By Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D. and Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
Dry mouth, coated tongue? Bad taste in your mouth, breath is always bad? There may be a deeper reason behind halitosis. Acupuncture and TCM can help correct the internal imbalances that are the root cause of bad breath.
How To Get Rid of Bad Breath
Looking for how to get rid of bad breath? Conventional medicine often sees bad breath as a dental issue, related to oral hygiene, gum disease, and bacteria on your tongue and in your mouth.
Recommendations for treating bad breath typically include using antibacterial mouth rinses and toothpastes, scraping your tongue, and flossing.
But what causes bad breath and dry mouth?
Bad Breath Causes
There are many health conditions that can cause bad breath, including:
- GERD – with acid reflux, some of the contents of the stomach come back up into the esophagus, which can smell strong.
- Diabetes – contributes to gum disease and bacterial growth in the mouth because of high glucose levels and poor blood flow to gums.
- Liver disease – breath may have a sulfurous, rotten egg smell, because toxins are not being adequately filtered by the liver.
- Kidney disease – can cause a metallic taste in the mouth, because minerals are not being filtered out through the kidneys.
- Sjogren’s Syndrome – parotid gland dysfunction leads to dry mouth.
- Sinusitis – mucus from sinus infection can smell bad as it drips into the back of the throat.
- Tonsillitis or tonsil stones – infected pus around the membranes of the tonsils can smell.
Other symptoms that often accompany bad breath include:
- Burning sensation on the tongue
- Need to clear your throat all the time
- Buildup on teeth, coated tongue
- Thick saliva
- Bad taste in mouth: metallic taste, sour taste, or bitter taste
Addressing these health issues can help clear up halitosis. But, what if you are experiencing frequent bad breath, and none of these health problems are the cause?
Underlying Causes of Bad Breath
According to TCM theory, bad breath usually arises from imbalances in the internal organ systems. Acupuncture treatment and herbal remedies can address the root causes of bad breath, so that it doesn’t come back.
In TCM, we consider “heat,” “wind,” “dampness,” “dryness,” and so on to be pathogenic factors that can either get into the body from external causes, or arise within the organ systems due to imbalances in Yin and Yang energies, or the obstruction or stagnation of Qi (life force energy).
Dryness and heat are the primary pathogenic factors that might lead to bad breath becoming a problem.
These words sound metaphorical, but they describe the nature of how problems occur within the human body and produce various symptoms. “Fire” or “heat” produces redness, swelling, eruptions of red bumps, thirst, excessive acid, etc.
When we say that pathogenic factors can arise from within, we are also acknowledging that emotions affect our physical and mental health, and vice versa.
Liver fire, or excess Yang energy in the Liver, for example, can arise due to dietary habits, like too much spicy food, or changes in weather, like warming temperatures in the springtime.
Liver heat is also related to feelings of anger and frustration. So, a lot of emotional stress and repressed anger can lead to liver fire problems.
Hot weather can contribute to feeling irritable. We must look at all sides of the problem in order to treat Liver fire and reduce uncomfortable symptoms, like trouble sleeping, and dry mouth.
Patterns of disharmony that can lead to bad breath as a symptoms include:
- Dry Intestine – leads to constipation and dry stool, dry throat and mouth, dizziness, hemorrhoids
- Stomach heat – thirsty all the time, craving for cold drinks, hungry all the time, canker sores, stomach pain, acid reflux, vomiting, feeling hot, acne breakouts
- Excess phlegm – tightness in chest, brain fog, dizziness
Sometimes one imbalance can lead to another. For example, liver fire can lead to fire in the lungs, causing chest pains and respiratory problems. Liver fire moving into the heart can cause angry outbursts, dry throat, and a bitter taste in your mouth.
TCM Nutrition to Address Bad Breath
Rather than simply telling you not to eat garlic, your acupuncturist will talk with you about eating the right foods to cool down the specific type of heat that is affecting your health. In TCM, we view certain foods as being “warming” or “cooling.” Eating more cool and neutral foods and avoiding heat-producing foods can help with halitosis.
An acupuncture practitioner will also assemble an herbal formula designed to address the organ system imbalances that seem to be causing problems.
Acupuncture Near Me for Bad Breath in West Los Angeles
Having bad breath can impede your social life and even your career. Experiencing dry mouth on a regular basis is very uncomfortable. It is important to address these issues, as they are likely an indication that there is something happening deeper under the surface. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at Art of Wellness Acupuncture in Los Angeles, so that we can resolve this issue and help you feel better and more confident in your day to day life.
*This article is for education from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine only. The education provided by this article is not approved by FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat and cure human diseases. It should not stop you from consulting with your physician for your medical conditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on Qi, which is an invisible force that usually cannot be observed by modern science. Because science focuses on testing ideas about the natural world with evidence obtained through observation, these aspects of acupuncture can’t be studied by science. Therefore acupuncture and Chinese herbs are often not supported by double-blind, randomized trials, and they are considered alternative medicine therapies in the United States.
