Chronic tongue and lip biting while eating

I’ve had lip sores from biting them for over 10 yrs now.
My upper and lower lips are numb, reasons unknown.
As a result I’m a messy eater, having food on my mouth which I cannot feel,and constantly having to wipe my mouth.
I often wake in the morning with a hematoma on my lip, I guess from biting them in my sleep.
Sometimes my lips look bluish also.
None of my many docs have an answer for my numb lips, and it’s been over 10 years now.
I’m assuming it’s part of my CIDP , neuropathy.

I have this problem as well. Recently, I've been randomly biting my cheek, and occasionally my tongue, when I eat. Kind of food doesn't seem to matter (this last time I was eating cottage cheese). Very frustrating, and painful. I also have long covid (have had it for several years now) and I believe it started AFTER I contracted covid. I also have some severe back issues which have been causing some inflammation. I have to believe there is some physiological cause to this other than my teeth, which are fine - I have no other teeth or mouth or jaw issues and nothing has changed in them for a while.

'Part cannot be well unless the whole is well,' said Plato. Few problems are rooted in few specific causes. My teeth (on a 80 y.o. jaw) have some pains which I try avoiding with more attentive chewing with teeth that don't hurt.

But most importantly, biting oneself IS an issue -- likely related to stress -- when it is excessive. I think my biting occasionally is not unhealthy as it's seldom resulted in an injury.

If the rest of your lifestyle is health-promoting, paying attention to tastiness and aroma and even tactile feel is a part of Enjoyable eating, not just nutritious. Hope it helps.

Did you have dental work done right before the biting started? When I am having work done they always worn me that nerves can be affected.

I also bite my lower lip (and occasionally my tongue) when I eat. This happens 2-3 times/year, then it clears up. My best guess for me is that it occurs due to very stressful times. The mess I made of my lower lip this week is probably from traveling to help my brother arrange his life better 🙂 and getting my first Covid infection. Prior to this last time of mouth biting, I had episodes of temporary, but extreme, upper jaw pain. I don’t think the back issues are related, it might just be coincidence. (I’ve had a C9 and C10 compression fractures for 30 years and I get by Ok; no pain with that. Also teeth have been misaligned for as long as I can remember)
So here is what I do to alleviate my aches and tightness in that area. I sincerely hope that you can feel better! Maybe some of this will help.

I generally try to keep my neck and back muscles as flexible as possible. I try for good posture (not leaving my neck in a “ knotty” position as when driving or watching a movie, TV). Also stretching and or rubbing some oil or lotion into head, neck and shoulders helps.
Once in a while, I take CBD pills, or Ahswaganda, but the best relaxation for neck area is “Molly’s Cream” by Be Rooted. There are different blends of camphor, methyl salicylate and menthol. I also “massage” my face by barely touching with my fingertips. This is a good time for me to remember to be kind to myself (hand over heart emoji)
Take Care 🕊️

Honestly, it makes me think of the proprioceptive system. I could be wrong about this, but it came up once during a neurosurgery examination, the subject of Proprioception. That is what's also called kinesthesia, which is "the body's ability to sense its position, movement, and action. It allows people to know where their body parts are without looking, and how they relate to each other. This helps with coordination and allows people to walk without thinking about where to put their feet, or touch their elbows while blindfolded. Proprioception also helps people determine how much force to use when lifting, pushing, pulling, or holding objects."

I literally copy/pasted that from Google AI. When I had my molars removed (they were all cracked) one by one, it was normal for me to lose track of where my tongue and/or cheek was, when the numbing medicine was still working. For that reason dentists sometimes tell us we can't eat anything for so many hours, they don't want us to chomp a nice big hunk of our own interior cheek. I remember biting my tongue as a kid because I had to have a bunch of teeth removed then too.

I believe it has to do with your nervous system, our proprioception of where all out own body parts are. When you talk about your C spine having issues, seems a good question for a Neurologist or Neurosurgeon.

Thanks for your thoughtful message. On reading it, I realize I made a mistake and it is not the cervical vertebra that I fractured. Yes, oops, it was T9 and T10.
I wonder why some of us might lose this proprioception and awareness in the mouth regularly? If there is a change in mouth structure (i.e., from dental work or over clenching the jaw) then maybe the new "environment" takes a while to form a connection like a "muscle memory" I'm sure it would be easy to injure this area with all of the activity and moving parts in the mouth and jaw! I just looked for info on the mandibular nerve and it is very complicated and interesting. One website said that this nerve was vulnerable to injury.

The impression I got, during which was just a neurological exam of all my body, was that it had to do with the nerves themselves, and/or maybe wires crossed in the brain. I also have 4th cranial nerve palsy, which is an injured 4th cranial (head) nerve. They never identified what they thought was causing it. It gets better, and some years, not so good.

I have progressive neurological diseases. As they progress, the same problems are happening to me. It’s gotten worse & it’s very painful. I’m 71. This didn’t happen when I was younger. I have fractures in L1, L2, & L3, stenosis from L1 to S1, but I don’t think these issues are the cause. I think it’s the neurological diseases. As they progress, this unintentional biting is much worse & more intense.

I have no prior illness or accident. I accidentally bite the inside of my lips even when I'm not chewing and when I'm not talking. It seems to be totally involuntary and random