Bottom Line/HEALTH: Dr. Holly, I have another question from somebody. I have suddenly developed this burning sensation in my mouth; what is it, and what can I do to stop it?
Holly Lucille, ND, RN: Yeah, there is such a thing as Burning Mouth Syndrome. All of a sudden, you’re feeling this sensation, and there are no spicy foods around, so you’re like, “What the heck is happening?” I think that’s the best question.
Bottom Line: Does it feel like you’ve eaten spicy food, or literally like your mouth is on fire?
Dr. Lucille: It feels like you’ve eaten spicy food, from what I hear.
Bottom Line: So now, what can they do about it?
Dr. Lucille: Yeah, one of the things is pretty much to identify and treat the cause if you can. It has been linked to some vitamin deficiencies; it has been linked to hormonal imbalances, allergies, perhaps, and even acid reflux.
But if the cause is unknown – so we call that no etiology or an etiology unknown – what do we know? Well, there has been a great study on lipoic acid, which is a water soluble and fat soluble antioxidant. There’s a placebo group and a test group. The test group of the Burning Mouth Syndrome had 600 milligrams of lipoic acid for 30 days, and experienced a decrease in that sensation and those symptoms were pretty profound. It’s what I use personally in treatment for somebody who has the sensation when we just really have no other idea of what discernible patterns are causing it.
Bottom Line: Perfect. Lipoic acid for Burning Mouth Syndrome. Thank you so much, Dr. Holly Lucille.
