How Can I Stop Drooling?
Drooling in adults and children over the age of 18 months is most often caused by a neurological condition such a cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s disease. Cases can be minor or severe, and treatment options are generally prescribed accordingly. Sometimes adult drooling may also be caused by an overproduction of saliva or by underdeveloped muscles in the jaw and mouth. In rare cases, sinus congestion or infection may also cause adult drooling. You can find a way to stop drooling by first discovering the root cause of your problem, and then discussing treatment options with your doctor.
For neurological causes, you may be able to stop drooling by taking a medication which has dry mouth as one of the side effects. This is not always an option, especially if you are already taking multiple medications for other conditions. If your drooling is severe or especially disruptive, however, your doctor will likely try various drugs that are safe to take with your existing medications. For mild cases, you may also try putting Vaseline® in the corners of your mouth to help prevent saliva from overflowing.
Medications may also be prescribed to help you stop drooling if you have overactive salivary glands. You can visit a nose and throat specialist to have him or her remove or tie off some of your glands or salivary ducts. This will prevent your body from producing excessive amounts of saliva. Botox® injections have proven effective in some patients, while an adverse reaction happens with others, so this is not a highly recommended treatment option.
Infection-related drooling will likely disappear once the offending bacteria has been identified and treated with antibiotics. This should allow you to stop drooling permanently, unless the infection reappears. Nasal congestion may cause excessive drooling, although this is not common, and may or may not be remedied by taking medications aimed at clearing nasal passages. If you have allergies, however, you may have consistent nasal drip, so additional treatments may be necessary to stop drooling if it is a consistent problem.
No treatment is generally necessary for those who drool in their sleep. This is a relatively common occurrence in both adults and children, and does not usually signal any underlying problem. If nighttime drooling becomes very severe, you may discuss medications you can use before bed, or consider using a mouth dam to prevent drool from spilling over your lips. In many cases, doctors will not give unnecessary medications for nighttime drooling unless a more severe underlying cause is suspected.
Written by Erin J. Hill
