Home Remedies for Burn Blisters on the Tongue
Drinking or eating food that is too hot can result in painful burn blisters on the tongue. These burn blisters can make it hard to eat, sleep, drink or talk, and can remain painful even when you aren't doing anything at all. You could take a medicinal painkiller to help the discomfort subside, but you may already have the key to comfort in the cupboards of your own home. Use home remedies for burn blisters on the tongue to help you deal with the pain until the tongue heals and the pain subsides.
Drink Water
When your tongue is dry, the blisters can be even more painful. Michael W. Dodds, Ph.D. assistant professor in the Department of Community Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio notes that mouth burns can often deplete your mouth of moisture, leaving it dry and parched and even more painful 12. Keep a bottle of water on hand and drink it frequently to keep your mouth moist to deal with the pain 12.
Cold Foods
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Cold foods can help numb the pain temporarily so that you can eat and drink with less pain. Some ideal cold foods that you can eat for a mouth burn include yogurt, Popsicles, applesauce or frozen drinks 12. Cold foods make it easy for you to eat without having to do too much with your mouth 12. Choose foods that slide past your tongue and down your throat easily so you don't need to move your tongue around any more than is absolutely necessary. This gives your tongue plenty of time to heal.
- Cold foods can help numb the pain temporarily so that you can eat and drink with less pain.
- Choose foods that slide past your tongue and down your throat easily so you don't need to move your tongue around any more than is absolutely necessary.
Salt Water Gargle
The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends gargling with cool salt water to help pain subside. It's a popular canker sore remedy that works on mouth blisters, too 12. Mix 1 cup of cool water with a teaspoon of salt and stir to dissolve. Pour the mixture in your mouth and gargle over a sink for at least 30 seconds 12. If possible, swish the salt water mixture around your mouth, making sure that it coats your tongue 12. Not only does salt help to relieve the pain, it can help clean the blisters and promote faster healing.
Avoid Certain Foods
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One thing that may speed healing for your mouth blisters is to avoid spicy or hot foods 12. Spicy foods can inflame the blisters, causing you more pain and halting the healing process. The capsaicin in spicy foods is irritating to broken skin. Avoid foods that caused your mouth blisters in the first place, warns the American Academy of Family Physicians, like hot coffee, tea and steaming hot foods 12.
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References
- Medline: Mouth Sores
- AAFP: mouth Problems
- American Dental Association (ADA). Xerostomia (Dry Mouth). Department of Scientific Information, ADA Science Institute. Updated July 9, 2019.
- Bartels C. Xerostomia. The Oral Cancer Foundation. Updated October 15, 2018
- Barnhart MK, Robinson RA, Simms VA, et al. Treatment toxicities and their impact on oral intake following non-surgical management for head and neck cancer: a 3-year longitudinal study. Support Care Cancer. 2018;26(7):2341-2351. doi:10.1007/s00520-018-4076-6
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Candida Infections Of The Mouth, Throat, And Esophagus | Fungal Diseases | CDC. National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED). Updated November 13, 2019.
- V Sankar, N Rhodus, & the AAOM Web Writing Group. Xerostomia. The American Academy of Oral Medicine. Updated October 15, 2015.
- Rusthen S, Kristoffersen AK, Young A, Galtung HK, Petrovski BÉ, Palm Ø et al. Dysbiotic salivary microbiota in dry mouth and primary Sjögren's syndrome patients. PLoS One. 2019 Jun 18;14(6):e0218319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218319.
- V Sankar, N Rhodus & the AAOM Web Writing Group. Dry Mouth. The American Academy of Oral Medicine. Updated October 15, 2015.
- American Dental Association. Dry Mouth. Mouth Healthy. Updated January 2019.
- Men K, Geng H, Zhong H, Fan Y, Lin A, Xiao Y. A deep learning model for predicting xerostomia due to radiotherapy for head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma in the RTOG 0522 clinical trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 Jun 12. pii: S0360-3016(19)30834-X. doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.009.
- National Institutes of Health. Dry Mouth. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Updated January 2019.
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Kay Ireland specializes in health, fitness and lifestyle topics. She is a support worker in the neonatal intensive care and antepartum units of her local hospital and recently became a certified group fitness instructor.