post IMCDA: mouth soreness! (helllp)
Hi all,
I did IMCDA yesterday, and when I got home to refuel, the roof of my mouth was so sore that I couldn't eat anything solid. After a day of liquids, I was pretty bummed. The same thing happened to me after IMSG, but I figured it was because I was sucking on shot blocks all day. However, yesterday was mostly gels (to try to avoid this precise situation) - so that couldn't be the problem. This morning, I am having the same issue. Does anyone have any idea what could be going on to cause this? How can I make it go away? After yesterday's IM I am dying to chew real food!!!
0
Comments
After some googling, I am pretty sure that it's my soft palate that is the problem. However, I have no idea why, or how to ameliorate the soreness.
This is a really common problem after IMs, I definitely had it after my first, not as much after my second.
I think it occurs from a variety of contributing factors, hopefully some of the club doc's can chime in more. I think it's predominately a result of continued heavy breathing (over a 10+ hour period) the tissue in your soft palette just becomes dried out or irritated. Hydration could play a role in this both as a preventive and a contributing factor. I've heard some argue that the citric acid in Ironman Perform contributes to the irritation.
I suppose it helps that I am not alone. Would love to hear the club docs thoughts as you say. At least I can say I was pretty well hydrated over the course of the day. I am getting a little nuts here, as after an ironman one of the things I want/need to do is EAT. Also, it turns out that both my fluid options - gatorade and scratch labs, have citric acid in them - it's likely not something I can get away from. Thanks for your thoughts!!