Dry Mouth, Gum Disease, Chapped Lips, Dry... - Cure Parkinson's

Cure Parkinson's

25,338 members26,638 posts

Dry Mouth, Gum Disease, Chapped Lips, Dry Eyes, Dry Skin, Eye Floaters And Some Possible Help From A Single Spray!

chartist profile image
23 Replies

With winter just around the corner, this information may be most useful and timely! With winter weather comes heater use which can have very drying effects on skin, eyes and your mouth and the information below may be a useful way to deal with these issues!

I put the following post up about 2 to 3 years ago when I was known as "easilly" on this forum. I am reposting it so that it can be easily found by just clicking on my icon, the Orange melatonin capsule. With winter just around the corner, this information may be most useful and timely!

Dry mouth is a listed and common symptom of PD (> 50%), but I think when many PWPs go to see their doctor, it may not be their highest priority to talk to their doctor about it with the other PD symptoms possibly being more prominent in the patients mind.

Another consideration is that dry mouth is likely more common as we age. Another issue is that some medications are well known for causing dry mouth.

I get dry mouth at times and have had it bad enough where my tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth! That was a shocker to wake up and I could not move my tongue!

Dry mouth can also be a common symptom of Sjogren's Syndrome among other health issues that can also cause dry mouth.

Dry mouth can also contribute to "tooth decay" which is only going to make things worse in terms of overall health and total inflammatory burden.

What I have found is that a very simple mix I make at home seems to help alleviate my dry mouth temporarily. I make a combination of xylitol, food grade vegetable glycerine, distilled water or aloe vera juice, peppermint essential oil, spearmint essential oil. I mix the granular xylitol at approximately 5% to 10% with approximately 5% to 10% vegetable glycerine. I add these two to the distilled water or aloe vera juice and then drops of spearmint and peppermint essential oils to the mix to taste. Sometimes I use peppermint essential oil or both spearmint and peppermint oils. I shake this mix and then I fill a two ounce spray bottle with it and leave it on my nightstand, so on those rare occasions when my mouth gets dry at night, I reach over and put two sprays in my mouth and the dry mouth is controlled and refreshed by the spray. I try not to use more than two pumps because that is just enough to work and then I usually don't swallow any. When my dry mouth condition used to be worse and was noticeable during my waking hours, I used to carry another two ounce spray bottle in my pocket and spray as needed. Another advantage to this mix is that the xylitol can act to kill some bacteria as well as some biofilms as can the essential oils. Another benefit is that the combination of xylitol and vegetable glycerine has anti-irritant qualities as outlined in studies. This mix has other uses, but this is what I mainly use it for. I always use food grade vegetable glycerine and xylitol, the common sugar substitute, is already intended for internal consumption. Good quality essential oils are required.

Ingredients :

1 oz. food grade glycerin with an equal amount of xylitol granules mixed into it.

10 oz. distilled water

25 drops of high quality peppermint essential oil

Optional :

20 drops of high quality spearmint essential oil

Aloe vera juice as a replacement for the distilled water

Instructions :

Pour 1 ounce of food grade glycerin into a measuring cup and add xylitol granules to the measuring cup until the 2 ounce marker line is reached and mix until granules dissolve. Pour this mix into a 16 ounce bottle and add the 10 ounces of distilled water to the bottle. Add the peppermint essential oil and replace lid on bottle and shake vigorously. It is ready for use. Add the spearmint oil if desired.

I usually pour some of this mix into a 2 ounce spray bottle that I carry in my pocket and another 2 ounce spray bottle for my night stand. Two squirts is all it takes to instantly give lasting oral moisture and refreshment. This mix is also antibiofilm, anti irritant and antibacterial toward gum disease causing bacteria and cavities! To make less, cut ingredients in half.

The spray also makes an easy to apply skin moisturizer!

myparkdental.com/Xylitol.asp

The other day I noticed that my lips were dry and slightly chapped so I used the xylitol/glycerine spray on them. I sprayed the tip of my finger and then rubbed my finger over my lips and that worked very well to normalize my chapped lips! This home made dry mouth oral spray acts as a skin moisturizer, but according to this recent study, this glycerine /xylitol combination also has anti-inflammatory qualities and skin barrier enhancing qualities suggesting other potential uses besides as a remedy for dry mouth or for dry skin!

Substituting aloe vera juice instead of distilled water should convert this from a moisturizer to a skin damage healer based on these two studies :

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/295...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/296...

Depending on what type of aloe vera you use in this alternate mixture, it may no longer be safe for oral use. You would have to use an aloe product such as aloe juice that is safe for oral consumption and then you can still use it as an oral moisturizer! This mix is likely to also be useful for bedsores.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/273...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/263...

It has worked well to keep my skin moisturized during the winter. I have been applying it to my face and it definitely works well for this purpose. As an added benefit, the face application has helped with dry eye issues! Since applying this everyday to my entire face, I almost never need to use eye drops any more! I imagine this is due to the moisturizing and anti inflammatory qualities of the aloe gel as well as the humectant and anti inflammatory qualities of the xylitol and food grade glycerine. Since dry eye is a symptom related to PD, I thought it was worth mentioning. For facial application, skip the peppermint essential oil in the mix as it can be irritating to people with very sensitive eyes. The spearmint oil could be an issue with the eyes too, so you will have to test it, but it will mainly depend on how much spearmint oil you use.

One other benefit I have found from the facial application is that my eye floaters have diminished by about 70%. Prior to this, the floaters have seemed to only increase over the years so a reduction of any amount is quite welcome!

All of these ingredients can be found at Amazon and possibly Walmart.

WARNING : DO NOT LET YOUR DOG GET ANYWHERE NEAR XYLITOL AS IT CAN KILL THEM!!!

Art

Written by
chartist profile image
chartist
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
23 Replies
Millbrook profile image
Millbrook

Thank you Art. As usual, another excellent article. All your contributions are much appreciated. Take care and God bless.

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to Millbrook

Thank you, Millbrook! I hope the members are able to derive benefit from this simple and inexpensive multi-effect spray in treating the above listed health issues!

Art

park_bear profile image
park_bear

Thanks for taking the trouble to put this together.

In my case is xylitol does not agree with me. I use a combination of the prescription drug cevimeline, Hall's sugar free lozenges, and a custom toothpaste using NAC, among other things, to break up biofilms.

It is essential to treat dry mouth, because as you say, this can cause tooth decay and tongue problems.

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to park_bear

You're welcome park_bear!

It can work without the xylitol to moisturize the mouth, but xylitol makes it slightly better than without and adds to the potential benefits. Very simple, inexpensive and offers multiple benefits and is easy to use and take with you!

Art

Jennyjenny2 profile image
Jennyjenny2

Thank you, Art, once again. I will share this with others in our support group who have this problem. 🙏

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to Jennyjenny2

Hi Jenny!

I hope your support group finds it useful and effective for the issues I listed. That has been my experience with it and I like the simplicity of it. It might make a useful stocking stuffer for those who have those problems.

Art

Jennyjenny2 profile image
Jennyjenny2 in reply to chartist

Great idea, Art! Can’t think of a better way to show we care!

Jenny 🌸

LAJ12345 profile image
LAJ12345

Thanks. Good to know

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to LAJ12345

LAJ,

It has been a very useful aid for me to keep on hand because of its versatility, ease of use and effectiveness!

Art

chartist profile image
chartist

I notice that quite a few members have saved this post. If possible, please come back if you make it and try it and let the forum know your results as this will be helpful for the forum in general!

Thank you!

Art

M-o-ggy profile image
M-o-ggy

Hi there. What is Xylitol ?

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to M-o-ggy

Xylitol is a popular sugar substitute that is probably the closest in taste to sugar and is popular among diabetics because of its relatively low glycemic index and because it is not rapidly digested the way sugar is so is much less likely to cause insulin spikes. Here is a link to a typical xylitol product :

amazon.com/Health-Garden-Bi...

It looks and tastes the same as sugar to me. Same granular appearance and I can not tell them apart. Mannitol is in the same class as xylitol, both are considered polyols or sugar alcohols.

Art

M-o-ggy profile image
M-o-ggy

Thank you

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to M-o-ggy

You're welcome!

Art

Lilliwaup profile image
Lilliwaup

Looks like you need to be careful of what type of aloe vera you buy.

healthline.com/health/food-...

chartist profile image
chartist

Lilliwaup,

Thank you for the warning. Here is a link to a purified aloe vera juice :

amazon.com/Natures-Way-Juic...

SilentEchoes profile image
SilentEchoes

Thank you! I live in Minnesota and it is quickly becoming an artic desert. We filter the air and run humidifiers but it isn't enough to be completely comfortable in my skin.

SE

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to SilentEchoes

If you want even more moisturizing effect, simply increase the food grade glycerin and xylitol very slightly.

Art

Godiv profile image
Godiv

Wow, thank you! Much needed :).

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to Godiv

Hi Godiv,

Please reply back to this post with your results if you try it so the other forum members can benefit from your results! Thank you!

Art

Godiv profile image
Godiv in reply to chartist

Will do, thank you!

MBAnderson profile image
MBAnderson

Once again - whew!

chartist profile image
chartist in reply to MBAnderson

You didn't really expect less from me, did you Marc? 😅😅😅

Art

You may also like...

Dry mouth, dry eyes and dry skin

Has anyone noticed having dry eye, dry mouth and dry skin since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s?...

'Reverse Parkinson' by breathing-in Farnesol with a humidifier?

------- This M.D. eye doctor highly recommends a humidifier if you have dry eyes (I do) -- which is