BURNING mouth is a painful sensation that is felt in almost all the corners of the tongue. It is also known as scalded mouth syndrome, burning tongue syndrome, burning lips syndrome, glossodynia and stomatodynia
Known causes
Burning tongue has long been associated with a variety of other conditions including menopause, psychological problems, nutritional deficiencies, and disorders of the mouth, such as oral thrush and dry mouth (xerostomia).
More recently, some researchers have suggested dysfunctional or damaged nerves as a possible cause. Burning tongue affects women seven times as often as men. Women going through hormonal transitions, such as the time leading up to menopause, are at an even greater risk of developing the symptom, because hormonal imbalance is known to cause burning tongue.
Identify it
Burning tongue is accompanied by burning pain on the tongue, especially on the tip or back of the tongue, or other areas of the mouth.
There are typically no visible signs or lesions on the tongue or mouth in those who suffer from it. A person affected with burning tongue loses his sense of taste for sometime..
Prevention
Some simple tasks can alleviate some of the discomfort of burning tongue.
Drinking more water, for instance, can stimulate saliva production and relieve some of the symptoms.
Certain foods may be best to avoid, such as spicy foods, cinnamon, or even mint. Also avoid hot and spicy foods.
They may aggravate the condition.
It is recommended to avoid foods and oral hygiene products that you are allergic to, as they may also aggravate the condition.
Treatment
The treatment of burning tongue syndrome is highly individualistic. If your burning mouth is associated with dry mouth which is in turn linked to a specific medication, simply changing the prescription may be the only solution necessary.
For nutritional deficiencies, supplements can be used. An outbreak of thrush responds to oral antifungals such as Mycostatin or Diflucan.
Chewing a sugar free gum serves as an excellent burning tongue home remedy treatment. Drinking fresh fruit juice and vegetable juice and eating iron rich food, such as broccoli, spinach and parsley help. Applying glycerin on the tongue gives a cooling sensation, thereby relieving the pain and burning sensation. Lavender oil acts as an antiseptic.
It not only works well to cure burning tongue, but also promotes blood circulation.
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