Teeth grinding and blinking hard.

[Reverie.]

Hey!

So this is kind of a real problem for me at times. I go through phases (it's not all the time) where I grind my teeth. I don't know why I do it or why it comes, but it's happened twice now and the latest one really started hurting.

I also sometime blink really hard and it affects me. It makes me overly tired and makes my eyes hurt. It gives me a headache too. Most of the time this happens when I'm not wearing my glasses or they aren't strong enough, but I don't think that's always the case.

So yeah, do any of you guys so either of these things? How can I stop myself doing them?

Thanks in advance!
Hollie.

[Switzerland]

Hey,

I blinked hard for a while, too, and I never figured out why! I think I ended up deciding that it had to do with the amount of moisture in my eyes... but I still can't be sure. I don't know, but it was always awkward for me.

I don't remember exactly how I stopped, but I know it took some concentration. Everytime I went to blink like that, I would challenge myself to not do it, and I would see how long I could go. A lot of the time, I ended up forgetting to blink like that... and eventually, I guess the need to do it just went away. So what I'm saying is, try to trick youself into not doing your habits. Challenge yourself. See what happens.

[Aletheia*]

Hey Hollie,
I too, grind my teeth. Mine is constant though, but only when I sleep. I drive my man crazy with that; keeps him up at night sometimes. What I do to help me, and this will help you too, is to sleep with a mouth guard. They're fairly cheap, and you can buy them at pharmacies. There are some where they can actually be molded to fit your teeth. Don't stop the grinding, but it helps keep the pain away from the grinding.

As for blinking hard, I really have no idea why.

[Lupr]

I actually do both these things, among the many many many other habits OCD causes (or tics, according to replies to a thread I posted).

I grind my teeth to the point where I'm sure I'm doing some real damage to them. I know I shouldn't, but I still find myself doing it.
I don't know if this will work for you, but one thing that helps me is to keep my teeth occupied. You could try chewing something, or talking a lot (even if you have to bore someone to sleep).

As for the blinking, I'm really sorry to say I'm still struggling with that. The first reply to your post was good, how you could challenge yourself. Might even try that myself!

Sorry if I was no help at all, but I hope you manage to deal with these issues!

[Reverie.]

Thank you all for these replies, I'll deffinetly try these suggestions out!

Switzerland I will try the challenging myself thing although I'm not sure how well it will work. It gets to a stage where if I dont do it it doesn't feel right, kind of like when you don't scratch an itch, you don't feel right until you've done it. If that makes sense.

Thanks anyways guys! <3

[Iridescence]

I grind my teeth a lot lately too, I stop right after I realize I am,