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How can I Stop Drooling?
Drooling in adults and children over the age of 18 months is most often caused by a neurological condition such a cerebral palsy or Parkinson’s disease. Cases can be minor or severe, and treatment options are generally prescribed accordingly. Sometimes, adult drooling may also be caused by an overproduction of saliva or by underdeveloped muscles in the jaw and mouth. In rare cases, sinus congestion or infection may also cause adult drooling. You can find a way to stop drooling by first discovering the root cause of your problem, and then discussing treatment options with a medical professional.
For neurological causes, you may be able to stop drooling by taking a medication that has dry mouth as one of the side effects. This is not always an option, especially if you are already taking multiple medications for other conditions. If your drooling is severe or especially disruptive, however, your healthcare provider will likely try various drugs that are safe to take with your existing medications. For mild cases, you may also try putting petroleum jelly in the corners of your mouth to help prevent saliva from overflowing.
Medications may also be prescribed if you have overactive salivary glands. You can visit a nose and throat specialist to have him or her remove or tie off some of your glands or salivary ducts. This will prevent your body from producing excessive amounts of saliva. Botox® injections have proven effective in some patients, while an adverse reaction happens with others, so this is not a highly recommended treatment option.
Infection-related drooling will likely disappear once the offending bacteria has been identified and treated with antibiotics. This should allow you to stop drooling permanently, unless the infection reappears. Nasal congestion may cause excessive drooling, although this is not common, and may or may not be remedied by taking medications aimed at clearing nasal passages. If you have allergies, however, you may have consistent nasal drip, so additional treatments may be necessary if drool is a consistent problem.
No treatment is generally necessary for those who drool in their sleep. This is a relatively common occurrence in both adults and children, and does not usually signal any underlying problem. If nighttime drooling becomes very severe, you may discuss medications you can use before bed or consider using a mouth dam to prevent drool from spilling over your lips. In many cases, a medical professional will not give a patient any medications for nighttime drooling unless a more severe underlying cause is suspected.
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![Adult drooling may be due to an overproduction of saliva.]()
By: studiovespaAdult drooling may be due to an overproduction of saliva. -
![Medication with a side effect of dry mouth may be prescribed to combat a drooling issue.]()
By: Steve CukrovMedication with a side effect of dry mouth may be prescribed to combat a drooling issue. -
![The common condition of drooling while asleep usually does not warrant any treatment.]()
By: theartofphotoThe common condition of drooling while asleep usually does not warrant any treatment. -
![For mild drooling cases, try putting petroleum jelly in the corners of your mouth to help prevent saliva from overflowing.]()
By: blueeeFor mild drooling cases, try putting petroleum jelly in the corners of your mouth to help prevent saliva from overflowing.
Discussion Comments
I broke two of my teeth and I have a fat lip. And I can't stop drooling. How do I fix this?
To fix your daytime drooling, you have to change the position of your jaw, and by changing I mean forcefully snapping the position in a different place. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt and is painless. This method is easier on skinny people than it is on overweight people. Just note that the best thing to do is to get jaw surgery.
For some reason, I have recently started drooling during the day and I would like to know why and how to stop it as it is really embarrassing. My doctor just said it is probably to do with your teeth but I only have two, and the problem has just started. I have COPD and wonder if this could be a cause. I am on medication which gives me a dry mouth but still I drool! Any ideas?
I had a bad case of sialorrhea in the first trimester of my pregnancy. Sialorrhea is when you produce too much saliva. It inevitably leads to drooling.
My doctor told me that this sometimes happens during pregnancy but they have no idea why. He said he would give me medications during normal circumstances but I couldn't take them anyway while I was pregnant.
The drooling was worse at night because I consciously kept swallowing during the day. But I couldn't help but drool at night.
Thankfully, it went away on its own during my second trimester. Maybe it has to do with the extra hormones produced during pregnancy.
@fify-- Do you breathe through your mouth at night?
I had a drooling problem in my sleep too. Then my husband told me that I breathe through my mouth at night. I had never realized this before. It turns out my nose gets stuffy at night and while I'm sleeping, I open my mouth to breathe. That's why the drooling used to happen.
I now use one of those nose strips at night to help myself breathe through my nose. I also put a little pillow under my chin at night. It prevents my mouth from opening while I sleep. I haven't been drooling in a long time now.
So you need to figure out the reason behind your drooling. There is always an underlying reason for it, you probably just don't know it.
I drool a lot in my sleep. I know that this doesn't require treatment, my doctor has told me the same. But it's really annoying and embarrassing.
I haven't been able to figure out why I drool so much at night. I don't drool during the day. But in the morning when I wake up, I find my pillow literally soaked in drool where my mouth was.
I need to figure out a way to stop this. I haven't tried a mouth dam, I'm not even sure how it works. But I don't think I can sleep with something in my mouth. Isn't there another remedy to stop drooling in my sleep?
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