Wondering About Swollen Taste Buds?

At one point or another, we've all had them:  swollen, irritated, enlarged, inflamed or painful taste buds. No matter how you describe them, you've probably wondered if you should be alarmed and rush off to the doctor.   Don't worry though; most often it's a problem with easy solutions.

The most common cause of swollen taste buds is irritation – usually from something that we ate.   Salty food is one culprit.  Although we tend to like salty food, our taste buds really don't.  Salt and vinegar potato chips are especially hard on taste buds.  One of the reasons salt is bad for the tongue is that salt will draw out the natural moisture of the tongue and the crystal structure of it is abrasive as well.

If you love spicy foods, you'll want to be very careful about eating them too much.  The active ingredient in them (capsaicin) is also an irritant.  In fact, it is so irritating to taste buds, that years of exposure to it will cause damage to the taste buds, making it harder and harder to taste all your food.  Other examples of foods that irritate the tongue include lemons, grapefruit, ginger, mustards, horseradish, and even cinnamon.

The first thing to do if you notice that these foods cause swollen taste buds is to stop eating them.  Give your taste buds a week or so to recover and don't aggravate the problem by eating a different type of food irritant than the one that caused the problem in the first place.

For especially painful, irritated taste buds you can do take some simple steps to soothe the pain by eating something very cold or applying ice cubes to the tongue.  Yogurt is especially good for swollen taste buds if they were caused by a yeast overgrowth because it has the ability to re-balance the bad bacteria found in the body with its "good bacteria".    If you recently completed a round of anti-biotic medication, you should be sure to increase your yogurt intake to prevent a yeast overgrowth of your tongue and intestinal tract.

Unfortunately, many of the other things we enjoy are not similarly "enjoyed" by our taste buds.   Alcohol, nicotine and smoke all aggravate our taste buds and sometimes cause inflammation.   Even if your taste buds are not inflamed though – these things will eventually cause taste loss, so it's best to minimize their use or stop them altogether.

If you've ruled out all these possible causes of your enlarged taste buds, there are some other health problems that may be causing your problems.  GERD (Gastro-esophageal reflux disease) also called "acid reflux" can cause tongue problems because of the acid that is backing up from the stomach into the mouth.  If you are having a lot of problems with stomach indigestion, acid coming back up into your mouth (especially at night) or heartburn along with swollen taste buds or tongue pain you should see your doctor for a full evaluation.  Over the long term, untreated GERD can lead to a life-threatening type of cancer in the throat called Barrett's esophagus.  GERD is very serious and should be medically monitored.

Mouth ulcers, poor dental hygiene, stomach and throat infections and tongue trauma are also possible causes of swollen taste buds.  If you've bitten your tongue and inflamed your taste buds, glycerin can be applied to help heal the tongue.

One thing you should never do is try to "prick" a swollen taste bud.  This can cause infection and much more serious problems.

Allergies and vitamin deficiencies are also known causes of swollen taste buds which may require a trip to the doctor.  Once the underlying cause of your irritated taste buds is determined, treatment usually resolves the problem quickly.

One of the great things about taste buds is that even if they are badly damaged, they tend to re-grow quickly and you'll be feeling fine again in no time at all!