I Am 72 And Have An Extremely Sore Tongue And

Brief Answer:
Afrin, nasal steroids and CPAP use can cause dry mouth and soreness, thus they can be the cause of your symptoms.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service,

I read your query and here is my advice:

Afrin and Fluticasone nasal spray (nasal steroid sprays) may cause the nasal and mouth mucosa to dry out and cause discomfort and burning sensation (mostly in the nose and throat but in a few cases may happen in the mouth as well).

CPAP may dry out the mouth mucosa and favor discomfort and soreness as well.

On the other hand, sore tongue and mouth can be caused by a large number of conditions such as yeast infection, vitamin/mineral deficiencies (vitamin B, iron, zinc), aphthous ulcers, metabolic conditions (diabetes, thyroid problems), dentures, menopause (may cause burning mouth syndrome), geographic tongue and also side effect of medications (some blood pressure medications, antidepressants, etc).

It is important for us to know more about your mouth soreness and would also be very helpful if you would upload a picture or two of your tongue and areas of the mouth that are sore.

Generally, yeast infection, geographic tongue, and aphthous ulcers cause local changes in the mouth so a picture of these, if present, would be very helpful in diagnosing them. A picture of the tongue will also help us rule out these conditions if there are no abnormalities noticed.

To conclude:

- In your case, by what you have already mentioned, very likely your symptoms are due to the medications you are using as both nasal sprays (Afrin and the steroid) may dry out the nose, throat and in some cases even the mouth and cause discomfort and pain. Even the CPAP use may dry out the mouth and cause a similar side effect.

- On the other hand, there is a wide range of conditions that may cause your symptoms, thus having some more information may help us be more sure of the cause (for instance...

Since how long have you had these symptoms; is there any area that is worse; anything that makes the soreness worse or helps with it; do you have it continuously or it comes and goes; do you have any redness/ discoloration/ ulcers or lumps in the mouth; other symptoms such as fever/ joint pain/ skin rash; are you using other medications other than the ones mentioned, etc)

- If possible, please upload/attach a couple of pictures of your tongue and mouth

I hope this is helpful to you.
I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Kind regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician

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