Picked up an awful habit. Tips to break it?

[Complexity]

I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, and over the last year or so I picked up an awful habit (likely stress related):

Hair chewing.

A lot of the time I don't even realize that I'm doing it (though I'm trying to be more conscious of it). I know it's going to end up ruining any of the 'good' I'm doing with my hair (that I neglected for too many years) and so I'm looking for solutions.

There's the obvious 'wear it up' answer, but I'm not very good at braiding (and worry that I might be doing more harm than good with it) and although I've pretty much mastered the cinnabun, I only have claw clips to hold it in place (and again, I worry they do more harm than good). Right now, buying anything new isn't an option.

Any help you kind folks could offer is greatly appreciated! :)

I can definitely see myself spending multiple hours here.

[lithostoic]

Put a leave in on your hair. Once you taste it you'll likely be jolted and realize what you've done.

[Nique1202]

Braiding does more good than harm unless you get a lot of tangles taking it out. Similarly, claw clips still protect most of your hair without causing huge amounts of damage to what they touch, especially if you take a nail file and smooth out any sharp edges you can reach with it. Any one style might cause you a few splits or problems if you wear them daily for a few years but you've already got two things you can do right now, plus maybe a peacock twist if your claw clips are big enough and your hair's not too long.

Also you should look into the disc bun, which can be held with just a pencil or pen or shortened chopstick for now. If your hair is long enough you might be able to do either a lazy wrap or a nautilus bun, either is worth a try, and they also only need one improvised stick to secure. (Lots of folks have trouble with one or the other, or both if you don't have enough length, so don't be too discouraged if you can't get them to work just yet.)

[Arctic]

Be careful it won't develop into the sister disorder of trichotillomania, called trichophagia (compulsive hair eating).

In general you probably will find good, down to earth advice and "tools" how you could proceed if you look for trichotillomania related sites/articles. We even have some good threads and posts here. This would also help you to understand the whole "bad habit" better.

[lapushka]

Maybe try the LWB (lazy wrap bun), lots of tutorials on YT for this one!
It should be doable at your length, even with iii hair (I wore it at this stage).

[Complexity]

I never thought of the leave in... That's a good one!

I do get a few tangles when it comes to braiding, but I'm not sure if it's the braiding itself or just that I'm not very good at doing it. I do leave it in a loose braid to sleep though (the longest layers are hip length and I find that I have less tangles in the morning that way).

I have no idea what any of those other buns you mentioned are at the moment. Looks like tonight will be a night chalked full of research!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Learn a nice way to put it up so you can't get it in your mouth. A nice protective style.

[AJNinami]

Find your favorite color of pencil -> BAM hairstick! (make sure to blunt the end and cover any rough parts with nail polish though) There are a ton of different styles out there to choose from. If you do a youtube search you can find most of the buns mentioned here. Youtube also does well for braiding tutorials. My scalp is still getting used to having hair be put up, but my scalp has always been sensitive. Braiding is much nicer to my scalp so I do that more often.

I actually used to nonstop suck on the ends of my hair when I was younger. I've found out that when I'm stressed or feeling nervous or unconfident, I start to put things (especially loose hair!) back into my mouth, e.x. pencils, fingers, food, water (I've been known to drink well over a gallon of water), hair, anything. There might be some kind of trigger causing you to do it.

[Complexity]

It's definitely stress-induced. Working on better coping skills for that that, too.

Looks like tonight is going to be a night of YT tutorials!

[spidermom]

Tie back with a scarf or hat.

[meteor]

Welcome to the LHC, Shanda! :cheer: You already got some great advice here! :D
If I were in this situation, I'd try to wear a hair buff/silk scarf/bonnet or something like that around the house (your hair will love the added protection from it, too! ;) )

Also, don't worry about putting hair up being damaging. As long as you go for a low-manipulation styles (e.g. LWB, disc bun that were suggested above) and don't twist or torque or do it too tightly or use any damaging tools, it should be perfectly fine and will actually help protect your hair from friction and tangling and being caught on things... And I think claw-clips are some of the most hair-friendly tools out there ;), just check them for seams and, if there are any, you can file them down with a nail file and/or buffer and be careful when you place them and remove them - watch out for hairs getting stuck in the spring.

In this particular situation, I would probably learn some styles that specifically put hair up rather intricately, to avoid the temptation of quickly taking hair down and putting it in your mouth. For example, double/multiple buns (stacked vertically on top of each other, or side-by-side buns) or sectioned updos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZvXrEOfJ4w) or all sorts of braided buns or hair taping (coronets sewn to scalp hair - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlwnlfDYzk8) or Amish Braided Bun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1ms8ODU42k) or Braided Beehive (braided cinnabun from 3 layers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsQ15IxkWMA) or 3 braids braided together..... - basically anything that cannot be taken down without you being aware of it.

[Sweets]

So sorry for the stress you're under, Shanda, and I hope you can target your stress and remedy your new habit. I always suggest meditation to target stress, and hopefully your new symptom will disappear also with the suggestions in this thread. Good luck!

[Kimberly]

I was a hair sucker and chewer as a child. I quit by switching to a new habit, nail biting. And I eventually quit nail biting by switching to yet another habit, wearing rings and messing with them (spinning them around so they face the right way, etc.). I've stuck with that habit most of my life, since it's pretty harmless. Maybe you can think of a new way to fidget?

[Complexity]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions and videos (they're more helpful than you know; I'm pretty much useless when it comes to actually styling my hair - I somehow managed to get all kinds of length without actually doing anything to it - Despite poor diet and stress, my hair and nails still grow. Just not as strong/thick as they used to/I'd like them to).

I was considering trying guided meditation and getting back into yoga. Thanks for the push!

I do have scarves, but I don't think that any of them are silk. Another thing to add to my list of things to invest in one day :)

[Hypnotica]

Necklaces with pendants or bracelets with beads. Something that you can fiddle with. Should help you to break the habit.

[lunalocks]

Chew gum or toothpicks instead. wear hair up, even with a claw clip to get it out of the way of temptation.

[Complexity]

I've had my hair up in a cinnabun (the only style I'm even semi-good at haha) all day.

Haven't chewed it yet :D, but I find that I'm extra fidgety and don't know what to do with my hands.

I must have a necklace around here somewhere....

[Hypnotica]

http://www.stimtastic.co/stim-jewelry/

I can recommend these - they also have chewable pendants. Even with shipping to Canada, the price tag is reasonable!

I'm autistic so I tend to stim a lot. It seems to me that your hair chewing is basically stimming. It is just one of these things that help you to cope with stress, anxiey and all sorts external input but it nice to have a safe way of doing it.

[Complexity]

^ Those are pretty! I'll have to look into them. Thank you for the link :)

I just realized that I've apparently replaced my hair with the string from my hoodie... Ah well, at least I don't have to worry about split ends that way?

Baby steps.

[Hypnotica]

^ Those are pretty! I'll have to look into them. Thank you for the link :)

I just realized that I've apparently replaced my hair with the string from my hoodie... Ah well, at least I don't have to worry about split ends that way?

Baby steps.

It is certainly a step up! I mean, if you don't want to damage your hoodie strings, go to a fabric store, they have that type of strings. Buy a length or two and then you can make a hoodie string necklace :)

[Jadestorm]

You've already gotten a lot of excellent advice here on how to keep your hair out of the way or how to make it taste bad when you do chew it. Since you're now chewing on your hoodie string, I was wondering if it would help to have something in your mouth to chew on or suck on? Like a stick of liquorice, chewing gum, a lollipop,...