Hand biting

by Tiffany
(California)

My son is 6 yrs old with Autism. When he is happy, excited, mad, sad, he bites his hand.




Basically, when his sense's overload, he bites himself. It has gotten to the point of leaving scar tissue. It seems he does not even feel it when he is doing the hand biting.

It is sensory, like he gets something from it. Also, only does it on his right hand, never the left.

It seems an impulse, he does not even have to think which hand to bite, always the right.

Any ideas on how to minimize the hand biting, or how to re-direct this behavior ??

Any ideas are appreciated



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Aug 02, 2022
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		My son does this
by: Rachel

My 4 year old does this exactly the same way. He has a huge horrible callous. We are trying to figure out how to make him stop. I get worried it will get infected or something
something
Jun 21, 2022
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starstarstarstarstar 		autism
by: J.gordy

I'm moderately autistic and bite my right hand all the time and sometimes use my chewies
Mar 05, 2022
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starstarstarstarstar 		I have this same issue
by: Anonymous

I always bite my right hand never my left I don't feel it only pressure. it's almost like a soothing thing for me but at the same time it worries me. I have bumps all over my hand almost goose egg like. I bit the side of my hand almost 6 hours ago and you can still see the bite mark. I don't have a clue why if you find this out please please please reach out to me i've been doing this for years. And now its to the point I feel imma bite it off. I am 16 years old I started this habit when I was around 6 or 7.

My email: rideoutc@students.dsbn.org
My Instagram: Cade__4176
Mar 03, 2020
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		An ode
by: Anonymous

So, my mom bites at her hands (mostly fingers) usually pulling off small bits of skin, shes done it as long as I can remember. I've also picked it up by watching her throughout the years. I've been hand biting for about 7 years now (21 currently)

I mostly bite at my thumb knuckles as they dont hurt as bad as other parts of my hands but I do have callouses up and down my index fingers from biting so much. It's gotten to the point of me constantly biting and pulling skin off my hands, sometimes to the point of bleeding.

Its left very large callouses that I'm sure are just going to get worse or scar badly. I never really think about it when I'm doing it but I consciously do it too sometimes, because it's gotten to be so habitual. It's mostly due to my anxiety I think sort of a coping mechanism if you will. I'm just glad to read that other people do this too and I'm not the only one.
Dec 09, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		Sensory overload
by: Anonymous

My youngest son is nearly 3 he has bitten his right hand since he was 6 months old. He is non verbal and I think it is a sensory overload. We have tried everything. Gloves, creams dog toys chewlry but nothing worked. We go through a pack of dummies a week.

For all those going through this you are not alone. We are being told he has Autism and Sensory processing disorder. It has been very difficult to process.

If anyone has a similar story and has any tips please share

Thank you
Nov 22, 2019
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		My son
by: Anonymous

Hey

My son has been diagnosed with ASD and he too bites his left hand! It all started when he was 3 yo months after his diagnosis. As a mom i was going through a lot and wasn't the best mom.

So he is 7 now and has scars on his hand. When he is excited or upset he bites it but i find when he is active, he doesn't do it at all. He does wear a riding glove on his left hand during school and he does have multiple chewy necklaces.

But what i read in a comment below about releaf of a stress chemical in the body makes sense. I just would like to find a way where i can assist him in learning a new way to release this stress to stop the hand biting.
Sep 10, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		biting, self harm and bio-oil
by: Anonymous

I never knew that this was a thing people other than me did. Feels almost refreshing to know I'm not a complete a freak!

(I'd like to quickly note,I have never been diagnose with autism although I've never been tested for it either)

I'm 17 now but when I bit my hand more was when I was closer to 15. I used to bite the same spot on my left hand between my finger and thumb. It never hurt although I did bite it so hard it would bleed, swell and scar. From reading everyone else's comments, it sounds like the right hand is more common, however I'm just going to assume everyone is biting their domminant hand like I did.
I did it whenever I felt angry, upset or just bad in general. It was not a good time in my life and it helped me feel more relazed.

I have never cut myself, but after talking to people who have, it seems like it must just give the same sort of stress relief.
I atleast believe biting hands can be another form of self harm.
(Obviously this doesn't apply to all cases as there are young children who do it and others for very different reasons!)

After I stopped for a while the scar did fade.
I'd suggest bio-oil might help with scarring although I can't make any promises on that. If someone is reguarly chewing or biting the same spot, then I'm not sure how helpful bio-oil would actually be.

I know this page is very old but there might be someone out there feeling weird or wanting advice so that is why I am adding this.

Its okay to be stressed out, you're not alone.
Aug 29, 2019
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Silence of suffering
by: Dawn

As a child I used to fly into emotional rage for no reason, in my room alone so nobody witnessed it. I used to bite on my right wrist very hard, I didn't realize what or why, I just bit. The rage would come then instantly I would bite as hard as I could. I would hide my wrist out of embarrassment. It would bleed and the skin damage but I couldn't stop it.

I know what it is like to suffer in silence.
May 15, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		hand bitting
by: Anonymous

hey i am 15 and i keep bitting my hands but not my fingers and i just can't stop do i have dermatophagia?
May 14, 2019
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Biting my knuckles
by: M87

Hey:) I didn’t know that there are people like me, people find me weird and some think I burned my hand but I’m 17 and I got used to doing this since I was a little kid biting my hand knuckles.

first I started biting my right hand and I don’t know how I got used to my left hand now but my right hand is kinda healed now and my left hand is all messed up it looks like it’s burned. I bite my knuckles even the one under my thumb but I can’t feel it and I do it unconsciously and I don’t do it on purpose and there’s nothing that could stop it my family freaked out and tried to put some kind of lotions and crap but it didn’t work. even me myself I don’t understand why I do it but I got used to it since I was a little kid and I can’t help it and sometimes I think it’s because of my anxiety and this habit calms me down.

I just wanted to share since I passed by and saw that there are people like me and I’m not different
Apr 29, 2019
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starstarstar 		Help.
by: Anonymous

Okay- So- I stumbled across this page when I was looking for..assistance, is probably the best word. I'm 14 years old, I don't think I have Autism or any particular disorder, though (for the record) My biological father had severe bipolar disorder, my mother's side of the family has a genetic form of depression (genetic chemical imbalances) and- well- I've all around been an angry youth.

I've been biting my right wrist for.. at least four, maybe five years. No one's stopped me, I thought it was associated to some kind of sensory overload or something, even though little things can really drive me insane- but today, I bit the same area about three times- and I drew blood for the first time. And I kind of freaked out.

Is there /anything/ that anyone suggests I can do to at least prevent myself from severely hurting myself? It's just been a light scar for a while, I usually bite the exact same spot over and over so obviously it scarred a bit (looked like a bruise almost, but it wasnt)but I've heard of people tearing chunks of flesh out and I think

I'm on a really bad path and I just- is there anything inconspicuous I could put over my wrist or /something/ I can do to ease the severity? Something that a 14 year old can access, preferably, because my parents know and..dont seem to care when I bite myself.
Feb 19, 2019
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starstarstarstarstar 		Reply
by: Anonymous

Don't know if this'll help but here goes. I'm 48 in 2019. From early to mid 70s to precisely 86 I was a wrist biter on myself till I left school. That's when the bullying stopped. The logic was as I was getting hit the rage would rise in me and I knew I'd hurt them so I aimed rage at myself instead of the bully. I'm going for an autism test because my sixteen year old son has just been diagnosed with ASD
Jul 11, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Cricket gloves
by: Anonymous

Try using cricket gloves
May 07, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		hand chewing
by: Anonymous

from childhood I used to bite my finger, around age of 12, this habit just disappeared, but it appears again on the age around 24, now I am 32 and I chew my hand, my hand looks really bad these days, everybody asks me for reason, I don't have any answers and I cannot able to help myself to not chewing hand.
May 03, 2018
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		hand/arm biting
by: Anonymous

I am a school nurse and we have had many students bite or otherwise harm themselves. There is a physical stress relief process that happens when the child bites.

We have tried many things to substitute for biting like chewies, reward systems, arm/hand protectors etc and usually they don't eliminate the biting. What we found helps to decrease the amount of biting for us in the school setting is to keep working on identifying the stressors and triggers that cause the stress buildup.

Here is a good explanation of the physical piece from an autism site I found. It explains why they feel better and are calmer after they bite themselves.

"Hand/arm biting, slapping self and head banging are very common with children with emotional regulation problems. All three behaviors result in strong stimulation that release stress chemicals when the nervous system is overloaded. Hand/arm biting is especially effective, because of the strong proprioception (resistance to joints and tendons) that it gives.

The child gets both strong proprioception into the jaw, as well as into the hand or arm. When the child gets frustrated, the stress chemicals build up to boiling point and the child seeks out strong proprioception through self abuse, aggression, or property destruction to release stress chemicals from the nervous system."
Feb 17, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		Hand biting
by: Anonymous

My son has a traumatic brain injury and bites the web between the thumb and first finger. Is there a glove of some type I can put on his hand?
Dec 01, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		I’m 24 years
by: Anonymous

I’m 24 years old and I have being right hand fourth finger above the knuckle since I was little I still do this to the day and I have tried everything to stop this I sometimes do it in public because I can’t help it.
Oct 28, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		Help for hand biting
by: Anonymous

Put aloe vera on the finger tips and hands for 30 days. It should break the habit. A habit takes 30 days of consistency to break
Sep 02, 2017
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starstarstarstar 		Sensory issue
by: Dolly

My son used to bite his hands and wrist when he is over excited or angry. He can't communicate thats why. Plz suggest something plz
Jul 23, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		lifelong hand biting
by: Anonymous

I recall the moment I first bit my hand--I was 7 and had just emerged from a swimming pool. I am now 71 and still doing this. for many years there were no effects but now my hands are seriously calloused on top and look like the hands of a woman who is 110 years old. I hate it, it exhausts me, it is weird and strange and off-putting. exhausting. but I cannot stop.
Jul 17, 2017
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		11 Year old Son In the ER
by: Fernando

My son is currently in a behavioral Unit having had to be held hand over hand due to the severity of his biting. His biting is so bad he tears chunks out of his arms. He will not bite others though. We have tried all sorts of meds, therapy and stress relief to no avail. I'm at a loss and heartbroken.
Jan 13, 2017
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starstarstarstarstar 		strategies to keep from biting as an adult
by: Anonymous

Hi,

I'm 24 and I still bite. I made a video on things I do to keep myself from biting. I'm not sure if this would help kids, but, it's what helps me as an adult.... I don't keep myself from biting.. just do certain things when in public if I need to conceal it. I don't have a formal diagnosis of anything really. I was nonverbal for a bit as a kid, and have been biting myself since as early as I can remember. Still, some of this might work for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdFv68ohzu4&feature=share
Sep 18, 2016
Rating
starstarstarstar 		Biting
by: Anonymous

My son is 24 and autistic. He has bitten his wrists and fingers since he was 5. I tried everything. He tore chewelry apart. Recently I made him special wrist bands containing therapy putty and he has completely stopped biting. I also made him a similar one for his finger, which has greatly reduced biting.
Jul 31, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		Gum to help hand biting
by: Anonymous

My daughter is almost 5 and already recognized as gifted. However, I've notice hand biting that's leaving her hand raw. I am going to try to offer her when she gets the urge to bite to pick up a natural piece of gum to chew on instead like Pur gum that won't harm her teeth or health if she needs to often. I will post if it helps.
Jul 14, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		Biter
by: Anonymous

My son is 10 and has been biting the palm of his hand for the past two years. Before this he bit his nails really bad. He is severely hyper active, add, and odd. I told him i was gonna make him wear gloves. Is this wrong?
Jun 06, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		How to stop hand biting
by: Dolly

My son also bites his hands so much.when he is overexcited. Or on sensory overload. or if he has nothing to do.
May 15, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		bitin hand
by: seica johnson

I also bit my knuckkes them r the corner of my finger are the wrist area now i start receivin slight pain runnin tru my hand like the joints an my hands feel light somthing kike they r tired an if i old anything heavy my hand shaking i dont know watvthe problem i tell our body ave all sorts of problem affecting it we just to put these problem for the lord
Mar 04, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		Reply to Amy
by: Anonymous

I am a one on one for an autistic student and we use a "chewy". They can be found on arktherapeutic.com. You can also Google ark chew and it will pull it up. Hope this helps some.
Feb 23, 2016
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		hand biting
by: Anonymous

Wow! It seems like you are describing my 7 year old to a T! He slowed down for a bit but has started back up again...but now hes added head slapping to it! He bites his right hand...wraps his left hand over his head and hits himself to n the head. I dont know what to do for him! I am really searching for some effective tips.
Jan 18, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		im now 21, and i still find myself doing this
by: Anonymous

he, :D as a person who grew up doing this i can say if you can find a way to stop it you must my hand is basically scared from it. and i can confirm it definitely a coping mechanism.
Jan 10, 2016
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starstarstarstar 		Anyone try leather?
by: Amy

I have an 11 year old son on the autism spectrum. He bites his hand frequently. He and I did some brainstorming about what might be a good substitute for hand biting and we decided a leather chew would be a pretty good substitute. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find anything for kids. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Jun 06, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Hab
by: Anonymous

My daughter is almost twelve. She has autism and is deaf, has gene mutations similar to that of C.H.A.R.G.E syndrome, but not typical. She is non verbal though sometimes uses some asl words and home signs (maybe about ten signs she will use spontaneously, sometimes not in meaningful communication).

She has bit her hand since before she had teeth! It is always the left hand which is thickened and heavily calloused. We have tried everything. chewies, sensory substitutions, et al.

Nothing has worked but we continue to try. Good luck!
May 26, 2015
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starstarstarstarstar 		Me too
by: Anonymous

My son is just about 5 and he also bites when at sensory overload or if highly emotional. Today he injured himself quite badly but due to his high pain tolerance I didn't know until the wound had been exposed for hours. I'm hoping getting some chewlery will help but who knows? I don't think there is any easy answers for this unfortunately.
Mar 10, 2015
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		biting my left hand
by: Anonymous

Hi, I've been biting my left hand since I was 6 or 8 months. Now I'm 25 and I still can't stop it. I do it when I'm angry or when I can't express. Really don't know how to get rid of this habit. :(
Jul 11, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		My happy 10yo does this, too
by: Anonymous

My son has been biting his hand since I can remember. He did it so much, his skin was cracking, then developed into a callus.

He went though a time when he wasn't biting at all and his hand healed up. Then it started again, just not so bad.

Now that he is older, he can tell me he does it because he gets so excited he feels he can't control it and he says even though it does hurt and he tries not to do it, sometimes he just has to. He even sighs relief with a smile on his face and says "Aahh, That's better" afterward.

He tells me it makes the excitement release and go away (his words). So now I know WHY he does it, I was hoping for another way to cope with, and release, a sudden urge of intense excitement.

It is always a happy excitement, not a sad or stressful event.
Sep 24, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Hand biting frustration
by: Anonymous

I am searching for ways to help my son stop biting his hand too. He has hypotonic cp, non verbal, 4 years old and normally really cool. He too gets excited and I think he is biting because he is unable to express his feelings. We hope to find some concrete solutions.
Jan 17, 2011
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		hand bitting
by: Anonymous

Hi,

I am 32 and have bitten my right hand for years only stopping when i reached my mid 20's i guess and stopped finding the world quite so frustrating.

It did me no long term harm, the scaly skin/ scar tissue on my hand is now no longer visible (faded to nothing within a month or so) and meant i never hit anyone, so it was the lesser of 2 evils.

Everything is a phase - just some phases last longer than others, it all comes good in the end.

I am impressed with you ability to read the reasons he is biting himself - took me years to work it out...
Nov 18, 2010
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		my son hand biter also
by: Anonymous

My son is a hand biter for all the same reasons. He's almost 4 but not autistic. He's definitely hyperactive, he's very large and advanced for his age. I was the same so there is no surprise there. I chewed pencils down to the lead.

I'm looking for advice myself. So far the only thing that make sense is that it is a coping mechanism or a need to chew (oral stimulation) how to treat it is still beyond me.

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