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Having Blood In Spit. Gums Are Not Bleeding. Underlying Cause?

Posted on Sat, 29 Jun 2013

Question: I see blood in my spit. It happens most of the times I spit. My gums are not bleeding, I have checked this. What i have observed is that it is coming from my salivary glands. what deficiency may have caused this and what should I change in my dietry habits if needed to do so?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty (4 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for posting the query

The symptoms described by you could be due to various reasons such as
1.     Inflammation of the mucosa of the throat
2.     Inflammation of the gums
3.     Sinusitis
4.     Bleeding ulcers in the oral cavity
The most common cause being the inflammation of the mucosa of the throat. Bleeding is noticed when the superficial blood vessels of the congested mucosa rupture following repeated throat clearance and the violent cough. This often gets diluted with saliva giving the blood tinged appearance.

Second most common cause is the sinus inflammation. When there is an attack of cold or flu, the sinuses get inflamed and the small blood vessels can rupture following throat clearance or repeated blowing of the nose.

The bleeding from the gums and the ulcers are the few other causes.
I doubt it to be due to the salivary glands as the bleeding from the salivary glands happen when there is inflammation of the same or any obstruction of the duct due to the presence of the salivary duct stones. In both of the above cases you will have severe pain and swelling before the bleeding starts.

My advice to you is to drink plenty of warm water, do steam inhalation 3-4 times a day, this will relieve any inflammation of the nose and the throat. And finally, avoid violent clearing of the throat. Hope with these measures you should be alright. If you have any further queries, revert back to me.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty (19 hours later)

Thanks Doctor for your reply.
you told about some resons above, but I am not suffering from cold also I don't have any problem in throat or any issue with nose.
I'll follow your suggested instruction and observe the results.

There is one more problem I face occassionally and that is whenever I yawn my lower jaw muscles gets cramp which causes pain. could it be a reason for blood in spit?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty (7 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing back

The cause of the cramps is due to excessive stretching of the muscles attached to the jaw bone and this is a very common phenomenon. You can take vitamin E capsules to reduce the cramps. This problem of yours is not related to spitting of the blood.

I wish you good luck and good health.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar