Tag Archives: Counseling

Express Yourself! Life with Burning Mouth

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I have discussed the power of communication before when it comes to managing chronic pain. Realistic representation of your pain levels, educating new specialists about Burning Mouth Syndrome, and even sharing with family and friends about your condition; what helps…and what doesn’t.

We have discussed counseling and therapy and I highly recommend it if you can find and afford it. It will give you a listening ear from a professional who has “no skin in the game.” You cannot overwhelm them with your frustration and pain, or frighten them about your reactions to it. You cannot express any emotions that they have not seen before. They are required to have professional boundaries, and short of your expression of the intent to self-harm or harm others, they will actively listen and then give you some ideas of how to handle these emotions. It’s a gift you give yourself.

But, you say, “I can’t afford that.” Or, “I don’t want to open up to a stranger.”

I hear you.

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Stress and Burning Mouth Syndrome

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Stress. We know it makes our chronic neuropathic pain worse. Our pain increases as stress rises, which increases pain, which increases stress…and well, you know the rest.

It’s an automated answering system from Hell, with no readily visible pound sign to hit to get a live person on the line. Or is it?

Stress is coming at us from all sides now, from the worries and complications of the pandemic to the feelings and actions we are experiencing about racial equality and equity. We are not alone in our stress by any means, but chronic pain sufferers can be triggered in more than one way by it.

I admit that I resisted counseling at the beginning of my Burning Mouth Syndrome journey. I had an instinctively negative reaction to the assumption that this pain was “all in my head,” or that therapy could or would help. It also felt suspiciously like I was getting shuffled off into the “menopausal female” box where any aches or pains or issues were part of the incredibly mysterious malady that seemed to be menopause. As a strong and independent female, I rejected this categorization and marginalization and started fighting back.

How? Continue reading →