Dry Mouth, Symptoms and Treatment

Maybe you have heard of dry mouth, but are not exactly sure what the condition involves. Well, here is your chance to learn more.

Instances of this condition can and most likely will occur from time to time based on your activities and habits. Many of these episodes can be avoided with a few simple steps. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of the condition then examine the treatment.

The ailment is accompanied by a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth; thus explaining the name. This lack of saliva can result in oral sores forming and splitting of skin around the mouth and on the lips (cracked lips). This condition can spread to the back of the throat and cause a sufferer to experience frequent thirst.

This state can be associated with other developments, such as canker sores, burning and tingling sensations and redness and irritation of the tongue. This may lead to hoarseness, dried out nasal passages and sore throat.

From this list of symptoms, which is not complete, you can see why it can be more than a small inconvenience. Now, what can you do to head off these more serious ailments?

Sometimes the dryness is caused by medicines and the answer may be as simple as changing to another medication or dosage. There are also medicines that improve saliva flow, which is the goal in any treatment.

Other ways to increase saliva include sucking on sugar-free candy or chewing sugar-free gum, drinking plenty of water, which can maintain fluid levels in the body and prevent dehydration, breathing through your nose and not your mouth and using over-the-counter saliva substitutes. In most cases this will be enough to improve or eliminate the problem.