Natural Remedies for Burning Mouth Syndrome

I had burning mouth syndrome for about a year. It was very painful at first but I found a doctor in Ithaca, Dr Richard Cohen. He is a doctor of homeopathic medicine and he is very knowledgeable regarding burning mouth. He prescribed supplements that did make it go away, unfortunately I had a skin reaction to the supplements. But by following his diet (no grains, they fuel the inflammation) it gradually decreased. I now know which foods I have to avoid ( raw strawberries, orange juice) and I have found foods that help (weirdly, hot pepperoni and chamomile tea.) So hang in there and keep working at it until you figure out what makes it worse and what helps. Keeping a food journal was very helpful.

After one year of suffering from BMS, I was prescribed Clonazepam. It started helping within a few hours, and I've been taking it once a day (late evening before going to bed) for about 1 year. I don't suffer any side effects and the mouth pain is reduced about 80% from where it was when I started. And the pain seems to slowly be diminishing. It was quite bad at first.

Clonazepam is pretty cheap, but requires a prescription. My doctor has also asked me to replace coffee with green tea and avoid carbonated beverages. Also, no alcohol based mouthwash. The symptoms seem to be slowly going away, but there's still a bit of discomfort at all times. It's tolerable and sometimes I don't even notice it. Quite a bit better than two years ago when it started. Better in the morning, hurts more in the afternoon, and better in the late evening.

My doctor described BMS as a little bit like tinnitus (ringing of the ears), where there really isn't a ringing sound, but the brain thinks there is, and the Clonazepam stops the brain from thinking that there is burning in the mouth. So far, we have had to change the dosage and it's working for me. Plus, the stuff helps me sleep better at night.

That's my experience. Dave

Try an elimination diet of all food allergens - I'm in the process of doing a 10 day one for Hashimotos autoimmune disease (Dr Ks diet). I went gluten and coffee free a few weeks back and already my burning mouth syndrome has gone. With the elimination diet you completely clean up your body and then introduce things back in slowly to see what triggers your body - you'll be amazed at other little ailments just dissappearing - my back ache (which I've suffered with for 9 months) has also gone - what's that all about!!! I would recommend elimination diet to anyone suffering with this - it's hard going but well worth it.

I eliminated gluten and my burning mouth completely subsided after less than 2 weeks. I am convinced I am gluten intolerant, because of the many digestive issues that have also subsided. I would rather never eat those things again than have that constant burning in my mouth. after 5 years, relief finally!

Hi, I was in graduate school, managing to eat healthy mostly vegetarian home cooked food - but not sleeping enough and extremely stressed and drinking coffee - when my tongue started to burn. In a couple of days it got so bad that it became insanely distracting and spread to my gums and lips. Eating (especially acidic foods) became unbearably uncomfortable. My tongue looked normal and I felt fine - just the usual stressed and tired. I was desperate for a solution and went to a great country doctor near my school. He explained that the cause of Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is hard to determine and it can come and go for years. One theory, he said, was B vitamin or iron deficiency. He asked if I ate red meat and told me to go eat dark green leafy vegetables like kale and chard and red meat 2x a day for three days and see what happens. If no change, I'd go back for some tests. In two days of eating beef and kale the burning was gone. I realized that the stress was causing my digestive system to just not work very well; I wasn't absorbing the vitamins I needed from my food or from the B complex supplement I had been taking. B vitamin supplements don't work, your stressed out system just flushes them out. Whole foods, a healthy digestive system, and calming down a bit are key. This is not the cause/solution for all BMS cases but it is a good start in your self-diagnosis to rule out the possibility of vitamin/mineral deficiency. If you have BMS, you have my sympathy! And I hope you find some relief soon.