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, pain-relieving 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 arthritic joint replaced. An orthopedic doctor can tell you if you are a candidate for such surgery.

The arthritis booklet discusses both kinds of arthritis: osteo- and rheumatoid. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 301, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6.75 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have never snored before, but after some dental work I have been doing so. Can you discuss it and how to stop it? – K.T.

ANSWER: Lax tissues and structures in the throat and the back of the mouth vibrate as air passes by them on its way to the lungs. The vibration produces a noise like the sound produced by the reed of a wind instrument, except the snoring sound doesn’t qualify as the music of the night. I cannot relate dental work to it.

Sometimes the lax and redundant tissues are due to being overweight, and if that is the problem, weight loss stops or diminishes snoring.

Sleeping on your side helps. To keep yourself on your side throughout the night, sew a pocket in the back of your pajama top and put either a tennis ball or a marble in it. If you roll on your back, you’ll quickly roll back to your side. Or wearing a soft cervical (neck) collar, the kind used for neck strains, props up throat tissues and diminishes snoring.

If everything fails, consider having a doctor trim the tissues in the back of the throat. Some do it with a laser. Others use an instrument that emits radio waves that can pare away redundant tissues.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.