What can I do about serious halitosis?? Its really embarrassing!?
Answers:
Hey Shawn
Here are some ideas to use and the reason why is on the bottom.
Natural Cures
Aromatherapy: Peppermint, lavender, and cardamom essential oils can all help cases of bad breath.
Ayurvedic Medicine: Triphala, an Ayurvedic herb, is useful for both bad breath and for balancing GI disorders. Take 1/2 teaspoon with warm water, 30 minutes before bedtime. You can also chew roasted cumin, fennel, and coriander seeds after each meal to further ensure healthy breath.
Diet: Follow a whole foods diet and eat plenty of raw foods. Drink water with juice of fresh lemon and/or one teaspoon chlorophyll on rising and before bed. Include fiber in diet (oat bran, rice bran). Fiber (psyllium or pectin fiber) helps remove toxins from the colon and thereby decreases bad breath. Also be sure to chew your food well, don't overeat, and drink lots of liquids.
Flower Essences: For negative feelings surrounding the problem, use Crab Apple.
Herbs: Chewing seeds of fennel or anise as needed will mask the odor and have a mild local antimicrobial effect. Alternatively, chew cardamom seeds, parsley leaves, or other chlorophyll-rich herbs such as basil and cilantro. Peppermint or bergamot tea can also be helpful.
Homeopathy: Arnica, Merc sol., Nux vom., Kali phos., and Chelidonium are the most commonly used homeopathic remedies for addressing bad breath.
Juice Therapy: The following fresh juice combinations can help alleviate bad breath symptoms and also help GI disturbances that may be a contributing factor: Carrot and celery with parsley, spinach, watercress, alfalfa, comfrey, or beet tops; wheat grass juice; green juice; and carrot, spinach, and cucumber.
Nutritional Supplementation: The following supplements can be helpful in addressing bad breath, particularly if it is related to infections or GI disorders: Proteolytic enzymes (two between meals, three times daily, and two with each meal), vitamin A, vitamin B complex (100 mg two times daily), vitamin C, thiamine (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3), vitamin B6, PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), Beta carotene, acidophilus, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, and charcoal tablets.
Chlorophyll products (wheat grass juice, chlorella, alfalfa tablets, barley juice) act as a blood purifier and can be effective in reducing and preventing bad breath.
Cause
Usually caused by some health problem in the mouth, teeth, gums, throat, or gastrointestinal tract. Other contributing factors may be smoking, liver disease, and poor protein digestion. The mouth is one window into the body. If there is a bad odor, it is a general sign that there is some underlying cause and imbalance that needs to be treated.
Astute holistic health practitioners smell the breath and examine carefully the tongue and mouth of all patients. Certain odors or smells emanating from the mouth can be indications of specific disease; for example, a metallic smell may represent diabetes or an active metabolism undergoing rapid weight loss; sour smells may represent stomach problems or tumors. While conventional physicians do not agree that halitosis may represent intestinal problems, holistic practitioners, based on extensive anecdotal evidence provided by their patients, disagree, and will often address gastrointestinal health when treating cases of bad breath.
Bad breath can also be caused by sinusitis or infections in the tonsils or lungs. Attention should also be given to other underlying causes, such as tooth and gum disease. People who experience bad breath, abdominal bloating and gas, and tiredness after meals may also be deficient in stomach acid.
Bad breath can also be symptomatic of constipation or sluggish bowels. If you are not having 2-3 healthy bowel movements per day, consider doing a bowel-cleanse. Parasites can also be an undetected factor and should be screened for if halitosis doesn't improve after trying other treatment options.
Best of health to you
Obviously, talk to you dentist. But, you can try gargling Hydrogen Peroxide several times a day. Also, mouthwash, breathmints, and lots of brushing!
you could have some infection going on in your throat you aren't aware of =see a Dr=or carry around a mouth spray with you all the time
There is a condition called Tonsillolith or tonsil stones..these are little white spongy round objects that grow on the tonsils and down the throat and not necessarily viewable and they emit a very strong odor, it is estimated that 10 percent of the population has them one time or another, go to a Ear Nose and Throat doctor and have him/her examine your throat, when you have good oral hygiene and your breath still smells its most likely you have this condition. Hope that helps.
See your dentist first and then see your doctor if the dentist recommends it. A range of dental and medical conditions can cause bad breath no matter how much you brush.
You may need to get your teeth cleaned more often. I have to do it three times a year rather than two because of -- I don't know, dental weirdness.
Good luck and hang in there. It'll all be OK.
Hi Shawn. You really need to find and fix the cause of your halitosis. Here are a few things to look for:
1) Chronic infection in the mouth (often these are asymptomatic). These are common after tooth extractions and root canals.
2) Hypochlorhydria (too little stomach acid). This is also common and can lead to mal-digestion and putrefaction of food.
3) Intestinal dysbiosis (an imbalance in the bacteria in the gut) and/or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. These conditions can result in bacteria that produce nasty smelling byproducts. Use of antibiotics, acid inhibiting drugs (Nexium, Prilosec, Pepcid, etc.) and/or NSAIDs (Advil, Motrin, Alleve, etc.) can contribute to these problems.
4) General problems with digestion, e.g. gallbladder problems, etc.
You may need to find a good Naturopathic Physician, Chiropractor, Certified Clinical Nutritionist (C.C.N.) or that rare M.D. that is trained in nutrition/functional medicine to help you sort these things out.
Best wishes and good luck.
Lots of times it's caused by a dental or sinus condition like an infection so maybe a check up (medical and dental) wouldn't hurt.
I've heard it can be caused by a food intolerance as well.
I had a friend that had breath so bad he actually left a lingering odor when he walked out of a room. He stopped drinking coffee and POOF! it was gone. The coffee was doing something to his stomach acids and coming out in his breath.
If you want to start small though, try chlorophyll. Ask about it at your health food store. It's the stuff that makes plants green, I know, but it also does something that helps eliminate bodily odors.
I like "Diana's" response about the tonsil stones..they reek.And what may help reduce the number of bacteria in your mouth that causes odor is by brushing your tongue and flossing. and if you have wisdom teeth that are growing awkward they may harbor bacteria around the Gum pocket.
If it's dry mouth, use non-alcohol and non-peroxide mouthwash, it will just dry it out more.
It could also be a medical problem. You ought to see a doctor.
They say if you have halitosis, then you should go to a dentist. If its not what you are eating then maybe you have some sort of tooth decay.
have your dr. check for an iron deficiency
sounds like you have an infection somewhere...bad breath can also come from your intestines. If you ever sweat out the smell of what you eat..it means your colon and intestines are backed up with waste...Its the waste that is rotting.
Just one suggestion
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