Burning Tongue, Burning Mouth: What Causes It and How to Treat It?
My tongue burns like it’s on fire,
and it’s worse at night, keeping you awake.
Can it really get better?
Bottom line,
burning mouth is a completely treatable condition.
hello.
I’m Dr. Sangchul Hwang, an autonomic nervous system researcher and therapist.
Today, we’re tackling the question on many people’s minds,
“Burning mouth, can it really be cured?”
And.
“Is there anything I can do to manage it on my own?”
We’re going to focus on these two questions.
Burning mouth, why doesn’t it go away?
Hospitals often prescribe medications in the
neuroleptics, such as Ribotril.
This medication
reduces nerve overexcitement
and temporarily relieve pain
pain temporarily.
But the problem is,
symptoms are likely to recur or become chronic if the “root cause” of why the nerves are irritated is not addressed.
So I always say this.
A burning mouth is not just a problem with the tongue,
it’s a result of your entire body being out of balance.
It’s hard to get better by treating the tongue alone,
A cause-specific approach and constitutional adjustment is the key to treatment.
Two key causes of burning mouth
The most common causes of burning mouth that I see in my practice
There are two main causes of burning mouth.
✅ 1. you have a lot of constitutional tension and sensitivity
Many people with burning mouth have been diagnosed with
- Nervous
- Stress easily and
- These are the people who can’t seem to relax.
When this happens, the autonomic nervous system becomes unbalanced
causing the tongue and mouth mucosa to overreact to small stimuli.
At this time
treatment to stabilize nerves, restore circulation, and regulate constitution
symptoms should subside gradually.
✅ 2. Poor posture and cervical spine (neck) instability
Another important cause is
turtle neck, straight neck, and cervical instability.
If the neck remains forward
the nerves that run through the neck become compressed,
and this effect can be transmitted to the cranial nerves responsible for tongue sensation.
which can cause a burning sensation or pain.
So along with constitutional therapy
cervical spine adjustments, and muscle relaxation treatments,
recovery is often much faster.
The patient who couldn’t sleep because her tongue was burning
I have a patient who stands out in my mind.
After my dental implant procedure
my tongue started to hurt like it was on fire,
I could hardly sleep at night because of the pain.
You’ve been to the dentist, the neurologist.
but they always came back with the same thing.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
The sensation of my tongue touching my teeth is very uncomfortable.
He had several teeth extracted,
and his digestion and stamina had suffered greatly as a result.
I would describe her as
“not just looking at the tongue, but at the whole body to restore balance”
toward restoring balance to the whole body.
- Herbal remedies to restore digestive function
- Acupuncture and corrective therapy to release nerve and muscle tension at the same time
I did a combination of both,
it took a while, but
the pain slowly started to diminish.
One day, a patient says
“Now I can sleep properly at night.”
When he told me,
it was very rewarding for me.
Will nutritional supplements or gum help?
B vitamins
help with neuronal metabolism
may help temporarily.
However, nutritional supplements alone
burning mouth sensation is unlikely to be completely resolved,
and should be viewed as a synergistic adjunct to professional treatment.
Chewing gum also increases
increases saliva secretion
you may feel a momentary relief from pain.
But if you chew too long and hard
strain on the jaw joint
which can actually make the pain worse.
2 things you can do at home to take care of yourself
✅ 1️⃣ Relax the internal pterygoid muscle
The muscle that you can feel on the inside of your molars, on the inside of your cheek, is the internal pterygoid muscle.
When this muscle is tense, it can irritate the nerves that go to the tongue, which can cause a
burning sensation in your mouth.
👉 How to
Wash your hands thoroughly and
Place your index finger inside your mouth
and gently press down on the inside convexity of your molars
gently for 1-2 minutes.
✅ 2️⃣ Stretching the SCM (cervicothoracic muscles)
This is a must-do stretch for those with turtle neck and straight neck.
👉 How to
Press your fingers into the muscles above your collarbone.
slowly turn your head from side to side for about a minute.
This will soften the nerve flow along with the tension in your neck.
🩺 Closing thoughts
Burning Mouth
isn’t just a tongue condition,
nor is it something to be dismissed as a mental issue.
It’s more like a “nervous system abnormality signal” from your entire body.
Do you still have
Your tongue is hot and sore at night
“Why am I in so much pain if the tests say it’s normal?”
and thinking to yourself, “Why am I getting sick?
If so, keep this in mind.
👉 Burning mouth can get better when you find the cause.
👉 And there is a path to treatment.
Don’t feel like you have to go it alone,
and feel comfortable getting help.
Why I Treat Autonomic Dysfunction, I’ve Been There, Done That
