What Causes Burning Sensation In Tongue After Taking Menthol?

Posted on Fri, 29 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 Answered on

Thu, 17 Mar 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I've been sucking on Menthol cough drops pretty much non stop for the last week for a cold. Now my tongue feels sort of burnt and I just looked at it, and it's swollen in one area too (the area where older the cough drop "sit"). Is this ok? I mean, clearly I need to lay off the cough drops, but could it be an allergic reaction to something?

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (24 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
This is not an allergic reaction.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

Generally this is a normal thing after constant sucking of drops. Usually they are covered with some substances, which can cause a wound and swelling. This is not an allergic reaction. Just a wound.
Now to heal it, all you have to do is to stop sucking this drops. Saliva contains special proteins which helps healing of the mouth and tongue. So you should see an improvement pretty quick.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar