Drooling spoils many peoples’ social life

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 84-year-old man in good health. For the past two years I have had a drooling problem from the right side of my mouth. It drips like a leaky faucet. One doctor thinks it might be the beginning of Parkinson's disease and gave me Parkinson's medicine. It did not help. Can you? -F.M.

ANSWER: You'd be surprised at the number of people who write about the embarrassment they suffer from drooling. If drooling comes from an excessive production of saliva, there are a number of medicines that can lessen the production. They all have potential side effects, but if drooling is making life miserable, the side effects might be worth tolerating. Or the drugs can be used for special occasions when you don't want to be mortified by saliva leaking out of the mouth. Atropine is one drug. Robinul, used for conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, is another.

One or more saliva ducts can be tied off to decrease the amount of saliva in the mouth, or the ducts can be repositioned farther back in the mouth.

Quite often, drooling is not a problem of saliva overproduction. It's a problem of not swallowing it. And people with many neurological diseases are unable to swallow normally. Parkinson's is an example. A conscious effort to swallow on schedule can cut back on drooling.

After this was discussed some years back, a reader gave me her solution. She said to throw away drugs and build a little dam in the corner of the lips with facial cream or Vaseline. She said it works wonders. Try it, and let me know the results.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a very bad knee. It gives me such severe pain that I have to take pain medicine every three hours. The doctor gave me three Synvisc injections. It has been more than two months since the last injection, and they haven't helped at all, not even for a single day. What can I do now? -F.L.

ANSWER: Synvisc is a viscous fluid that is supposed to restore cushioning properties to joint fluid. It works for some. You weren't one of them. I'm sorry.

Have you been using anti-inflammatory, painrelieving medicines like ibuprofen? If you have and have not gotten relief, inquire if cortisone injections in the knee would benefit you. They help many.

If medicines and injections don't dampen the pain, then get an opinion about joint replacement. I know few happier people than those whose lives were spent in misery and pain until they had their