Has anyone ever experienced a blocked salivary gland under the tongue? Every few months or so, I get an 'attack' and get pain in my mouth and throat so I can't even eat.
I've tried swishing saltwater or taking something sour to make the saliva gush out to clear it, but it always comes back. I found this at reference.com:
"Ducts carry the secretions of the salivary glands into the mouth cavity. Together with the mucus secreted by the membrane of the mouth and the secretions of other small glands in the mouth, saliva helps to keep the mouth moist, softens the food as it is chewed, and by means of salivary amylase—the digestive enzyme contained in saliva—converts starch to sugar, thus initiating the process of digestion (see digestive system). The flow of saliva is stimulated by the presence of food in the mouth, or even the sight and smell of food. A lack of salivary flow from a gland may be caused by the formation of a calculus, or mineral concretion, that blocks a duct."
What would cause that? How can I prevent it from happening?
The calculus (stones) are called sialoliths, and are primarily calcium phosphate. It is the alkaline nature of the saliva, along with the high concentration of calcium and phosphate that lead to their formation.
This is not going to be easy. If they are small enough they can be squeezed out.
There is only one other thing I can think of, but you are going to have to be careful doing this. Vinegar or citric acid can dissolve the calcium phosphate and any calcium carbonate that may be present in smaller amounts. But, you don't want the acid in contact with your teeth for very long. The second problem is that with the blocked duct you have to be careful about stimulating saliva release as it can create more pressure. So the best way I can think to do this is to take some distilled vinegar, so minerals are removed. Dip a cotton swab in the vinegar then hold the swab on the gland. After about 10 to 15 seconds dip the swab in the vinegar again to restore the acidity and reapply. Keep doing this for a while until it feels like the stone is completely dissolved.
So the vinegar will dissolve the calcium stone THROUGH THE SKIN???
Not from the outside, but from the inside. The glands have small openings where the saliva can pass. This is where you want to focus so the acid can get in to the gland and dissolve the stone. Depending on which of the glands is being affected you may be able to gargle with the vinegar to get the acid to the glands while keeping it away from the teeth.
A couple of suggestions, but I cannot say for sure if they will work. Nettle leaf and magnesium malate or malic acid can be used to dissolve stones in other parts of the body, so they may also work in the salivary glands. They are all beneficial to the body, so even if it does not dissolve the stones they will still provide other benefits.
Could hydrangea root help with this?
Possibly, it is supposed to be very effective for dissolving stones. If not it is still a great blood cleanser. Only chaparral is stronger than hydrangea root for blood cleansing. Big question is what will reach the salivary glands. Some plants are excreted though the urine only.
I forgot to add earlier that these stones also seem to be linked to inflammation. So anti-inflammatory herbs such as yucca, licorice root or turmeric should also help.
Do you have itchy ears? I've noticed the more my ears itch the worse my condition is.
Wow, that is amazing. YES I have itchy ears! I have had itchy ears for YEARS now and have had at least four different doctors examine them and they all think it's just wax build up or bugs or something! They couldn't SEE anything wrong inside my ears. But yes, lately, the past few weeks or maybe month, my ears have been itching more than usual. This HAS to be connected somehow! I have tried hydrogen peroxide in the ears, collidial silver, oregano oil, stuff like that. NOTHING has worked. I think it's something under the surface or in the nerves or glands or something as opposed to something on the surface of the skin.
Is it just one saliva gland that swells?
Yes, the right one. I don't think it's the GLAND tho but the duct than runs under the tongue. I can feel the swelling with my tongue. It's like a garden hose that's under pressure with no outlet.
How long does the swelling last?
Depends. It often swells up before I eat and remains swollen usually until after I'm done eating, so 20-30 minutes total.
You said it was painful, is the gland itself painful or is the lack of spit painful?
The swollen duct isn't painful, it's the lack of saliva that is painful. Creates a burning pain in the mouth, under the jaw on the right and makes it painful to swallow.
Have you been to the dr. for this? And what have you tried to get rid of this?
I had to see a doctor about my shoulder pain about two weeks ago and so I asked him about this and he felt my glands under the jaw and on the side of my face and since nothing was swollen or painful there, he kind of shrugged it off. He even looked under my tongue and said he didn't see any swelling [doh, it wasn't swollen THEN]. He gave me a scriipt for antibiotics "just in case it's an infection". I just smiled, said thank you and left. No, I won't take antibiotics for this. But he DID say if it doesn't get better to come back and he'd refer me to an ENT.
But I remember when I was a young teen that my mom took me to the doc because of this same problem. I was really worried, but the doc did something to the duct and BAM, it was opened up. No pain at all, it was quick and easy. I asked my mom about it and she can't even remember it! Of course, she is 83.
What I've been doing is oil pulling [not because of this but for other reasons although I'm hoping it will help this too] and also I've been using hydrogen peroxide in my rinse water after brushing. Thought perhaps the 'tiny bubbles' would clean any stones out. Probably wishful thinking. Oh, and the vinegar thing Hv recommended too. That's about it. The duct still flairs up but I don't have any other bright ideas at this point in time. Not much online about this either.
I took a pix of it when swollen: