Salivary Gland Infection Home Remedies: Causes, Symptoms, and Risks

Salivary Gland Infection Home Remedies

Salivary Gland Infection Home Remedies are very simple to practice.  Effective in Parotid gland swelling home treatment.  Before we proceed further let us see the insights into what is Salivary Gland Infection.

Salivary gland infection is an infection in the gland that produces saliva or spits in the mouth. In general, these infections are caused by bacteria or viruses. In our mouth, you will find three major pairs of salivary glands.

Salivary Glands Anatomy
Salivary Glands Anatomy
  • Parotid glands – The two largest glands in the mouth. This gland is located on each cheek and just over the jaws. Inflammation of these glands is known as parotitis or parotitis
  • Submandibular glands – The two glands are located on both sides of the jaw at the back of the mouth
  • Sublingual glands – The two glands found just under the floor of the mouth.

The functionality of the salivary glands is releasing saliva into the mouth. The Saliva gets into the mouth through ducts that are at specific places in the mouth.  Most commonly parotid and submandibular glands often get infected.

Causes of Salivary Gland Infection

Salivary gland infections are common in nature.  Infection can re-enter in some people.

1. Cause Of Viral Salivary gland infection

Salivary glands also can get infected by a virus.  An example is Mumps. Mumps viral infection mostly affects the parotid salivary glands. But, these days it’s seldom because of the vaccine called MMR.

2. Cause of Bacterial Salivary gland infection

Cause of Bacterial Salivary gland infections

Bacterial Salivary gland infections are very common. The causes of this infection are due to the following lifestyle:-

  • Smoking
  • Poor oral hygiene (cleanliness in the mouth)
  • Blockage of salivary duct stones or blocked salivary gland
  • Chronic illness
  • Low amounts of water in the body
  • Inadequate saliva flow in the mouth.  This can be due to a dry mouth
  • Dehydration caused by other illnesses or surgery

Bacteria is the main cause of salivary gland infections. Viruses also cause salivary gland infections.

The known viruses that cause salivary gland infections are: – 

  • herpes
  • influenza A
  • HIV
  • mumps
  • parainfluenza (types 1 and 2)
  • coxsackievirus

Other causes of salivary gland infections are: – 

  • presence of salivary gland stones
  • tumors
  • abnormal salivary glands
  • kinks in salivary ducts

Salivary gland infection Symptoms

There are several symptoms of this infection such as…

  • Abnormal tastes, foul tastes in the mouth
  • Difficult to open the mouth
  • Mouth going dry
  • Fever at times
  • Pain in the mouth while eating
  • Redness in the upper neck or side of the face
  • Swelling in the face in areas like the front of the ears, the floor of the mouth, or below the jaw

Here are the swollen salivary glands home remedies you can work on for faster relief and cure

Salivary gland infection home remedies

1. Brush and Floss Your Teeth

Salivary gland infections remedies - Brush and Floss
Brush and floss teeth after every meal

Practice regular good oral hygiene. Brush and floss your teeth after every meal. This will help to heal the infection to prevent further spreading.

2. Gargle with salt water to remove salivary gland infection

Mix half a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water.

Then gargle and rinse your mouth with the warm saltwater. This will kill the bacteria and ease any pain you have in your mouth.

3. Stop smoking

If you are a smoking person, discontinuing smoking to speed up healing.

4. Drink more water

A good salivary gland infection home remedy is drinking lots of water.

5. Sugar-free lemon drops for salivary gland infection

Take sugar-free lemon drops. This will increase the flow of saliva and will reduce any swelling.

6. Massaging salivary glands

Massaging the gland with heat is also good for a faster recovery.

When to see a doctor for treatment for salivary gland infections?

Seek immediate medical attention when having symptoms:

  • infection is severe
  • very painful
  • unable to eat food or drink
  • difficulty in breathing
  • home remedies are not responding for more than two weeks

Your doctor may use the following diagnosis to determine the salivary gland infection:

  • MRI
  • CT
  • Ultrasound scans or

In addition, he might ask to take mumps blood tests mostly if many glands are affected.

The treatments may be by using antibiotics, surgery, aspiration, and so on.

Risk Factors of Salivary Gland Infection

There is a huge list of risk factors that contribute to salivary gland infection.  Mainly the lifestyle, certain medical conditions, and medications. These reduce the flow of saliva and result in salivary gland infection.

  • dehydration
  • breathing through the mouth 
  • antihistamines
  • malnutrition
  • antidepressants
  • sedatives
  • diuretics
  • antipsychotics
  • being immunosuppressed
  • anti-Parkinson medications
  • above 65 years of age
  • radioactive iodine therapy for thyroid
  • chemotherapy of the mouth, head, or neck
  • radiation therapy of the mouth, head, or neck 
  • surgery and medication
  • diabetes mellitus
  • rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
  • lupus
  • Sjogren’s syndrome
  • lymph node infections
  • kidney failures
  • hypothyroidism
  • anorexia
  • bulimia

Takeaway

Swollen salivary glands home remedies discussed above are practical.  You will benefit from it if followed correctly.  The Good news is that most salivary gland infections clear by themselves.  It clears with self-care and suggested home remedies.   In case of severe infections never delay seeing a physician. 

FAQ

How long does it take for a salivary gland infection to go away?

It depends on the severity of the salivary gland infection. Viral infections such as mumps may last for 10 days. Symptoms will go down faster with the above remedies and treatment with antibiotics.

How do you treat a swollen salivary gland?

There are simple ways to treat the swollen salivary gland. Mainly oral hygiene is necessary. Brush and floss your teeth after a meal, Gargle with saltwater and sugar-free lemon drops, and massage salivary glands.

What causes a salivary gland infection?

Two main causes of salivary gland infection. 1. Viral infection 2. Bacterial infection. A good example of viral infection is mumps. However, this is now seldom because of the MMT vaccination. Bacterial infections causes are many. Such as smoking, poor oral hygiene, blocked salivary glands, dehydration, inadequate saliva flow in the mouth, etc.

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6 thoughts on “Salivary Gland Infection Home Remedies: Causes, Symptoms, and Risks”

    • Great to hear that salivary gland infection home remedy has worked for you. Thank you for sharing your experience. All our efforts are to provide the best we know for everyone to benefit from the home remedies which are considered to be no side effects, cost-effective and safe to use.

  1. Gargling with salt water made the difference. Feeling much better now. Thank you for helping me in salivary gland problem

  2. can you give me names of doctors that specialize in in removing the stones, sialondoscopy , with the special machine only certain hospitals have and trained surgeons in this procedure. I live in the North, Northwest Chicago suburbs my zip is 60068
    thank you, Gert

    • Dear Gert, our objective is to provide best possible information on home remedies. Our portal does not guide on the hospitals and doctors for any medications till this date. However, thank you for coming over to us with a query.

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