I first saw chewing sensory supports ages ago and have been thinking about trying them for a long time. I was put off by the price at first, thinking "What if it does nothing for me? I can't really gift these ones away to my nibblings if they aren't a good fit."
But I've had 2 minor self-harming oral stims since I was a child that have since become a normal part of my life - cheek and lip biting, and flicking my crowded front teeth to the point of developing almost constant sores on my tongue and cheeks, and often have tears where I've ripped the skin off of my lips.
I developed those stims because I used to almost constantly get in trouble for chewing on my hair and shirt/jumper collars and cuffs.
So I ended up switching hair-chewing for the more acceptable hair-twirling (someone telling me about the 'hair-ball' story was actually more effective for this than all the telling-off was) and started chewing *myself* where no one could see.
So I figured I did have some need to chew and the worst that could happen is that I blew $30. I've easily spent that much on ice-cream or other comfort food when I had a bad day, so this was worth it to try.
I got a sample pack of Chewth Picks and a Mini-byte necklace and they have changed my life. Not only have my chesks, tongue and lips been able to heal, my stress levels have dropped dramatically. The mini-byte is excellent for when I'm on the move and don't want to risk dropping a chewth pick or risk tripping and doing myself some damage having something pointy in my mouth. Even just being able to hold it between my teeth without active chewing while driving has made a significant impact on my stress levels for the day. And the chewth picks are wonderful for my concentration when I'm at my desk and working through documents.
My only thoughts for improvement is actually more about a way to carry them around that is sanitary than the items themselves.
I got both the smooth sampler and the textured sampler packs and found that my resistance preference changes depending on which texture I'm using. Excellent and well worth the money.
