Your tongue has more to say about your health than you
may realize.
"Stick out your tongue and say 'ahhh'" has become
inarguably connected with a visit to the doctor's office, but
have you ever wondered what they are looking for while
peering deep inside your mouth? Just one glance your
tongue can tell your doctor plenty of what's going on in
your body, but for the rest of us non-doctors whatever our
tongues are trying to say about our health is a mystery.
Lucky for you, we here at Medical Daily compiled a quick
list of some of the most common tongue characteristics and
what they may or may not mean.
#A_Dark_Tongue
Our tongues naturally have a pleasant, pink coloring. When
your tongue begins to darken in color, this is indicative of
bodily changes. The ancient Chinese had tongue diagnosis
down to an art, believing that each tongue coloring
coincided with an internal ailment. Even in modern
medicine, doctors continue to regard tongue colorings as
an initial sign of certain health conditions.
A dark tongue may be caused by something as simple and
harmless as taking a new medicine or the addition of a new
food into your diet. A black, hairy tongue (yes, this is a real
medical term) is a temporary harmless condition that
causes your tongue to look, well, black and hairy. It's
caused by a buildup of dead cells on the surface of your
tongue. Other than bad breath and a strange taste in your
mouth, "black, hairy tongue" isn’t a serious health
condition and usually clears up on its own. Poor oral
hygiene, medication, such as Pepto-bismal, and tabacco
use are all known to cause black, hairy tongue.
Brown spots on your tongue may look less frightening than
black hairy toungue, but they’re not. Unlike black hairy
tongue, brown spots could be a sign of something much
more serious, such as melanoma . Early detection and
treatment is extremely important, especially since this form
of cancer commonly spreads to other parts of the body. At
the first sign of a darker patch on your tongue, seek medical
advice,smoking tobacco can cause one to develop black hairy
tongue.
#Dark_Spots_on_tongue
Something as simple as burning your tongue on a cup of
hot tea can cause spots to appear. Minor tongue burns , like
burns on other parts of the body, will go away on their own.
A large majority of people will develop mouth ulcers, also
known as canker sores , on their tongues at some point in
their lives These sores may also appear throughout the
inside of the lips and cheek. The sores are often round or
oval and have a white or yellow center with a red border,
according to the Mayo Clinic. The exact cause of canker
sores is not fully understood, but they are known to occur
during times of stress or following oral trauma such as
surgery. Canker sores are also associated with certain
conditions such as celiac disease and Crohn’s disease.
Burning your tongue will can cause small spots to appear.
Leukoplakia are thick raised lesions that appear on the
tongue. They can appear white or gray in color and are
caused by minor irritation to the mucous membrane.
Dentures and tobacco use are common causes for the
sores, but people with weakened immune systems are
especially prone to developing leukoplakia. The sores are
usually harmless, but sometimes they may show early
signs of cancer. Advise is that it’s best to see a dentist whenever you notice the growth of leukoplakia.
#Patchy_tongue
Oral thrush , or a yeast infection of the tongue, can cause
the tongue to take on a white, patchy-like appeareance. It
is caused by an infection of the fungus Candida albicans.
Although most common in infants, the condition can occur
in people of all ages. When on the tongue, thrush is not
considered serious and is usally easily treated. If the
infection spreads to other parts of the body, such as the
esophagus or stomach, it may become more severe .
Geographic tongue earns its name from the map-like
appearance it causes to the tongue to develop. Patches of
an individual’s papillae (the tongue’s hair), go missing and
create smooth red “islands” on the tongue with slightly
raised borders. These “islands” will often heal and then
reappear on a different part of the tongue. The condition can
cause slight discomfort but is otherwise harmless.
Currently, there is no known cause for geographic tongue ,
although doctors suspect it's related to the chronic skin
condition, psoriasis. Some people also have a family
history of geogrpahic tongue, so it is believed there is a
genetic factor to the condition.
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