Sjögren Syndrome
Sjögren syndrome is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and dryness in the body, including the mouth. Having Sjögren syndrome doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have a sore tongue, but it’s estimated that about 30 percent of people with Sjögren’s will develop one of these adverse effects.
Sjögren syndrome can also cause inflammation in other body parts, including eyes, joints, kidneys, and skin. If you have these symptoms and a sore tongue, you may want to ask your doctor to run some tests to see if you have Sjögren syndrome or another problem.
A key component of diagnosing Sjögren syndrome is a test called Schirmer’s, which measures how well the lacrimal glands produce tears in the eyes. Although this test doesn’t specifically look at saliva or the salivary glands, some of the other tests doctors use for diagnosis do.
