Treatment of burning mouth syndrome with integration of traditional chinese medicine and western medicine—a pilot study

Background There is no report of integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine (WM) in treating the burning mouth syndrome (BMS). BMS more frequently affects women in perimenopause. Both BMS and patients in perimenopause are diagnosed and classified in a similar “Zhen pattern,” which implies similar TCM formula in treating these diseases. Objective To understand the efficacy of TCM in treating BMS. Methods Patients with BMS were treated with 0.5 clonazepam every day before sleep or twice a day. They received TCM therapy if their pain was not decreased or not completely relieved by WM. The TCM formulas were basically Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San, Zhi-Bai-Di-Huang-Wan, Mai-Dong, Niu-Xi, and others according to their “Zhen pattern.” All patients received pain evaluation or/and global perceived effects of their symptoms after WM and TCM. Results Eight patients (6 women and 2 men) were included in this retrospective study. The mean age was 62 years. After the integration of TCM management, 62.5% of patients reported improvement in burning/stinging pain sensation (5/8). The duration of improved burning sensation ranged from 2 to 28 weeks. In addition, 28.5% of patients reported improvement in dry mouth 3 and 8 weeks after TCM (2/7). All patients reported improvement in sleep problems 5 days to 8 weeks after TCM. Conclusions Our study offers another choice for management of BMS. This is the first study to integrate WM and TCM in treatment of patients with BMS.