Your tongue is an organ made of muscles that house thousands of sensitive structures and help you taste things. These structures are called taste buds; imagine if they get burnt! How will you be able to taste anything then?
Well, do not worry. Our body has great coping mechanisms, and fortunately, our taste buds slough off fortnightly, so if they get burnt, your body will replace them. But, this does not happen in a day. This blog has details about what to do for pain relief in the meantime.
How Do Taste Buds Get burnt?
As mentioned earlier, the human tongue has loads of taste buds. Whenever you eat in haste or miscalculate the temperature of the food or beverage, your tongue gets burnt. This burn inflames the taste buds which reduces its ability to sense the flavor of food you eat.
That is why, with burnt taste buds, your food seems different until it fully recovers. However, the buds are distributed, and each flavor detector has a different territory fixed. The sour patch is on the sides, with bitter ones at the back. Whereas sweet and salty are found in the frontal region. So, if your taste buds get burnt in a certain area, you would not lose every sensation.
Types of Burns
Wondering how to get rid of burnt taste buds? Here’s the thing, your body replaces them afresh every two weeks. So there is a great chance that you would not have to do anything about it. However, burns are of various degrees, which decide on the healing time.
There are three types of burn, first, second, and third degree. They are given levels with respect to the amount of damage caused. If your taste buds have burnt superficially, it is classified as first degree. It only affects the top most layer making it swollen and inflamed with red color.
Second degree comparatively is a lot more painful due to deeper layer damage. Blisters may form around the area.
Third degree burn is no less than a nightmare. With the casualty reaching the deepest layers, it is extremely painful and may turn the area white or black.
How to Fix Burnt Taste Buds?
Here’s how you can facilitate the repair by accelerating it and relieving pain.
- Get some ice immediately; to numb your mouth temporarily, relieving pain.
- Rinse with saltwater; swish, and swirl thrice a day for getting rid of the swelling and pain
- Avoid salty, acidic, high temperature food or beverage.
- If your tongue hurts badly after being burnt, use painkillers like acetaminophen to soothe them.
Conclusion
We often find ourselves in a situation where the taste buds on our tongue get burnt due to misjudgment of temperature. There is no need to panic; your body has a natural mechanism to deal with it. Still, if there is any confusion, contact Pearland Family Dentistry at 832-649-7344 for details or set up an appointment.