Don't underestimate 'sleep drooling', if it happens often, or the body is suggesting these 4 problems

"It's a shame, I've been drooling in my sleep recently, and when I woke up, I found that the pillow and the quilt were wet, and my wife made fun of me for this!"

Lao Yang made an appointment for morning tea with a few old friends early in the morning, and complained over and over while drinking Pu'er.

"Are you drooling too? Actually, I started drooling last year. I didn't expect to be so old that I would still drool while sleeping..." the old friend echoed.

"Speaking of which, I saw a piece of news a few days ago. There was a man who drools a lot while sleeping, but he went to the hospital for a check-up and it turned out to be Parkinson's! You should go check it out when you have time, so you can rest assured."

The two felt a little uneasy for a moment. They insisted on exercising, eating and keeping healthy, so they wouldn't really suffer from Parkinson's. Fortunately, after a detailed examination, the two found that the reason for their drooling was only due to aging, degeneration of physiological functions, and hypotonia in the face and mouth, which led to the appearance of symptoms.

"Sleep drooling" is actually very common. Sometimes when you get up and feel the wet pillow, and even exude a faint bad breath smell, you just feel very embarrassed... If the phenomenon of drooling often occurs, what does it mean? What?

1. Why does saliva smell bad?

Drooling while sleeping is actually not uncommon, and many people may find that pillows and bedding wet with saliva always emit a faint smell. Why does the saliva smell?

99% of the main components of saliva are water, and 1% of gas stagnation is calcium, sodium, potassium and amylase. The main function of saliva is to moisten the mouth and soften food, and at the same time, it can help dissolve some harmful substances to the teeth. substances to achieve the purpose of cleaning the oral cavity.

I don’t know if you have noticed that if you apply the saliva on the skin, you can smell a bad smell. Why is this?

Failure to pay attention to oral hygiene can lead to oral problems. In addition to making saliva smell bad, it can also cause serious bad breath problems. If you eat onion, garlic and other pungent food, the residue will make the saliva smell bad.

In addition, the smelly saliva should also be considered to be caused by oral diseases, such as dental calculus and oral inflammation. At this time, a large number of putrefactive bacteria will grow in the gums and periodontal areas , and the metabolites produced by the bacteria in the metabolic process will also mix with the human body. into the water, resulting in an unspeakable odor in the saliva.

2. Often drooling while sleeping, be careful of 4 problems

Why does the mouth produce saliva? There are three major salivary glands in our mouth, the parotid gland, the sublingual gland and the submandibular gland, and there are many small salivary glands above the oral mucosa. It is these salivary glands that secrete saliva continuously, thus forming saliva that can moisturize the mouth.

If you often drool while sleeping, it may be caused by physiological conditions, such as excessive atrophy and relaxation of facial and oral muscles, which will cause saliva to flow out. It may also be a problem with sleeping posture. For example, when sleeping on the stomach, the human body will not swallow automatically, and the saliva will flow out. The same situation will occur when breathing through the mouth.

If some patients take drugs that can suppress the central nervous system before going to bed, it may also excite the sympathetic nerves and cause increased saliva secretion after falling asleep.

Of course, if physiological conditions are ruled out, you need to be alert that it may be caused by disease:

1. Cerebral thrombosis

Some elderly people may have chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and high blood sugar, which are risk factors for stroke.

If they often drool on one side after falling asleep, accompanied by dizziness, headache and even the symptoms of mouth corners, they should be particularly alert to the signal of cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral thrombosis. This is a manifestation of thrombus causing throat muscle dysfunction.

2. Oral diseases

Mouth ulcers, tooth decay, tonsillitis or dentures will stimulate the mouth to secrete saliva, especially when the frequency of swallowing movements decreases after falling asleep, flooding saliva will naturally flow out.

In addition, malocclusion problems such as buck teeth will make the mouth unable to close naturally. In addition, the muscles become loose after falling asleep, and the saliva will continue to flow out.

3. Parkinson's

Parkinson's will affect the areas of the brain responsible for chewing and swallowing, which will weaken the patient's swallowing function. In addition, some nerves in the brain will be damaged. At this time, Parkinson's patients will not only secrete more saliva, but also frequently flow out the saliva that cannot be swallowed in time. come out.

4. Gastroesophageal reflux disease

When gastroesophageal reflux disease occurs, food residues and gastric acid in the stomach will reflux to other organs other than the esophagus and stomach. At this time, abnormal gastric acid will also increase the reflexive increase of saliva in the mouth, which will cause non-stop flow during sleep saliva.

3. Is drooling in sleep too embarrassing? Might as well do 3 things

It is said that children only drool, so once adults drool, they will feel particularly ashamed, but in fact, there is no need to feel embarrassed, because as long as we do these few things well, the situation of drooling can also be alleviated .

1. Replacement of drugs

Certain drugs that can suppress the central nervous system tend to excite the sympathetic nerves abnormally, causing the brain to misdirect the mouth to secrete saliva, resulting in drooling. At this time, it is recommended to consult your doctor to see if other medicines can be replaced.

2. Change sleeping position

Swallowing movements are reduced after falling asleep, and it is easy for saliva to flow out in a sleeping position lying on your stomach or side. At this time, you may wish to choose a sleeping position lying flat to reduce the frequency of drooling.

3. Avoid mouth breathing

If it is not rhinitis, in fact, you should develop the habit of breathing through your nose instead of your mouth, or practice mouth closing exercises such as mouth blowing, so that you can naturally close your mouth tightly when you sleep, and the saliva will naturally not flow out.

Babies in swaddling or small children often drool, but some adults also drool, which is not surprising, and there is no need to feel ashamed, it may be caused by bad sleeping positions, oral diseases, of course, for the elderly For example, one-sided drooling should be more vigilant as a signal of stroke!

References:

[1] "Why does saliva smell bad when it gets on the skin?" ". Tencent Medical Code She Knows. 2021-06-14

[2] "Sleeping drooling is a precursor to thrombosis? Experts teach you 4 ways to recognize at a glance". Life Times. 2019-03-12

[3] "Love to drool, is it because of illness?" ". Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi. 2021-10-12

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