Foaming at the mouth can occur during certain types of seizures, which are temporary, uncontrolled electrical disturbances that happen in the brain. During a seizure, a sudden surge of abnormal electrical activity disrupts the brain’s normal communication between nerve cells. This can result in a wide variety of symptoms, including changes in awareness, behavior, and movement. While not every seizure involves this symptom, the appearance of froth or foam is a recognizable sign in specific seizure types.
The Mechanism Behind Oral Foaming
The foam seen during a seizure is a simple mixture of the body’s natural secretions and air. This frothy appearance is created from saliva and mucus that accumulate in the mouth. When a person loses consciousness during the event, the normal reflex to swallow saliva becomes impaired or lost.
Saliva and mucus pool in the back of the throat and mouth due to the loss of the swallowing reflex. The intense, generalized muscle contractions that characterize certain seizures then begin. These widespread spasms affect the jaw, throat, and respiratory muscles, forcing air rapidly across the accumulated liquid.
The rapid movement of air through the pooled saliva and mucus creates bubbles, similar to the action of churning a liquid. The vigorous, rhythmic jerking of the muscles during the seizure effectively churns this mixture, transforming the liquid into a frothy foam. This foam is then pushed out of the mouth, often appearing white or sometimes pink-tinged if the tongue or cheek has been bitten.
Seizure Types Where Foaming is Most Common
Oral foaming is strongly associated with a specific category of seizures known as Generalized Onset Seizures. These seizures involve abnormal electrical activity that rapidly engages both sides of the brain simultaneously from the onset. The most common type in this category to feature foaming is the Tonic-Clonic seizure, formerly known as a grand mal seizure.
This seizure type involves two distinct phases: the tonic phase, where the body’s muscles suddenly stiffen, and the clonic phase, where the muscles begin to jerk rhythmically and vigorously. It is the widespread and symmetrical nature of these intense muscle contractions that provides the force necessary to churn the saliva into foam. The muscle activity affects the entire body, including the jaw and respiratory system.
Other seizure types rarely involve this symptom because they lack the same level of widespread muscular activity. Focal Onset Seizures, which start in only one area of the brain, do not generate sufficient froth. Similarly, Absence Seizures (brief staring) and Atonic Seizures (sudden muscle relaxation) do not produce the frothing effect seen in convulsive Tonic-Clonic events.
Immediate Safety Steps for Foaming During a Seizure
The primary priority when someone is having a seizure involving foaming is ensuring their safety and maintaining an open airway. First, gently ease the person to the floor and move away any hard, sharp, or dangerous objects from their immediate vicinity. Do not attempt to restrain the person or stop the seizure movements, as this can cause injury to both you and the individual.
To manage secretions and prevent the person from inhaling foam or saliva, carefully turn them onto their side. This positioning, often referred to as the recovery position, allows gravity to help fluids drain freely from the mouth. Placing something soft and flat, like a folded jacket or towel, beneath their head can help prevent head injury during the rhythmic jerking.
Avoid placing anything, including your fingers, between the person’s teeth. The intense, involuntary jaw clenching during the tonic-clonic phase is powerful and can cause serious injury or damage to the teeth if an object is introduced. Finally, keep track of how long the seizure lasts; a seizure lasting longer than five minutes requires immediate emergency medical attention.