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· 20 Dec 2021

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Why Are My Taste Buds Swollen?

The human adult tongue is usually around 3.3 inches or 8.5 centimeters for men. The size is 3.1 inches or 7.9 centimeters in women. The tongue serves three principal functions which are speaking, swallowing, and breathing. On the tongue are usually small round bumps called taste buds. They contain sensitive nerve endings which enable us to taste foods. Your mount contains around 10, 000 taste buds which are hosted in tiny bumps lining the tongue called papillae. According to science, each taste bud has approximately 10-50 sensory nerves with nerve fibers at the end. Anytime you eat something, these fibers alert your brain that you have eaten something, and this brings taste to your mouth. To understand how taste buds work, it is important to know the types available and where they are in your mouth. Some people may argue that some parts of the tongue taste different tastes, but there is no scientific evidence to show this. All parts of the tongue taste all tastes regardless of the position of the tongue they are in. Ideally, a human being has three types of taste buds which are:

Fungiform Papillae. These are the most common type and are usually around the tips of your tongue. You can also find them around the edges of the tongue. Apart from tasking, these taste buds also enable you to detect the food temperature and touch. This explains why you can tell if the food is hot or cold. It can also tell when you touch the tongue.

Circumvallate Papillae. These taste buds are usually at the base of the tongue and are round and large. They host several taste buds.

Foliate Papillae. You find them as small clusters at the back of your tongue. Each one contains a few hundred taste buds.

There are times when taste buds become irritated and then swell. When this happens, you may feel pain and cannot eat or drink properly. This may be because of the inflammation that happens when these taste buds swell. Several reasons are explaining why taste buds swell, and this post tries to explain exactly that. Causes include:

Infections. Getting some infections, especially the ones caused by viruses, can make your tongue swell. There is one particular infection known as scarlet fever, which can severely affect your tongue, causing your tongue to swell. This also makes the tongue red and swollen, triggering inflammation. Scarlet fever develops mostly in people with strep throat. Alongside a rash that resembles sunburns, this fever may also cause a rash that feels like sandpaper that spreads to other parts of the neck, trunk, arms, and legs. The tongue may also develop a white coating, which can then alter your ability to taste foods.

Allergies. Some people may have some allergies that can trigger a loss of taste for eating some types of foods. Eating some types of foods, especially the ones that burn the tongue, can cause inflammation and hence cause swelling of the taste buds. Certain foods may have chemicals that may react with your tongue, making you feel discomfort. For example, some people can eat some types of foods only to get an allergic reaction. Examples of common foods that trigger swollen taste buds include wheat, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, milk, fish, and others.

Burns in the Mouth. Eating too hot foods can cause swelling of the taste buds. This is because there is a certain range of temperature that your mouth can tolerate. When you take foods in high temperatures, they alter the proper functionality of your taste buds. When the tongue is burned, the taste buds become swollen and traumatized. This then disrupts the ability of the microvilli to detect the taste accurately. This explains why anytime you burn your tongue, the food tastes different until it heals completely.

Irritating the Tongue. Putting sharp objects in your mouth can harm the taste buds. Things like toothpicks or even brushing your teeth can hurt the tongue. The tongue comprises very soft tissues that respond even to the smallest pinch. This is because the tongue has many sensitive nerve endings. This is the reason why a little hurt in the month can end up filling like something enormous because these nerves exaggerate the pain and the amount of the tissue hurt. Dentures are also causing swollen taste buds, especially when not properly handled.

Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). This is a condition where the stomach acid flows back to the throat and the mouth. This can happen because of a variety of reasons, like a weak cardiac sphincter, producing too much acid, hernias, and many others. One fact is that the stomach acid is usually high in acidity, which then burns the tongue if it flows backward. The environment we have in the stomach differs from the one present in the mouth. Because of the harshness of the stomach hydrochloric acid in the tongue, your taste buds can get irritated and swell. This can then impair your ability to feel different tastes.

Smoking. Cigarette smoking has been linked to so many diseases and infections. The cigarette comprises over 400 chemicals, all of which are toxic. Anytime you smoke a cigarette, these chemicals affect how you perceive taste. The bad thing about smoking is the fact that these toxins impair the taste buds and kill them sometimes. The taste buds die because smoking blocks the blood supply to the tongue and, therefore, they end up dying or malfunctioning.

Cancer of the Mouth. Oral cancer can also be a cause of your swollen taste buds. This is because when it occurs, it affects the entire mouth, including the tongue, the teeth, and the layers lining the mouth. Cigarette smoking has been one of the leading causes of oral cancer and therefore quitting smoking may do justice to your taste buds. Mostly, oral cancer manifests as small red bumps. These bumps are usually on the tongue or any other part of the mouth. If untreated, the bump continues to swell, affecting the taste buds.

Transient Lingual Papillae. This is a condition characterized by inflammation of the tongue papillae. Any inflammation produces redness, heat, swelling, and even pain. This condition is mostly caused by stress, hormonal fluctuations, specific foods, and gastrointestinal upsets. Eliminating triggers can give your tongue time to heal, which then works to reduce swelling of the taste buds.


What Are the Preventative Measures For Swollen Taste Buds?

To treat swollen taste buds, understanding the causes is important. If you can be able to trace the cause and treat it, you will 100% recover from the situation. Below are a few tips you can follow when you have swollen taste buds.

Take the antibiotics if the swelling is caused by bacteria.
Antacids and other drugs meant to reduce acid reflux in the stomach may be helpful where swelling is from the acidic stomach contents reaching the mouth.
Avoid foods that trigger an allergic reaction if an allergy is a cause.
Sometimes this swelling can be because of vitamins deficiency. You can take vitamin supplements to other minerals to restore your vitamin levels to normal states.
Maintain proper oral hygiene. Sometimes bacteria and viruses thrive in a dirty environment, which then causes infections. It is important to brush your teeth at least twice a day.
Quit smoking to enable a proper supply of blood and oxygen to your tongue and mouth. This then will get rid of the swelling taste buds.
Gaggle a mixture of warm water and salt into your mouth to kill bacteria and promote healthy gums.

Conclusion

Swollen taste buds can result from many factors like oral cancer, eating spicy foods, and poor oral hygiene. A healthy person should be able to tell the difference between stale foods and fresh ones. When taste buds cannot work properly, they lose this ability to detect, and therefore people can no longer be able to how fresh the food is. Because no one enjoys eating food without taste, many people may not eat, which can then lead to weight loss. Seeking medical advice early can help enable you to know the major cause of your failure to taste properly. With proper treatment, you can restore swollen taste buds to normal with no complications. Would you like to know more about swollen taste buds? Kindly check these links:
https://www.hinsdaledentistry.com/blog/what-are-your-taste-buds-telling-you/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-causes-swollen-taste-buds.html