/hb/ - Health & Beauty

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Anonymous 02/05/21 (Fri) 10:34:42 PM10294

Is picking the skin off your lips and eating it bad for you?
I don't know why, but my bad habit of picking/biting the dead skin off my lips has come back again.
It mostly happened when I was a kid and did it as a bad habit and I had gone a good amount of years not doing it, but suddenly it's picked back up and I've started doing it again.
It's probably due to the high stress of college and worrying about finding a job, but I don't know why such an old habit has come back.
And it sucks because it stings a lot. My lips feel raw and they're bloody. I can't enjoy eating spicy food like I used to without feeling a burning sensation on my lips :/

Aside from the food, are there actual bad unhealthy side effects to doing this? And how can I be able to stop it? Any feedback would be good, thank you.

Anonymous 02/05/21 (Fri) 10:45:48 PM10296

>>10294
I used to do this a lot. I have naturally dry lips and picking was the only way to get them smooth. I managed to stop by carrying lipbalm with me everywhere and applying that instead of picking.

As for if it is bad for you, probably yes because you can get an infection if it’s an open wound.

Anonymous 02/05/21 (Fri) 10:52:55 PM10298

>>10294
yikes, spoiler that pic lmfao. but yeah obviously it's not a good habit. it looks like shit, makes your lips constantly dry and exposes them to infection. it's like picking at a scab over and over before it can heal.

you could maybe try wearing fake nails or applying a thick goopy lip balm like vaseline so you can't really access your lips. i hope you manage to get over it once the job searching stress blows over anon.

Anonymous 02/05/21 (Fri) 10:53:07 PM10299

>>10296
Carrying lip balm sounds like a good idea, thank you!
I actually do have a lip balm stick I got a while back. I just sit at home near my computer a lot instead of going out, so I figured I wouldn't need to have it on hand.
But the habit has grown worse, I'll just put my lip balm on my desk so that I can grab for it when I feel the itch of the habit come.

Anonymous 02/06/21 (Sat) 01:10:09 AM10306

>>10298
>yikes, spoiler that pic lmfao
normies be like

Anonymous 02/07/21 (Sun) 11:59:23 PM10334

cb8015a0-a103-4034…

I also have a pretty bad habit of doing this, I use this shit on my lips to stop me from doing it and to salvage them when this happens.

It also helps with coldsores(which I tend to get if I fuck around too much with my lips and am stressed)

Anonymous 02/09/21 (Tue) 12:22:38 AM10347

9f849e1b-462f-400f…

Yes, it's bad. You're putting your hands near your mouth and I'm willing to bet they're not always clean when you do it, so you're putting bacteria in your mouth and all over your wounds. Also, your body has to constantly heal that, so you're putting a strain on your immune system when it could be doing better things. It's great that you've identified that it's stress induced and you're aware that you're doing it because that's half the battle!

To combat it:
>When you notice you're doing it again, remind yourself to stop. Might sound basic but it helps you to be more conscious of what you're doing.
>Keep your hands busy with something else (don't fall into another self-destructive habit!) like a stress ball.
>Keep your lips moistured so that there's nothing to pick.
>Practise meditation to lower your stress levels and improve your awareness.
>Worst case scenario, wear gloves while you're studying or job-searching so you won't even have a chance to start picking again.

You can do this anon <3