Pain
The burning of the tongue can be extremely unpleasant and cause pain. But why is this so? The burn of the tongue damages the affected tissue.
Specialized sensors (receptors) for the stimulus “pain” (nociceptors) are thus excited and, in a simplified view, transmit the sensation to the central nervous system (CNS) and thus into our consciousness. Pain-inducing substances, such as bradykinin, prostaglandin or histamine, also enhance the perception of pain and thus sensitize the resident receptors. This ensures that injured tissue is protected from further damaging influences.
If we burn our tongue, rapidly conducting A-delta nerve fibers are activated. This allows the tongue to be retracted from the hot source of pain within fractions of a second. This makes pain sensation an important warning signal of the body!
In the area of the tongue, the pain can lead to a functional impairment. Those affected have problems eating, drinking or even speaking. Even brushing teeth can become extremely unpleasant.
In addition to the well-known home remedies, local anaesthetic ointments, gels or irrigations (local anaesthetics) can be used. The most common active ingredients include lidocaine, prilocaine or articaine. They only block a special sodium channel locally (sodium channel blocker) and thus have an inhibiting effect on the pain triggering.
Various preparations are available without prescription in pharmacies and can be applied to the affected area several times a day. The dosage instructions should be followed carefully, especially for babies, infants and elderly people. Otherwise, overdose may cause paleness, dizziness and a drop in blood pressure.
Household sugar for pain relief
For many generations, the assumption that conventional household sugar on a burned tongue can work wonders. Like countless other “household remedies”, it dates from a time when people did not have a comprehensive understanding of health and sufficient access to appropriate medicines as they do today. Basically, it is not unduly harmful to sprinkle sugar on a small, burnt area of the tongue.However, it is rather questionable whether a concrete benefit in the sense of pain relief or acceleration of healing is achieved.
However, this should be avoided in the case of extensive burns. Appropriate antibacterial ointments, rinses etc. are certainly more up-to-date.
