If anyone has any patience to spare, can you send it my way? My lack of patience recently left me with a mouth full of pain. Well, in my defense, I had waited over three hours for my aunt to finish cooking her legendary honey fried chicken. Since this is my #1 favorite meal, I was basically salivating by the time she finished… so I decided to skip the cooling-off part and immediately bit into a piece of chicken. OMG! That chicken was really, reallyhot, and I burnt my entire tongue. It hurt so badly, I started tearing up.
My tongue was in severe pain, and my heart was in pain at the thought of not being able to enjoy the rest of my chicken. Luckily, my aunt was there to save me. She grabbed her sugar container and told me to open my mouth. I was skeptical, but she assured me that sugar would quickly stop the burning sensation on my tongue. Sugar is one of my favorite things in the world, so I figured it couldn’t hurt.
I gave it a try and it worked!
If you are showing signs of a second- or third-degree burn, by all means, call a doctor immediately. However, in the event that your tongue burn is minor, sugar placed on the burnt area will quickly alleviate the pain. According to Advanced Tissue, sugar has been used to heal wounds for centuries. They also cite a 2011 study that found that when sugar is used as a topical treatment, it cleanses and prevents bacterial growth on wounds. Over the years, researchers have concluded that sugar dehydrates bacteriawithin wounds and quicky assists with new tissue growth, lessening the burning sensation on your tongue.
Despite the temptation, do not erratically pour sugar into your mouth. Colgate, our trusted oral care friend, suggests that you should sprinkle the sugarin the painful areas of your mouth, allowing it to sit and dissolve. Soon after it melts away, you will feel your pain disappear. Honey is also suggested as a quick pain reliever for a tongue burn, since it also has anti-bacterial properties.
After applying sugar to the burns on my tongue, it took less than two minutes for me to be pain-free. And yes, I still lacked patience and devoured the rest of my honey fried chicken.
That day, I did vow to always check a food’s temperature before I take a bite. However, mistakes happen, and just in case a hot piece of chicken catches my eye again, I added a packet of sugar to accompany the hot sauce in my bag.
