Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS): Anyone found any relief?

Nothing has helped…….
I have been suffering for 10 years and have tried most everything. Searching the web I recently found Dr. Hauser at Caring Medical in Ft.Myers FL . His clinic believes BMS relate to the Vagus Nerve in the neck and that they can help with prolotherapy,but do not take insurance and the starting price is $3000 !!!
I don’t know what to think about this Prolotherapy Treatment ??
Has anyone had any success with this treatment??

I too had burning mouth and tongue and tooth for almost 4 years. All the things my doctors and dentist tried are not really important. What’s important is what seems to help. I was finally diagnosed with gastritis w hyperplasia, reflux, and Barrett’s. I had silent reflux. Treatment with 40 mg ppi and sucralfate liquid, and baclofen and pepsid complete finally calmed my hot burning down where many hours I have no burning. It took a good 30 days of treatment before I noticed burning relief. After 60 days I was able to stop pregabalin and pain pills I took for the burning. It took patience to get here. I use a triangular lift pillow to keep my upper body elevated when I lay down, I do not sleep on my right side, I only drink water, I follow all food and drink exclusions listed on line for reflux, eat light meals and don’t eat after 5. I am not a drinker or smoker so did not have to stop. Life is better. Took an emergency room visit with the burning for a smart PA to lead me in the right direction-a gasterologist for esophagus testing.

I’ve tried these treatment protocols, without success. I’m happy that your BMS has gotten better with GERD diet/lifestyle.

I don't know if you are still active on this board - I just found your comment a few minutes ago.

I realized the other day that I have a habit of clenching my jaw muscles without realizing that I'm doing it. My significant other told me that he's noticed me doing it before - but never mentioned it to me. I'm not sure if I'm doing a lot of tongue thrusting also - I've never paid attention to that.

So, now I'm wondering if my jaw/tongue muscles are contracted - and if I need to learn how to relax them.

FYI - I have hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) caused by all of the trauma related to having 15 + surgeries in my pelvic area. Most women develop hypotonic PFD - however, instead of "loose" pelvic muscles, my muscles were constantly in a contracted state. I didn't realize it until I received my diagnosis + started pelvic floor physical therapy. However, my sister said that she noticed that I clenched my buttock muscles A LOT. After doing a lot of trigger point relaxation in PT, I now am able to relax my pelvic muscles just focusing on those muscles in my mind (with my eyes closed). I am wondering if there is a way to learn to relax my jaw/tongue muscles in a manner similar to what I've done re: my hypertonic PFD.

What exactly did you do to relax those muscles? I'm also wondering if there is something that I can wear at night in order to prevent myself from clenching my jaw while I'm sleeping?

Stress is a huge aggravating factor for my BMS. I used to only have "bad flares" of BMS every once in awhile (typically stress related - I had a pattern that developed of having a bad flare up every time I went on vacation - apparently, preparing to travel + flying on airplanes = STRESS for me). My BMS was always present (since 2013) - but it was about a 2-3 out of 10 (I just used saliva replacement mouthwash a few times every day to keep it in check). However, for the past three years, my BMS has been consistently in a bad flare - and I've been miserable.

I also was treated for thrush/yeast a few times - but I never had thrush/yeast (doctor would prescribe magic mouthwash with Nystatin in it).

I also RARELY have any physical signs of anything on my tongue (once in awhile, my taste buds towards the tip of my tongue will be red/inflamed - but that is rare). I started making my own magic mouthwash 6-7 years ago because insurance stopped covering the kits - so, my doctor simply prescribes viscous lidocaine (I think it's 2%) that I mix in a 1:1:1 ratio with liquid Benadryl + Maalox/Mylanta (one of them has been discontinued - I think it was Maalox).

I do have some autoimmune issues - one being mast cell disease. I have been convinced that the underlying cause of my BMS is due to my mast cell disease. It would be incredible if it was instead related to tongue thrusting and/or contracted tongue and jaw muscles.

"What exactly did you do to relax those muscles? I'm also wondering if there is something that I can wear at night in order to prevent myself from clenching my jaw while I'm sleeping?"

I did not do anything special, I just tried to relax those muscles that I was contracting unconsciously, and I almost instantly felt tingling as the blood was circulating well again. It was like a vicious circle, I was thrusting my tongue, so I was feeling discomfort and burning (due to blood not circulating anymore for a long time), and since I was feeling discomfort, I was thrusting my tongue even more.
Like you I was given something for acid reflux, and lidocaine, but in my case it was completely unrelated. They also gave me a Miconazole gel, which I mistakenly thought worked, because I indirectly relaxed my tongue while applying the gel.
So the solution was very simple for me, just relaxing my tongue and mouth. From what you said, it seems like it requires more concentration for you to relax a certain muscle. If you are feeling a lot of burning, then if you relax your mouth and tongue and you notice that the burning stops or you feel tingling, then that's the reason for your BMS. I hope it's that simple for you too. If that works, then it will take a few weeks for the feeling of numbness to go away (my brain did not understand that it's numbness, I thought that it was a feeling of dryness/inflammation similar to a sore throat).

If the tongue thrusting and contracted muscles is the cause for your BMS, then I don't think clenching your jaw at night is a big deal. As long as you don't do it 24h a day, then there should not be BMS. If you sleep on your side, then trying to fall asleep with the head straight or slightly upwards, instead of tucked down, could help with the clenching. Also not eating any fats for many hours before sleeping, can fix any silent reflux, which could be related to clenching or stress.

Concerning mouthwashes, maybe you can try stopping them as they could make your mouth dry. For me, mouthwashes even inflamed my salivary glands (parotid), especially if I pushed my cheeks out while rinsing. I instead started to floss very day, and to brush my teeth I first use a soft toothbrush to remove plaque on the surface of the teeth. Then for the 2nd phase I use an ULTRA soft tapered toothbrush, and brush with the brush at a 45o angle towards the gum, and do small rotations while pushing toward the gum, so that the bristles of the brush bend and go under the gum, and clean under the gum. That's a technique a periodontist gave me, and my gum is perfect now, it almost never bleeds when I brush or floss. Having an inflamed gum could be a source of stress or a reason to clench.

Also fruits and vegetables, checking for deficiencies, do some walking.

If that doesn't work, what I do is try to narrow down the cause, listing any change I made, try to stop all the new stuff I did. If that works, then I know the cause is in one of those things, ... . But it's not always that simple, so I hope something works for you.