Effect of Muscle Relaxation on Chronic Pain Patients Who Have Taste Dysfunction

Taste dysfunction is not rare in chronic pain patients. In the treatment of chronic pain, we employ multidisciplinary interventions such as pharmacological treatment, relaxation techniques such as autogenic training and biofeedback training (BFT), and soft massage for home practice. We noted that complex symptoms of the eyes, ears, tongue and nose improved on treatment for chronic pain. It seemed that relaxation training on tongue-related muscles improved the capacity to taste sweetness. This study was performed to examine whether muscle relaxation had any subjective or physiological effects on taste dysfunction.