If you’re the sort of person who can’t wait to dig into that steaming slice of pizza or hot beverage, you’re not alone. Enough people have burned the roofs of their mouths on hot foods that actual medical journals refer to the problem as “pizza burn”.
Pizza isn’t the only culprit, but it is probably the most common offender. When that hot, melted cheese meets the roof of your mouth (also known as the soft palate), you can end up with pain, blistering, and sometimes dangling bits of flesh. Yuck!
This mouth injury will heal on its own in a week or so — ten days at the outside. But if you want to relieve pain and speed healing, try these tricks:
- Apply ice. Put an ice cube into your mouth right after you get burned. This can help stop the initial burn, relieve pain, and cut down on extra swelling and irritation. If you don’t have ice handy, at least take a cool drink of water.
- Gargle with warm salt water after the injury. You can do it as often as hourly if you like — this will help speed healing.
- Avoid sharp foods while you’re healing. And that means sharp physically AND sharp in taste. Spices can increase the pain you’re feeling. Sharp-edged foods can irritate the lesion.
- Drink milk. This can help coat and protect the injury.
- Try an over-the-counter remedy. Pectin-based ointments will stick to the lesion to protect and promote healing.
Patience can be a hard lesson to learn when there’s a mouthwatering slice of your favorite pizza on the plate. But the best thing you can do to avoid pizza burn — or any hot food burn — is to let things cool off a little before eating. When you microwave your next snack or meal, let it sit for two minutes before eating. Your mouth will thank you!