Burning the tongue is something that happens to almost everyone. A burned tongue causes pain and sometimes blisters on the tongue. Recovery generally takes less time than burnt skin. What to do in the event of a burn and how to prevent it.

Burning the tongue

It happens to everyone sometimes: burning their tongue. But why do we actually burn our tongues? The body protects ourselves from being burned by hot objects. Anyone who feels fire will move away from the fire to avoid being burned. No one steps into a bath that is way too hot. As soon as the body detects heat, a signal is sent to the brain that it must avoid this heat. Unfortunately,burning of the tongue occurs due to failure to detect heat in time. Many foods have a lukewarm to warm outside, but a piping hot inside. Food that comes out of the microwave or oven in particular has this property. The outside of food also cools quickly, while the inside can remain hot for a long time.Anyone holding a lukewarm sandwich with filling registers through their fingers that the sandwich is claw. The teeth are put in. It soon becomes apparent that the inside is hot: the hot filling comes into contact with the tongue and the inside of the mouth. A signal immediately goes to the brain: heat. In response to this, the food will often be spit out. Sometimes the food is held in the mouth and the mouth is sucked full of air. This air cools the food faster.Often it is already too late and the tongue is burned. Even if the food is immediately spit out, there is a good chance that the tongue has already suffered damage. Burning the tongue from hot drinks often happens even faster. Often the hands do not register from the outside of the mug or cup how hot the drink is. Especially with modern mugs, which retain heat on the inside but feel cold on the outside, there is a risk of burning while drinking. In this case too, spitting out the hot drink is often too late.

Recognizing a burnt tongue

A burned tongue hurts. The tongue contains approximately 10,000 taste buds, which can perceive the flavors salty, sour, bitter and sweet. During a burn, part of the taste buds is damaged. The papillae look swollen and rough. Taste perception may be temporarily reduced or even disappeared completely.The tongue can sometimes show a gray coating after a burn. With a severe burn, blisters can even form on the tongue. In the worst case, the tongue is so badly damaged that nerves are damaged. There is then no more pain to be felt.

First aid for a burnt tongue

A burnt tongue is best cooled immediately. Holding the tongue under running water is a good first aid, but can sometimes be tiring. Rinsing with water also cools the tongue, so use fresh water again and again and spit out the old water.The tongue can also be cooled by licking an ice cream cone. Sucking on an ice cube also works well. After cooling, not much can be done about a burnt tongue. Never use burn/wound ointment or any other ointment on the tongue. Firstly, this does not stay in place due to the moisture on the tongue, and secondly, harmful substances are swallowed.The duration of recovery depends on the degree of burn. A mild burn usually heals within 3 to 7 days, a larger burn usually within 8 to 12 days. The taste buds that are damaged cannot do their job. This may cause a temporary reduction in taste perception. With heavy combustion, the taste perception can be completely lost. When the taste buds have recovered, taste perception will also return. In the case of a serious burn where nerves are damaged, recovery takes much longer. It is also questionable to what extent the tongue will recover.

Preventing combustion

It is important to let hot drinks cool down for a while. By feeling the edge of the cup with your upper lip, you can often feel how hot the drink is due to the rising vapor. Heated food that feels lukewarm on the outside may be very hot on the inside. It is better to cut this type of food in half, so that it cools down faster and it is also clearly visible how hot the food is.Anesthetics for dental treatments also often disable the nerves of the tongue. This means there is a high risk of burns: the tongue cannot detect heat due to the anesthesia. Eating and drinking may only be done once the anesthesia has worn off: usually this is when the tongue no longer feels thick and numb.