The medical term Salivary Duct Stone or Salivary Gland Stone condition is Sialolithiasis. Also referred to as salivary duct calculus. The stones are the formation of crystallized minerals in the saliva tubes that connect the salivary glands. These crystal stones cause blockage in the salivary ducts. This article covers Blocked Salivary Gland Home Remedy to help you get rid of it fast.
Middle-aged groups are the most affected people with the condition. We here explore the best salivary duct stones home remedies for faster relief.
There are three main pairs of salivary glands present in our mouth. Mostly salivary duct stones are formed in the ducts that are connected to submandibular glands. The submandibular glands are found at the back of your mouth and the sides of your jaws.
The other pair of the salivary glands is the parotid glands. These glands are just in front of your ears and on either side of your face. The salivary duct stones could form here as well. The duct stones formation here is much smaller. Smaller than the duct stones formed in the submandibular glands.
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Salivary Gland Infection/Duct Stones Causes, Symptoms, and Diagnose
Generally, salivary duct stone blockage does not cause serious problems. However, it causes mouth pain and discomfort affecting your normal day-to-day routine. Because of the nature of the condition, it can be easily treated with home remedies.
What causes a blocked salivary gland?
The salivary duct stones are formed from the saliva itself. The substances like calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate present in the saliva get crystallized and become stones.
It could be as big as two centimeters in length. These calcium stones in the mouth block the salivary ducts and make saliva accumulate in the glands resulting in parotid duct swelling and other symptoms.
The reasons for the formation of salivary duct stones in the salivary ducts are so far not clearly defined or not known. However, the following are the factors that may contribute to the risk of the formation of salivary duct stones.
- Dehydration in the mouth makes your saliva thick and concentrated allowing for the formation of duct stones.
- Intake of insufficient food causes less production of saliva
- Medication for health conditions – taking drugs for antihistamines and blood pressure causes dryness and less production of saliva from the glands.
Symptoms
You may ask “How do I know if I have salivary stones”? Let us look at the commonly blocked salivary gland symptoms.
The pains in facial muscles and neck are the main symptoms of salivary duct stone blockage. The pain may become severe just before or during meals. The reason is that before and during eating salivary glands naturally discharge salivary into the mouth.
Due to the blockage of salivary duct stones, the saliva cannot freely flow into the mouth. Instead, it gets clogged in the salivary glands. As a result, it causes parotid duct swelling or other salivary glands swelling and pain in the mouth, face muscles, and neck.
Some people may get dry mouth due to no flow of saliva into the mouth. This causes bad breath, pain at the opening of the mouth, and at swallowing saliva or food.
Other culprits for salivary blockage are bacterial infections. This can induce an unusual taste in your mouth, redness near the salivary glands in your mouth, and sometimes fever.
Salivary gland infection foods to avoid
- Spicy foods: These can irritate the already inflamed salivary glands.
- Acidic foods: citrus fruits, tomatoes, and other acidic foods can exacerbate the symptoms of an infection.
- Alcohol: Alcohol can dehydrate the body and make the symptoms of infection worse.
- Foods that stick to the roof of the mouth
Swelling of the Salivary Gland – Diagnosis
Doctors normally look at your jaw area and neck for any swelling to diagnose salivary duct stone blockage. They also take imaging or scanning tests to get more accuracy in their diagnosis to spot the salivary duct stones.
The imaging tests used are tomography (CT) scans or X-rays of the side of the face.
8 Best Remedies for Salivary Stones
How to unblock a blocked salivary gland? Here are the best home remedies for salivary duct stone blockage. These home treatments for salivary gland stones are primarily to increase saliva production to push the stones out of the salivary ducts.
1. Lemon for salivary duct Stones
Drinking fresh lemon juice works well to get rid of the salivary gland stones fast. Drink everyday morning glass of fresh lemon juice to treat salivary duct stone blockage. Furthermore, fresh lemon juice is a good detoxifying drink for your system.
How to squeeze out salivary gland stones? Sugar-free lemon drops are useful if you have a very busy schedule. Keep sucking lemon drops. It will increase the flow of saliva from the salivary glands and will force the stones out of the ducts. This is one of the effective salivary duct home remedies.
3. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar here too comes in handy to treat salivary duct stones. Mix one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. Keep sipping now and then throughout the day.
4. Borax
Borax can help to clear calcium salivary duct stones. Mix a quarter teaspoon of borax in one-liter water. Keep drinking little by little throughout the day for about three days.
5. Castor Oil
Castor oil helps to relieve pain caused by salivary duct stones. Soak the castor oil in a clean cloth and massage over the swelling areas of the face and neck for about 15 minutes. Repeat twice a day.
6. Lithotrophic herbs
These herbs are good for treating salivary gland stones because it has properties to dissolve the stones. Herbs of this nature are Chanca Piedra, Hydrangea, Dandelion, and Gravel root. Use the herbs and make a tea drink. Drink the solution twice a day.
Some of these herbs are available over the counter in the form of capsules.
7. Turmeric
Turmeric is another wonderful herb that aids in the treatment of pain, inflammation, and infection.
Take 1 teaspoon of turmeric in milk, almond milk, or soy milk twice a day. 4 capsules can also be taken twice a day. To avoid constipation, always take turmeric with plenty of water.
8. Oregano Essential Oil
Infections brought on by salivary stones can be treated with oregano essential oil. You can get oregano oil in tablet or supplement form to consume internally.
For oral infections, you can also mix 1 teaspoon of extra virgin coconut oil with 1 drop of oregano essential oil and gargle for 10 to 20 minutes (this is sometimes referred to as oil pulling). After swishing, spit the oil out.
Takeaway – Blocked Salivary Gland Home Remedy
If you are experiencing a blocked salivary gland, these are a few home remedies that may help to relieve the symptoms.
Lemon drops or sucking on hard candy can help to stimulate saliva flow. Turmeric and apple cider vinegar are both natural anti-inflammatories and can help to reduce swelling. Castor oil can also be used as a compress to reduce inflammation. If the blockage is due to an infection, Borax can be used as a gargle to help kill the bacteria.
If the symptoms of salivary gland problems are not going away with these remedies consult your doctor.
3 Sources:
Noble Home Remedies relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations for accuracy and reliability while avoiding tertiary references. Our editorial policy provides more information about how we ensure our content is accurate and up-to-date.
- Salivary Gland Infection (Sialadenitis) by Health Johns Hopkins
- Salivary Gland Stone by Carle
- Parotid sialolithiasis by National Library of Medicine
Swish hot water in mouth for 5 seconds then with ice water for 5 seconds keep switching for about 7x. It shocks the gl asnd open.
thank you for sharing your valuable experience swishing with hot and ice water to clear salivary duct stones
I must say that I tried everything today to relieve the pain from my blocked Salivary Gland, nothing helped until I used the Castor Oil like instructed on your site. It was a matter of minutes that I felt relief after I applied the Castor Oil. All the selling is gone.
Thank you.
Thank you for your feedback. Your time spending to write feedback is a really big help to us and to our readers. We are really happy that you have got over the blocked salivary gland problem and you are good and well.
Drink some water and suck a real lemon for 20 seconds ,repeat as frequently as able ,rinse mouth every hour . Has worked for me – my left side of face ,was badly swollen ,worked a treat ,gravel washed out ,and there was good result .
Thank you Kathleen for sharing your invaluable experience to get rid of salivary duct stones fast.