We reported two cases successfully treated with sano-to (Senkin-Ho). Case 1 was a 63-year old female, who visited our department in December 2004 complaining of polyarthralgia, a burning sensation in the hands and feet, irritability and chilliness. We prescribed sano-to (Senkin-Ho). The visual analogue scale (VAS) decreased from 100 mm on the first visit to 23 mm 10 months later in October 2005. Case 2 was a 62-year old female, who came to our department complaining of whole body pain in August 2004. Various Kampo medicines were tried but proved ineffective, and in June 2005 she was hospitalized. At that time, in addition to whole body pain, she complained of a burning sensation in her feet, psychological anxiety, and chillness. We prescribed sano-to (Senkin-Ho). After 2 months, her VAS decreased from 80 mm to 20 mm. We consider that sano-to (Senkin-Ho) should be prescribed more actively when patients suffer from painful diseases accompanied with subjective symptoms such as a burning sensation in the hands and feet, psychological symptoms, and chilliness.
Feet, unit of measurement ; Burning sensation ; Chills ; Cases ; symptoms <1>

Burning mouth syndrome is characterized by intra-oral burning sensation without any organic abnormalities. This syndrome is associated with various etiological factors such as neuropathy, malnutrition, menopause and depression. Several medications have been tried for the treatment. Those are analgesics, hormones, anticonvulsants and antidepressants. However, optimal effective pharmacologic treatment remains still unknown. The purpose of this case study is to report the clinical effectiveness of gabapentin in the treatment of burning mouth syndrome in postmenopausal women with comorbid depression. We report two menopausal women. Antidepressants were effective for improving depressive symptoms, but it had no effects on intra-oral burning sensation. Gabapentin reduced intra-oral burning sensation effectively for all two patients. One patient reported 55% reduction(a decrease from 9 to 4 on VAS), the other patient reported 35% reduction(from 8 to 5) of the intra-oral burning sensation during 16 weeks. The minimal effective daily dose of gabapentin was 300mg. This study suggests that gabapentin might be a useful, effective therapeutic option for treating burning mouth syndrome in postmenopausal women with comorbid depression. Further prospective clinical studies are needed to investigate the effectiveness of gabapentin in patients with burning mouth syndrome.
Analgesics ; Anticonvulsants ; Antidepressive Agents ; Burning Mouth Syndrome* ; Burns ; Depression* ; Female ; Humans ; Malnutrition ; Menopause ; Sensation

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is defined as a chronic pain condition, characterized symptomatically by a generalized or localized burning sensation in the oral cavity without any specific mucosal lesion. Although this is not a rare disease, the etiology and effective treatment are not well established yet. Various drugs have been used in attempting to manage BMS, but there is insufficient evidence to show the effect of them. The goal of this article is to review about diagnosis, treatment, and updates current knowledge of BMS along with our experiences. Although randomized controlled studies are required to establish the treatment for patients suffering from this chronic and painful syndrome, the authors hope that this document will encourage otolaryngologist to approach to this challenging disease without fear and contribute to a better therapeutic management.
Burning Mouth Syndrome ; Burns ; Chronic Pain ; Humans ; Mouth ; Neuralgia ; Pain Management ; Rare Diseases ; Sensation ; Stress, Psychological

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is an intraoral chronic pain disorder characterized by continuous burning sensations. BMS occurs particularly in postmenopausal women, and its etiology is not definite and considered idiopathic. Various treatments such as analgesics, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants are found to be effective, but the definitive treatment has not been established. We report two cases of postmenopausal BMS that were relieved by clonazepam, and review the literature about the various possible etiologies and treatment modalities of BMS.
Analgesics ; Anticonvulsants ; Antidepressive Agents ; Burning Mouth Syndrome ; Burns ; Chronic Pain ; Clonazepam ; Female ; Humans ; Postmenopause ; Sensation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) refers to a collection of symptoms of patients who complain about burning sensation of their mouths without any specific causes. Although this is not a rare disease, the etiology and effective treatment are not well established. We tried to compare the efficacy and side effects of the agents that are reported to be relatively effective to BMS. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Fifty-one patients who were diagnosed as BMS were chosen as candidates. Trazodone, Paroxetine, Clonazepam, and Gabapentin, which were known to be effective medicines for BMS in previous research were prescribed randomly. We prescribed medication for two weeks and evaluated patients for the effect and side effects at the end of the treatment. The medication was prescribed for 2 more weeks and the patients were evaluated again. RESULTS: Three of 11 (27.3%) patients were prescribed Trazodone, 8 of 12 (66.7%) Paroxetine, 8 of 14 (57.1%) Clonazepam and 12 of 14 (85.7%) Gabapentin. Q showed improvements after 4 weeks of medication. The differential effectiveness among the medications was not significant, except for the inferiority of Trazodone. Five of 11 (45.5%) patients who had been prescribed Trazodone, 2 of 12 (16.7%) who had been prescribed Paroxetine, 2 of 14 (14.3%) who had been prescribed Clonazepam, 2 of 14 (14.3%) who had been prescribed Gabapentin complained of side effects during 4 weeks of medication. CONCLUSION: We can expect high success rates of treatment for burning mouth syndrome with Paroxetine, Clonazepam and Gabapentin. A further study for long term outcomes and side effects in large groups is warranted.
Amines ; Burning Mouth Syndrome ; Burns ; Clonazepam ; Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; Humans ; Mouth ; Paroxetine ; Rare Diseases ; Sensation ; Trazodone

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is defined as the xerostomia, burning sensation and various discomfort of tongue and oral mucosa. BMS can occur in both men and women, but is more frequent in middle-aged menopausal women. Because exact cause can't be identified clearly and it is hard to make diagnosis in clinic, the purpose of the treatment have been to relieve symptoms. Etiology of BMS is divided into local, systemic, and psychological factors. α-lipoic acid, clonazepam, supplemental therapy and cognitive behavior therapy can be prescribed for BMS. Nowdays, many experts focus attention on effect of combination therapy. It is necessary to solve the symptoms of the patients by combination of pharmacological approach and psychotherapy with cognitive behavior therapy considering the factors in various aspects.
Burning Mouth Syndrome ; Burns ; Clonazepam ; Cognitive Therapy ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mouth Mucosa ; Psychology ; Psychotherapy ; Sensation ; Tongue ; Xerostomia

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is characterized by a burning sensation in the tongue or other oral sites, usually in the absence of clinical and laboratory abnormal findings. BMS is not an uncommon disease that ENT doctors can encounter in the OPD clinics. However, the causes, pathophysiology, and treatment of BMS are not known yet, and there are just a few reported articles. The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of BMS and to evaluate the effects of steroid gargle treatments. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We reviewed 18 patients with BMS who visited the Department of Otolaryngology, Ajou University Hospital. The patients were analyzed according to the sites, duration of their burning sensations and associated symptoms. Furthermore, the interview included inquiries regarding current diseases, on-going medications, smoking history and psychological factors. The change of symptoms after steroid gargle treatment with/without other drugs was carefully analyzed. RESULTS: The average age of patients with BMS was 56.4 years old, and the male to female ratio was 8:10. The most frequently involved site was tongue (94.4%), followed by lower lip, gingiva, palate, and floor of mouth. We found that the causes of BMS were psychogenic factors for 4 patients, and diabetes mellitus and hypertension for 2 patients each. Approximately 80.0% (8/10 patients) of the women was menopausal. Six (50.0%) of 12 patients treated only with steroid gargle and 3 (75.5%) of 4 patients treated with steroid gargle and other medications showed relieved symptoms. CONCLUSION: Burning mouth syndrome is not an uncommon disease in the ENT field, and has complex etiology. Although the definitive treatment for BMS is not known yet, we think that steroid gargle may be helpful in the treatment of BMS.
Burning Mouth Syndrome* ; Burns* ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Female ; Gingiva ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Lip ; Male ; Mouth Floor ; Otolaryngology ; Palate ; Psychology ; Sensation ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Steroids ; Tongue

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to determine whether the serum levels of zinc, vitamin B12, folic acid, iron, and fungus were correlated with symptoms of burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and to analyze the relationship between treatment responses and the results from serum examination. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We analyzed data from 284 patients whose serum examination results recorded responses to treatment were available from June 2004 to November 2011. A total of 219 patients experienced burning sensation, while 65 patients experienced only globus symptoms or voice changes. RESULTS: Of the patients who experienced burning sensations, 5 (2.3%) had vitamin B12 deficiency, 23 (10.5%) had iron deficiency, 40 (24%) had zinc deficiency, but no patients had folic acid concentrations below the reference range. A total of 44 patients (25%) were fungus-positive. The comparison of the experimental and control treatment groups revealed that iron-deficient patients and fungal-positive patients were more frequently found in the experimental group (p=0.023 and p=0.010, respectively). Abnormalities in the serum or physical examinations were observed in 126 patients (57.5%). Symptomatic treatments were performed for both groups, which corrected abnormalities in serum examinations. CONCLUSION: The rates of fungus positivity and iron deficiency were higher in the BMS group. However, we did not identify a correlation between the response to treatment and serum examination of the analyzed elements or fungus examination. The total secondary oral burning rate was found to affect treatment modality.
Burning Mouth Syndrome ; Burns ; Folic Acid ; Fungi ; Humans ; Iron ; Physical Examination ; Reference Values ; Sensation ; Vitamin B 12 ; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency ; Voice ; Zinc