Pain 

Potential Causes of Biting Your Lip in Your Sleep

When your lip-biting behaviors happen while you’re awake, it’s a little easier to stop because you notice the discomfort quickly. But the damage can become substantial when you’re biting your lip in your sleep.

To fix the problem, you must first figure out why your body feels the need to engage in this BFRB. Let’s look at some common reasons why sleep-related lip biting occurs:

Malocclusions

Your mouth has a natural bite that ensures the jaw muscles, teeth, tongue, and lips work as they should. But when you have a malocclusion, these parts must work harder to chew, swallow, talk, and even rest. 

Malocclusions, or “bad bites,” mean that your upper and lower teeth don’t align evenly when you close your mouth. While you’re sleeping, malocclusions can lead to lip biting.

Risk Factors

Your age and gender could predispose you to biologically induced lip biting. BFRBs like lip biting are most likely to develop in pre-teens and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 15. In addition, females are more likely than males to exhibit chronic lip-biting behaviors.

Sleep Bruxism

Commonly referred to as teeth grinding, bruxism is a disorder that often stems from stress and manifests as jaw clenching and teeth grinding during sleep. If left untreated, grinding can cause side effects like shifting teeth and lip biting.

TMJ Disorders

TMJ disorders and lip biting are also intricately linked.

The TMJ, short for temporomandibular joint, connects the lower jaw and skull. When it is irritated or damaged and doesn’t heal on its own within a few weeks, it is labeled a TMJ disorder (TMD), a group of conditions characterized by TMJ pain and dysfunction. TMDs can cause you to bite your lip.

Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder that changes the jaw and tongue movements. People with an OSA may have large tongues or jaw muscles that relax during sleep and push the jaw or teeth out of place, causing lip and tongue biting.

Seizures

People with epilepsy can experience nighttime seizures, causing them to bite their tongue and lips. These types of bites usually occur on the sides and tip of the tongue or lips.

Rhythmic Movement Disorder

Rhythmic movement disorder, commonly seen in children more than adults, occurs when a person is sleepy or sleeping. The person repeats body motions such as humming, rocking, or head banging. The movements can be fast, causing the person to bite their lip or tongue.

Solutions For Lip Biters

When your lip biting moves from annoying to compulsive, it’s time to get help. The good news is that if it isn’t from a medical condition like epilepsy or OSA, you may be able to benefit from at-home treatment, natural and alternative remedies, or medical care.

At-Home Treatment

The first line of defense against lip biting — and the easiest way to get relief fast — is to invest in a custom-made night guard. Night guards — like those we offer at JS Dental Lab — slide over the upper or lower teeth, keeping them from touching. This prevents the grinding and clenching seen in bruxism but also minimizes the damage to your lip from biting.

However, figuring out the reason behind your biting will take longer. One factor that often causes lip biting is stress. Reducing your stress levels through activities like meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and breathing techniques may reduce biting. Adding exercise into your day is another way many people benefit from better sleep, which can have the added effect of reduced biting. 

If you have a TMD or bruxism, gum chewing can trigger pain in your jaw. Awake grinders and lip biters often use a hybrid night guard when engaged in activities that tend to bring on the compulsion to chew or bite. Hybrid night guards have a durable outer layer strong enough to handle moderate grinding, but a soft inner layer that won’t distract you from your daily tasks or sleep.

Natural/Alternative Treatment

Since body-focused repetitive behaviors like lip biting are often due to emotional regulation, distraction, or brain processing, therapy can help minimize these behaviors.

Learning why you’re biting or how to replace the BFRB with a healthier coping mechanism may be all you need to quit the repetitive movement. Cognitive behavioral therapy or talk counseling are standard parts of a BFRB treatment plan.

Other alternatives that may be helpful include:

• Acupuncture, particularly for biting due to a malocclusion or other jaw tension condition

• Hypnotherapy, which has been suggested to help reduce the emotional triggers that cause BFRBs

Medical Treatment

Dental and medical treatment for more moderate or severe biting could be helpful for your situation.

Dentistry solutions are a must in cases where the BFRB is caused by a dental issue, such as a malocclusion or bruxism that has damaged enamel and gums.

Talk to your dentist about treatment options for your teeth that could reduce your biting behaviors, too. They might suggest braces or other orthodontics.

Other common types of treatment for lip biting include prescriptions like sedatives or muscle relaxants to improve your sleep quality and reduce nighttime biting. Physical therapy techniques can teach you how to return an abnormal bite to its normal positioning.

In extreme cases, surgery is necessary to correct problems like severe TMJ causing lip biting or a malocclusion that can’t be corrected with regular orthodontia.

Lip Biting: When To Be Concerned

Chronic lip biting can bring some unwanted side effects.

Talk to your doctor or dentist if you notice deformations in the tongue, like scallops (Scalloped Tongue: What It Is and How to Treat It), or if you have bite marks that aren’t healing because you keep chewing on the area. You may also notice loose teeth from all that biting pressure.

These serious concerns must be addressed, although they don’t usually require emergency help.

For mild lip biters, at-home care or medical supervision should be sufficient to manage the symptoms. 

However, some signs of this behavior do need urgent or immediate care.

Extreme Bleeding

The tissues in the lip are very delicate and bleed easily. And, because the lip has a rich blood supply, when there’s an injury to this area, it can seem like a scary amount of blood. However, if you bite your lip — whether from repetition or injury — and cause bleeding, it should stop after 5-10 minutes. 

Apply pressure to the area using a clean gauze or tissue. If the blood continues to be profuse (it doesn’t seem to be stopping or drying up), it’s time to seek medical help. You may have wounded the area deep enough that it will need stitches.

Infection

Urgent care is also necessary if there are signs of infection, such as a fever, white bump, pus, or swollen glands. Infections should always be taken seriously.

Left untreated, infectious organisms can get into the bloodstream and become dangerous. Oral health infections may also become systemic, leading to cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and, in rare cases, sepsis.

Breathing Difficulties

If your lip biting is extreme enough, it can cause swelling in the tongue, which can lead to trouble swallowing or breathing. If you notice these effects, seek help immediately.

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Conclusion

Lip biting is a normal part of life, but when it turns from accidental to compulsive, it needs to be addressed. Figuring out the common causes and solutions can help you reduce the damage this repetitive movement does to your body.

While you work on identifying the root of your biting compulsion and the right habit-reversal techniques, start your journey with a professional night guard from JS Dental Lab. 

Shop Our Night Guards!