Out of several complaints, first-time weed smokers are more concerned about their dry mouths when high. This condition is medically known as xerostomia, but we call it cotton mouth or dry mouth in the cannabis culture.
When you smoke weed, your mouth becomes dry in the first couple of joints. You become uncomfortable because of the oral dryness, unquenchable thirst, and sore throat. Moreover, the dryness persists even if you drink gallons of water. But the good news is cotton mouth is not something untreatable.
Keep reading this post to find out more about cotton mouth and how to get rid of it when high.
What is Cotton Mouth?
Cotton mouth is a situation where stoners’ mouths get dried while smoking weed. Although cotton mouth occurs while smoking cigarettes and vapes, smoking cannabis makes your mouth drier than any other drug intake.
People often consider that only smoking weed causes dry or cotton mouth. However, eating edibles, like weed brownies and gummies, can also make your mouth dry.
How Does Cotton Mouth Occur?
Cotton mouth occurs when the cannabinoids in cannabis react with the endocannabinoid system in the human body.
Earlier, people believed that smoking weed dries the mucous membrane, making the mouth and throat dry. But recent studies found that when you consume cannabis, the natural cannabinoid receptors in your body are compromised after marijuana consumption.
Cannabinoids in marijuana trigger various effects other than dry mouth, including:
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Hunger
When you smoke or ingest weed, the cannabinoids react with the endocannabinoid system, inhibiting the salivary glands’ neural communication. In simple terms, marijuana cannabinoids delay the message to provide saliva from the brain to the submandibular saliva glands.
Thus, the slow neural communication causes the mouth to become dry because of insufficient saliva.
Tips to Get Rid of Cotton Mouth
Fortunately, cotton mouth is not a permanent problem if you experience it while getting high. Scientists believe that you can easily get rid of cotton mouth if you don’t have any severe symptoms.
Besides, if you can easily switch to a low THC strain of cannabis from a high one, that might be the first step to getting rid of cotton mouth.
Remember that if you already have an oral health condition, dry mouth due to marijuana consumption will make it only worse. For instance, cotton mouth can lead to tooth decay, plaque, and gum disease.
Here are the seven tips to get rid of cotton mouth.
Drink Water
If you are a weed enthusiast, you must keep yourself hydrated by drinking enough water. That’s the most common solution to get rid of cotton mouth.
Since your salivary glands are not producing enough saliva, drinking water can somewhat quench the thirst. Medical experts also suggest keeping yourself hydrated is important if you smoke weed or any other substance.
Chew Gum
You can’t drink water every minute to stay hydrated if you smoke or ingest cannabis. That might be harmful to you. That’s why chewing gums are an alternate way to stimulate salivary glands to produce the required saliva.
Chewing a piece of gum helps you keep your mouth moisturized. Moreover, sugarless chewing gums are highly recommended to avoid carious attack preceded by cotton mouth. It’s because sugar triggers the acidic reaction in your mouth, allowing plaque to stick to your teeth.
Suck on Candies
Another method to get rid of cotton mouth is to suck on hard candies or lozenges. The best flavors for cotton mouth are:
- Mint
- Citrus
- Cinnamon
These candies increase the saliva production rate. Moreover, the flavors mentioned above keep the mouth fresh and moist after smoking weed. Even if you like weed gummies, you must not forget to suck on candies to counter dry mouth.
Humidify Your Mouth and Surrounding
Many stoners complain about chronic dry mouth. Their mouth stays dry hours after smoking cannabis. That usually happens when the endocannabinoid inhibitors significantly affect the salivary glands. Therefore, you must get a mouth humidifier to get rid of chronic cotton mouth.
The surrounding where you live also plays a vital role in keeping your mouth humid. So, you can deploy humidifiers in your room where you smoke marijuana to counter dry mouth.
Rinse Your Mouth
Rinsing your mouth reduces the dryness which occurs due to smoking cannabis. It also helps you clear the lingering taste of weed. You can mix a suitable mouthwash in water to rinse your mouth for better cleaning.
Remember that mouthwash containing alcohol must not be used as it’s a dehydrator, meaning it can worsen cotton mouth.
Abstain From Alcohol and Caffeine Products
Diuretics, such as alcohol and caffeine, induce urination by releasing more salt through the kidneys. That means if you are suffering from cotton mouth, consuming alcohol or caffeine products is not a good idea.
Even a small amount can have a large impact because you already suffer from dry mouth. Even if you don’t feel dehydrated, your mouth will eventually become drier, leading to other diseases, such as tooth decay and sore throat.
Avoid Getting Stressed
Stressful situations make us anxious, which triggers acidic reactions in our bodies. For instance, acid reflux is a common phenomenon that occurs when we are stressed. Acid reflux is a situation that sends the stomach acid backward to the esophagus (a tube that connects the throat to the stomach), causing a burning sensation in the chest.
That sensation causes our mouth to get dry, worsening cotton mouth. Moreover, this situation impedes salivary glands from providing saliva, severely drying the mouth.
So, live a relaxed lifestyle, especially if you smoke weed, as it can cause oral health conditions, such as bad breath, chewing disorders, and speech problems.
Conclusion
Cotton mouth is a common problem in the stoner’s community. From an amateur to a veteran weed smoker, everyone experiences dry mouth. That’s why you must know how to get rid of it.
First, keep yourself hydrated and keep a pack of sugarless gums or candies to stimulate the salivary glands. Secondly, avoid alcohol and caffeine as they worsen dry mouth. Lastly, anxiety triggers acidic reactions, worsening cotton mouth. So, live a stress-free life.
