Burning, Tingling Lips or Mouth

Lips and mouth that tingle, burn, or even feel numb at the end of a romantic evening may be signs of a promising relationship or they may be the earliest signs of a cold sore medically known as HERPES SIMPLEX. If so, you should kiss or rather tell your date goodbye for a while because herpes is highly contagious.

If you have a weird pins and needles feeling on your lips that is not herpes, it may be a sign of a calcium or vitamin D deficiency. A feeling of tingliness or numbness on the lips or elsewhere medically known as PARESTHESIA may be one of the earliest sign of kidney disease. Oral tingling can also signal diabetes: when blood sugar is not under control, the nerves in the mouth and other parts of the body can be damaged.

When these sensations linger, they can be signs of irritation due to broken teeth or dentures, food allergies, nutritional deficiencies, or even a reaction to your mouthwash. And a burning mouth can be a sign of CANDIDIASIS, a yeast infection (thrush). Thrush sometimes occurs in people who have taken antibiotics or inhaled or topical steriods, or who have dry mouth. It is also common among people whose immune systems are depressed from diseases such as diabetes, AIDS, or cancer and cancer treatments. Indeed, thrush related white patches in the mouth are often the first signs of HIV/AIDS.

If you have burning mouth syndrome, merely switching to a different brand of toothpaste or mouthwash may help.

Besides eating, our mouths serve another important food function: they cool or warm food to the right temperature for swallowing. This helps prevent painful "pizza mouth"and "ice cream headaches."