# I bit my own finger! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403 "2007-12-27T20:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/1 "2007-12-27T20:16:33Z")
Last night I was lounging on the couch. Since I have TMJD, sometimes the most comfortable way to lounge is with my finger in my mouth, the tip between my teeth. It helps relax my jaw muscles. I drifted off to sleep, with my finger in my mouth, and I woke myself up by BITING my own finger VERY hard. 18 hours later there’s still a white spot on the nail bed and it hurts. It hurts when I type! I think I’ve done this before, too. But not as hard. I always get the stupidest injuries ☹ MPSIMS for sure, but I am seriously trying to avoid work today. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/2 "2007-12-27T22:58:06Z")
I also bite in my sleep. I am quite regularly startled out of a sound sleep for no apparent reason that I can tell…only to have my tongue start throbbing and tasting blood a few seconds later. On a long car trip I bit the same side of my tongue _4 times_ before I just refused to fall back asleep. I also have the TMJD–I wonder if sleep-biting is correlated? ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/3 "2007-12-28T07:34:30Z")
Tmjd…? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/4 "2007-12-28T07:48:26Z")
[When your jaw goes all wonky and makes it hard to use for things like talking, eating and s\*\*\*\*\*\* c\*\*\*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tmjd) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/5 "2007-12-28T08:12:43Z")
I bit my finger a few years ago. I was eating some kind of food that comes in small units, like Cheetos or something, and went to pop one in my mouth while I was still chewing the previous one. (To say that I eat like a pig would be an insult to all the fine porcine inhabitants of the Earth.) So I tried to pop it into my mouth, and somehow I got my index finger caught between my jaws as I was chewing. I wasn’t really _chomping_ or anything involving unusual effort; just regular, laid-back chewing. It turns out that “regular, laid-back chewing” involves a LOT more force than you would think. It was so extraordinarily painful that I felt certain I’d broken the bone in the tip of my finger. As it turned out, I didn’t break it (or do any other real damage to speak of), but DAMN, that was painful. And now I am acutely aware that when I am eating, I’m exerting a surprising amount of force with my jaws. Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/6 "2007-12-28T15:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=jackelope] I bit my finger a few years ago. I was eating some kind of food that comes in small units, like Cheetos or something, and went to pop one in my mouth while I was still chewing the previous one. (To say that I eat like a pig would be an insult to all the fine porcine inhabitants of the Earth.) So I tried to pop it into my mouth, and somehow I got my index finger caught between my jaws as I was chewing. I wasn’t really _chomping_ or anything involving unusual effort; just regular, laid-back chewing. It turns out that “regular, laid-back chewing” involves a LOT more force than you would think. It was so extraordinarily painful that I felt certain I’d broken the bone in the tip of my finger. As it turned out, I didn’t break it (or do any other real damage to speak of), but DAMN, that was painful. And now I am acutely aware that when I am eating, I’m exerting a surprising amount of force with my jaws. Live and learn. [/QUOTE] I will sometimes do this when eating fries–and you’re entirely correct, it is surprisingly painful! Not to mention, it makes me feel incredibly stupid! ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/7 "2007-12-28T18:33:07Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] s\*\*\*\*\*\* c\*\*\*🙂 [/QUOTE] Soaping cats? 😛 I’ve bitten my finger once or twice while eating popcorn. Ouch. What I really hate is when I bite the inside of my cheek and it swells up just enough to insure that I’ll bite it a couple more times before I’m done eating. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bit-my-own-finger/431403/8 "2007-12-28T21:44:08Z")
Hmm, I’ve never bitten my tongue while sleeping **LittleBird**. That sounds horrible! Mostly because my finger is not supposed to be in my mouth when I’m sleeping so what I did was just stupid, but how does one keep one’s tongue safe from one’s teeth?! Owie! I don’t know if biting/grinding/clenching/bruxism is a cause or a symptom of TMJD. I was never told that I grind my teeth before I was diagnosed (my teeth are clearly not ground down) and after that I had a night mouthguard. But I know for a fact that I clench/bite now when I sleep. All you guys who bite your fingers while eating…you’re just goobers 😃