How to Heal a Burnt Tongue Quickly: The Best Natural Remedies

You can get a burnt tongue quite quickly and without warning, leaving your mouth and tongue in a lot of pain. Of course, putting something that is too hot in our mouth is the main reason for burning your tongue. Depending on the severity of the scalding, tongue burns can leave you with a tingling, painful, and sore feeling in your mouth.

The burnt area on your tongue or another part of your mouth may be extra sensitive and it can affect eating, talking, and drinking. You may also suffer from lie bumps (swollen taste buds) or a painful sore under your tongue. Extreme tongue burns can even cause some of the tissue to come off the surface of your tongue and make it swell.

A burnt tongue often happens after eating hot pizza and other foods with hot cheese toppings or when drinking hot drinks like hot chocolate, coffee, and teas. Many dentists say that burns on the tongue, palate, and gums are becoming more common because of heating food and drink in microwaves. Microwaves don’t heat food and liquid evenly and so food can be cool on the outside but piping hot on the inside.

There are many amazing natural remedies to quickly heal the pain and discomfort of a burnt tongue. It is usually possible to quickly alleviate the burning feeling on your tongue, lips, or palate by immediately applying something very cold on your tongue. Other natural home remedies for tongue burns use honey or aloe vera to soothe the pain and help speed up the healing process.

Because the tongue is very sensitive, it’s important to apply natural remedies as soon as possible after the burn injury. Also, it’s important to make sure that any treatment for burns is suitable for internal use as there is always a risk of swallowing the remedy.

Here are some of the best natural remedies that you can use to heal a burnt tongue quickly.

Best Natural Remedies to Heal a Burnt Tongue

Burning your tongue is a very painful experience and you need to get relief as soon as possible. The hot food or drink may also burn other parts of our mouth. These natural remedies are excellent for any kind of burn in your mouth. These will help to quickly soothe the painful sensation of a serious burn on your tongue and may prevent blistering.

Apply something cold to the burnt tongue

Applying something cold to a tongue burn is one of the first ways to get instant relief from the initial pain caused by the hot food or drink. The quicker you do this after burning your tongue, then the quicker the tongue will heal.

The British Burn Association recommends treating burns in running cool water to help soothe the pain.¹ Running cold water on a burn helps to reduce inflammation and cool the burnt area to prevent tissue damage.

As soon as you burn your tongue, cool the burnt area on your tongue by holding your tongue under running cool water from the faucet for several minutes. If this isn’t possible, take frequent sips of cold water and hold the water in your mouth until it warms. Then take another sip of cold water. Repeat the process frequently to lessen the pain and discomfort in your mouth and tongue.

Swish with salt water

Swishing your mouth with salt water is another natural burnt tongue remedy. Salt is a known antibacterial agent that can help to prevent infections from developing in the mouth and around the damaged tissue on the tongue.

Although running cold water is always recommended as an initial first aid treatment for burns, some evidence points to the fact that warm water can help to stop damage to burnt tissue. A study published in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery said that cold water treatment is advised for first aid treatment. However, after that, applying warm water to the burnt area had better success in treating the burnt skin. The researchers said that in the days following the burn, warm water treatment for burns delayed burn progression better and prevented further tissue damage.²

To help cure a burnt tongue faster and prevent blisters developing on the surface of the tongue, make a salt water remedy for burn by mixing ½ teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water. Swish the home remedy around your mouth for 30 seconds before spitting out. Repeat the salt water remedy for burn a few times every day until your tongue heals and you no longer have any pain.

Honey

Honey is an excellent home remedy for all types of burns and it is especially useful to treat tongue burns. Honey contains many antibacterial properties that can prevent bacteria infecting damaged skin. It also acts as a natural anti-inflammatory agent to reduce swelling and pain. Applying honey to burned skin also helps the skin to heal quicker.

The journal Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters published extensive evidence for the use of using honey to treat burns. It reported that honey produces hydrogen peroxide which helps to speed up the healing process. The antimicrobial activity also quickly neutralizes microbes that can cause infection. The medicinal effect of honey on burn wounds is also effective even against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.³

According to the journal Wound, the best type of honey for burn treatment is Manuka honey. This is because Manuka honey contains a compound, methylglyoxal, which is not found in other natural honey. This is a powerful antibacterial agent which is especially useful in burn wound healing. One of the reasons for this is that the bioactivities of Manuka honey keep their effectiveness even if they are diluted.⁴ This makes honey an excellent natural (and delicious) treatment for curing a burnt tongue. It means that the saliva in your mouth won’t dilute the healing power of honey.

To use honey to ease the burning feeling on your tongue and encourage the healing process, put a teaspoonful of honey in your mouth and spread it over the tongue area. Try to let the honey sit on your burnt tongue for as long as possible before swallowing. Repeat the honey treatment for burn 2-3 times a day until you cure the burnt tongue.

Aloe vera

Aloe vera is an amazing remedy for healing burns. Pure aloe vera gel is usually used topically to help burns heal quicker. However, you can also use the healing power of aloe vera to quickly soothe and heal a burn on your tongue.

A study published in the journal Burns found that when aloe vera was applied to burnt skin, the burn wounds healed almost 9 days quicker than the control group. They concluded that aloe vera is an effective treatment in burn wound healing for first to second-degree burns.⁵

You have to be careful with the type of aloe vera gel that you apply to a burnt tongue. Many aloe vera gels that are sold have additives or preservatives added and are for external use only. If you have an aloe vera plant in the house, you can extract some gel from a leaf. Apply the aloe vera gel directly to the burnt area on the tongue using a cotton swab to encourage the healing process.

If you are put off by the taste of pure aloe vera gel try using aloe vera juice as a natural remedy to soothe a burnt tongue. Mix 2 tablespoons of aloe vera juice with some warm water to treat tongue burns. Swish the aloe vera mixture in your mouth for 30 seconds before spitting out. Use the aloe vera remedy 2-3 times a day for as long as needed until your burnt tongue heals.

Yogurt

A very simple way to cool a burnt tongue is to eat a spoonful of raw, plain yogurt. This will help to take away the heat from a burnt tongue and help ease the pain of a sore and sensitive tongue. Greek yogurt has a thick consistency and will effectively coat the surface of your tongue to provide pain relief.

Take a spoonful of yogurt a few times throughout the day to soothe the discomfort caused by a burn wound on your tongue.

What to Avoid if You Burn Your Tongue

A burn wound on your tongue is like any other burn wound. The tissue covering the top of your tongue will be painful and more sensitive to certain foods and drinks. Your tongue will be more sensitive to both hot food and hot spicy foods.

To help your tongue heal quickly and avoid irritating it further, here are some helpful tips to follow while your tongue is healing:

• Avoid eating acidic foods like tomatoes and citrus fruits.
• Avoid consuming foods and drinks that are hot. Remember, that your tongue will be extra sensitive to heat while it heals.
• Don’t eat sharp or crunchy foods like potato chips or nuts.
• Avoid spicy foods as the strong flavors could irritate your burnt tongue.

Read these related articles:
1. Swollen Taste Buds: Causes and Effective Treatments
2. 8 Warning Signs Your Tongue May Be Sending
3. Bumps on Tongue: Causes and Natural Treatments

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