Patients with mouth ulcers frequently inquire in the clinic: “Will they get mouth ulcers because the body is “heaty”?” The term “heaty” is well-known and frequently used to describe the body’s hot symptoms. Common “heaty” symptoms include irritability, dry mouth, dry eyes, mouth ulcers, swollen gums, and even constipation. These symptoms are especially common the day after overeating or staying up late. When the body exhibits the same symptoms again, people mistakenly believe that the body is “heaty,” and the majority of people prefer to drink herbal tea to reduce the heat in the body, but frequently discover that the result is not favourable even after drinking herbal tea.
Mouth ulcers are erosions or ulcers that develop on the tongue or the mucous membranes of the mouth. Although it is indisputable that heat syndrome is the primary cause of mouth ulcers, recurrent mouth ulcers are actually caused by deficiency syndrome or a combination excess and deficient syndrome. 。
Mouth ulcers are classified as “mouth and tongue sores” in traditional Chinese medicine. The tongue is the sprout of the heart ((the heart’s function can be reflected through the tongue, and the heart and tongue cooperate in physiological functions), the spleen opens into the mouth (the lips, the spleen, and the stomach cooperate in physiological functions, and changes in the lips often reflect the disease of the spleen and stomach), and sores in the mouth and tongue are naturally inseparable from these two organs. Furthermore, because the kidneys are connected to the tongue via meridians, when there is kidney yin deficiency, the absence of yin fluid in the body leads to insufficient fire endogenous, which causes mouth ulcers. There is also a more prevalent type of ulcer that occurs in patients with heat and cold syndrome, in which their upper body is sensitive to heat and their lower body is sensitive to cold. These people will feel uneasy after consuming cold items, but when they consume hot food, their bodies will exhibit heat syndrome. The majority of such patients’ bodies are yang deficient, and they will not exhibit visible heat syndrome. But, if they ingest food with clearing heat qualities to remove heat from their bodies, it is possible to aggravate the condition.
Common symptoms of mouth ulcers
- Syndrome of heart fire flaring upward
The heart is open to the tongue, modern people lead hectic lives, the tendency for staying up late, worry, and impatience, combined with spicy and stimulating foods, increase the symptoms of heat in the body, with the characteristics of fire being flared up (the diseased lesion caused by fire flaring upward), heat accumulate in the body results in mouth sores.
Most of these oral ulcers manifest as burning pain in the mouth (more noticeable during eating), ulcers with yellow or white lesions, dry mouth, thirst, poor breath, and irritability.
- Syndrome of spleen and stomach weakness
A preference for stimulating foods (spicy, fried, greasy), as well as irregular eating habits, lead to poor spleen and stomach function, impairing the transformation and transportation function, resulting in inability to nourish the mouth, and oral ulcers occurs.
The majority of these oral ulcers cause oral pain, which is not severe, the lesions are pale in colour, and the taste of the mouth is dull.
- Syndrome of Yin deficiency with heat
The majority of them are the result of overwork, staying up late, and other unhealthy habits that promote yin and yang imbalance in the body. Inadequate kidney yin causes a lack of yin fluid in the body and an inability to harmonize Yang heat, resulting in heat deficit and oral ulcers.
The majority of these types of oral ulcers cause discomfort in the mouth, lesions that are pale red in colour, ulcers that are tiny in size and number, dry throat and mouth, irritation, and insomnia.
- Syndrome of upper heat and lower cold
Patients with upper heat and lower cold syndrome frequently have heat and cold coexisting in the body, and they regularly display heat symptoms of the body while at the same time, their body is aversion to cold for many years. Most of these cases are caused by thinking excessively while moving less, which causes the body’s heat energy to move to places where it shouldn’t, affecting the body’s function and obstructing energy flow. As a result, the majority of patients with heat and cold will experience recurrent mouth ulcers, discomfort in the spleen and stomach, and cold limbs.
Most of these recurring mouth ulcers include red or red and white lesions that can be accompanied by loose stools and stomach discomfort.
Care for sores in the mouth and tongue
- Maintain good oral hygiene by rinsing your mouth in the morning, before night, and after meals to keep your mouth clean and avoid the formation of oral sores.
- Pay attention to emotional management, change lifestyles appropriately, rectify negative living habits on time, and consume fewer stimulating foods such as spicy and fried foods.
- Acupoint massage
If you have irregular living patterns and your body has begun to manifest some unpleasant symptoms, you can prevent oral sores by massaging the following acupuncture points, which correlate to different types of symptoms.
- Most patients with upper heat and lower cold syndrome have a deficit
constitution and a cold constitution, and it is not recommended to drink herbal tea with clearing heat and fire nature, as this may weakened the body constitution and causing symptoms to worsen.
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