Burning mouth syndrome is the medical term for ongoing (chronic) or recurrent burning in the mouth without an obvious cause. This discomfort may affect the tongue, gums, lips, inside of your cheeks, roof of your mouth or widespread areas of your whole mouth. The burning sensation can be severe, as if you scalded your mouth.
Burning mouth syndrome is a condition that is 13 times more common in menopausal women than the general population. The reason? Waning estrogen causes the tongue's bitter taste buds, which are surrounded by pain-conducting neurons, to atrophy, making nerves more sensitive and triggering the burning sensation.
Burning mouth syndrome can appear suddenly or develop gradually over time. Unfortunately, the cause often can't be determined. Although that makes treatment more challenging, you can often get burning mouth syndrome under better control by working closely with your health care team.
Sipping water can help, but it is also advised to limit spicy foods, which can increase irritation. And since zinc shortfalls can trigger or worsen symptoms, try eating more zinc-rich foods like beef, pork and beans. Finally in a study in the Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine, supplementing with 600 mg a day of alpha-lipoic acid significantly eased symptoms in two months. But if you don't feel better within this time frame, see your physician for more solutions.