What Your Tongue Can Tell You About Your Health
If you are visiting a doctor for a routine cold and flu, they will most likely ask you to stick your tongue out for an evaluation. Ever wondered why? Well, your tongue can act as a mirror to your overall health. Any variation from normal tongue appearance can indicate a problem.
Similarly, when you visit a dentist, they are not only looking at your teeth and gums but also take a thorough look at your tongue, palate, inside of your cheeks and lips. This gives your dentist comprehensive information about your oral and overall health. Let us learn more about how your tongue can tell you more about your health. But before that, what does a normal tongue look like?
What Does a Normal Tongue Look Like?
To understand what your tongue is saying about your health, we must first know what a healthy,normal tongue looks like. A healthy tongue is pink in colour with a thin white coating. The surface of the tongue has small nodules or elevations called papillae. These papillae are fleshy bumps on your tongue and contain taste buds.
The papillae give your tongue a coarse texture.
What is Your Tongue Telling You?
Let us now decode what different tongue colours, textures and appearance say about your health.
- White Tongue
The most common cause for a white tongue is oral thrush or candidiasis. This is a fungal infection and appears like cottage cheese patches on your tongue. Oral thrush is more common in infants, toddlers, adults with poor immunity, diabetes, people who wear dentures and those who are taking steroids for asthma or COPD.
A condition called lichen planus can also give your tongue a white, lacy appearance. If you notice thick, white patches in your mouth and tongue, very similar to oral thrush, it may also be leukoplakia. It is a benign condition but if not treated in time, it can become cancerous. If you notice white spots on your tongue, visit your dentist immediately.
A thick white coating on your tongue can also indicate poor intestinal health or digestive issues.
2. Red Tongue
There are many reasons why your tongue could turn red.
- Vitamin B12 and folic aciddeficiencies
Vitamin B deficiencies, especially that of vitamin B12 and folic acid, resulting in a brightred tongue. Bringing the vitamin levels to normal can restore anormal tongueappearance.
- Geographictongue
If you notice a map-like pattern on your tongue, you most likely have a geographic tongue. In this condition,red spots on tonguehave a white border around them. These patches of red and white keep shifting over time and a geographic tongue is harmless.
- Scarletfever
Scarlet fever is an infection that gives your tongue a bumpy, strawberry-like appearance. If this tongue appearance is accompanied by fever, you must visit your doctor immediately. Scarlet fever is treated with antibiotics.
- Kawasa ki Disease
Just like scarlet fever, Kawasaki disease also gives the tongue a strawberry-like appearance and is often seen in kids below the age of five. Due to the seriousness of this condition, it required prompt medical treatment. Not treating it in time can result in heart complications.
3 Hairy Tongue
Notice black or brown hair-like appearance on your tongue surface? This is called a hairy tongue. The hair-like structures on your tongue are proteins that turn into bumps on your tongue, giving the perfect environment for food and bacteria to accumulate. These brown-black hair-like things on your tongue can be easily scrapped off.
A black, hairy tongue occurs due to poor oral hygiene, excessive use of antibiotics, chemotherapy and diabetes.
Common symptoms of a hairy tongue include:
- Bad breath
- Gagging or ticklishfeeling
- Burningsensation
- Change intaste
If you suspect a hairy tongue, visit your dentist for further treatment. The treatment for a hairy tongue includes:
- Good oral hygiene practices– brushing twice a day and flossing atleast once aday
- Quit smoking and tobaccochewing
- Eat a well-balanceddiet
- Drink plenty of water and keep yourselfhydrated
- Avoid alcohol consumption
In cases where these measures do not help resolve the hairy tongue, your dentist may prescribe an antiseptic mouthwash or antifungal medications.
4 Black Tongue
If you notice the surface of your tongue turn black, it could most likely be due to poor oral hygiene that results in the build-up of dead skin cells and bacteria on your tongue. Taking medications with bismuth can also give you a black tongue. The most common symptoms of a black tongue include:
- Bad breath
- Metallictaste
- Furry appearance on your tonguesurface
The treatment for black tongue includes:
- Maintenance of good oral hygiene
- Drinking plenty of water
- Eating a low-sugardiet
- Avoid smoking and all other tobacco products
If the condition does not resolve, your dentist will prescribe antibiotics and antifungals to treat the black tongue.
5 Smooth Tongue
As we saw earlier, our tongue is not smooth but bumpy. If you notice the bumps on your tongue disappear, giving it a smooth texture, this condition is called a smooth tongue. Some common causes of a smooth tongue are:
- Vitamin B deficiency
- Iron deficiency
- Folic aciddeficiency
- Celiacdisease
- Infections
- Certain medications
- Lichen planus
- Psoriasis
If you have a smooth tongue, you may experience symptoms that include:
- Swelling and pain in your tongue
- Difficulty in speaking, swallowing andeating
- Burningsensation
- Discoloration
- Altered change due to loss of papillae that contain tastebuds
The treatment for a smooth tongue depends upon its cause. Removing the causative factor, along with antibiotics, topical medications, a nutrient-rich diet and good oral hygiene can help restore normal tongue health.
6 Bump on Tongue
See a bump on your tongue? Small, painful bumps on your tongue are very common. You can get a bump on tongue either on the tip, on the sides or the surface. Some common causes of bumps on your tongue include viral infections, allergies, injuries and nutritional deficiencies.White bumps on tongue are small ulcers that arise due to stress, vitamin deficiencies and digestion issues. If younotice red or white bumps on your tongue, visit your dentistimmediately.
A few home remedies that you can use to resolve the bumps on your tongue are:
- Avoid spicy, hard and hot foods
- Keep yourself hydrated
- Rinse the area with warm saltwater
7 Yellow Tongue
The most common cause for a yellowish appearance of the tongue is bacterial accumulation. Poor oral hygiene and dry mouth can lead to a yellow tongue. If the condition is not resolved soon, the yellow tongue can turn into a black and hairy tongue as more dead skin cells, bacteria and food continue to accumulate. A yellow tongue can also be a sign of diabetes and jaundice.
Apart from these commonly seen tongue conditions, some others that reveal a lot about your health include a fissured tongue (commonly seen in Sjogren’s Syndrome, Psoriasis), Macroglossia (occurs in hyperthyroidism, allergies, infections, cancer, trauma), Burning sensation on the tongue (seen in acid reflux, diabetes, infections, and dry mouth condition).
It is just amazing how a small yet the most powerful muscle in our body reveals so much about our health. A healthy tongue is pink with a coarse texture on the surface. If you feel your tongue is deviating from its normal appearance, visit your dental at Belle32 dentist clinic today!
References:
