Tongue & Taste – Tongue disorders
From olden days, the world of medicine has treated tongue as a diagnostic tool (traditionally as well as scientifically) to know the body’s health status. Tongue is the first platform in our food track.
Cleanliness and its perfect functioning are very essential in the food
journey. Even though tongue can reflect changes in internal health status with
variation in colour and texture, usually no one goes for treatment for just
colour or texture changes. Commonly, a layman becomes aware of the tongue when
one feels an altered sense of taste for things that used to taste good or when
there is a disgust for food or when the tongue is sensitive to even mild spicy
/ hot foods or while having sores or ulcers in the tongue with redness and
swelling or when they have bad odour of mouth.
Tongue problems can be functional and structural. Functionally, it will be
associated with pain, taste and movement. Structurally, it will analysed by
size, shape, colour, moisture, papillae, coating, ulcers, venous engorgements,
swelling, deformities, extra growth, etc. Tongue problems can affect tongue
functions on the whole or in some functions / places – for example –
ulcers in tip of tongue, tumours in the base or bottom, coating in dorsum of
tongue (in anterior part or in posterior part or in both). Common tongue
problems are ulcers, coating and discolouration. Tongue usually looks different
in colour and texture for different diseases. Most often, it seems to have
white coating with cold or flu or indigestion or with other diseases. Tongue
commonly gets discoloured or coated or disfigured in case of poor oral hygiene,
nutritional deficiencies, fungal infection, weakened immune system (AIDS,
cancer and auto immune disorders) and their treatment (like chemotherapy,
radiation, etc.,).
Functional complaints
·
Pain (due to injury , nervous disorders, pressure of
tumour, obstruction of blood vessels, vesicles, eruptions, ulcers)
·
Altered or loss of taste – Hypogeusia, Dysgeusia
·
Numbness – in Bell’s palsy, paresis, paralysis
·
Movement disorders – tremors (nervousness, stammering,
delirium tremens, Parkinsonism), paralysis, tongue tie, etc.
Structural complaints
·
Small tongue – Microglossia – hypothyroidism, Down
Syndrome
·
Large tongue – Macroglossia – acromegally, myxoedema
·
Swollen tongue – allergy , injury, tumours
·
Inability to move due to short freneulum / tongue tie /
ankyloglossia
·
Haemangioma / lymphangioma / Ranula (tumours of tongue)
·
Discolouration and coating of tongue – Anaemia, flu,
glossitis, Lichen planus, syphilis, leukemia
·
Ulcers or sores or eruptions or vesicles– pellagra,
pernicious anaemia, leukemia
·
Deep grooves / furrows / ribs / wrinkles in tongue –
hairy tongue, syphilis
·
Dryness and shriveling of tongue – due to fasting and
diseases
Causes
In most of the tongue disorders, causes are often found to be unknown.
Tongue problems can occur due to the following reasons.
External factors
·
Poor oral hygiene
·
Unhygienic foods and nutritional deficiencies
·
Infections and inflammations (bacterial or fungal or
viral)
·
Mechanical injuries from any hard food substances, sharp
edge teeth, dentures, etc.
·
Chemical reactions from preservatives and colouring
pigments
·
Strong chemical toothpaste / mouthwash.
·
Very hot drinks / foods
·
Foods containing excess spices, salts and chilli,
likewise strong, sour foods / fruits / juices too
·
Habit of smoking cigarettes, tobacco chewing and drinking
large quantities of alcohol
·
Drugs – heavy antibiotics and pain killers
·
Treatments given for weakened immune system
(chemotherapy, radiation therapy, strong chemical drugs, etc., especially in
case of AIDS, cancer and auto immune disorders)
Internal factors
·
Mind – stress, anxiety, tension, worries
·
Deficiency of vitamins, minerals and zinc
·
Weakened immune system and diseases – systemic lupus
erythematosus, AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes
Diagnosis – On ruling out external causes (heavy smoker,
tobacco chewer), tongue problems should be investigated all the way with
routine blood and urine analysis. If necessary, ultra sound scan or CT scan for
abdomen or endoscopic procedures should be done when there arises a suspicion
of digestive tract involvement. Other important tests which can guide for
diagnosis are
·
Scraping and culture – to identify Candidal fungal or
bacterial infection
·
Biopsy – to diagnose cancer
Complications
·
Disgust for food / drinks
·
Affects general health by blocking nutrition supply (food
intake)
Prevention
To avoid tongue problems, maintain
oral hygiene with good and nutritious diet .
Take
·
Nutritious diet (especially fruits, vegetables and
greens)
·
Plenty of water before and after meal
·
Take right medicines in right dosage from right doctor in
case of any disease
Use
·
Tongue scrapper gently whenever there arises a need
·
Mild toothpaste and mouth rinse / wash
Avoid
·
Habits of smoking, drinking and chewing tobacco / Betel
nut
·
Strong toothpaste or mouthwashes
·
Drinking aerated drinks, coffee and tea often
·
Tin-packed or preservative-added foods / snacks / toffees
·
Unnecessary medications, especially pain killers and
antibiotics, for prolonged period
·
Self medication
·
Drug cocktails, like adding a pill for each complaint or
symptom
/ mixing variety of medicines from
variety of doctors.
·
Foods containing excessive amount of spices, chillies,
pepper and pickles
·
Getting injuries from sharp teeth / hard brushing / hard
bristled toothbrushes and dentures.
·
Dentures at night.
·
Very hard food substances / snacks which may cause injury
Tension and hurried life
General treatment
The treatment point of view usually differs according to various tongue
disorders and nature of complaints. It also varies from person to person and
disease to disease. In general, when there is infection, the required
antibiotic / antiviral / antifungal tablets will be prescribed. In addition,
antibacterial mouthwash and gel will also be prescribed to combat infection and
pain. Unless otherwise there is infection (bacterial or viral or fungal),
modern system usually prescribes only vitamins and minerals with advice for
good nutritious food intake.
In case of inner diseases which reflect its nature through tongue disorders / discolouration, the core of the disease / cause will be targeted with proper treatment. When the cause is unknown, treatment seems to be out of our hands and the doctors will prescribe just vitamins and minerals again with gel or external applications as supportive management and rarely steroids will be prescribed. This will provide only temporary care or betterment (suppression of disease).
Homeopathy treatment
Even though tongue is used as a tool to diagnose the disease and to aim for
treatment in the modern system of medicine, it is given less importance in
treatment – once they have corrected the problem, they won’t care to get the
tongue back to normal – for example in case of anaemia, once they correct the
haemoglobin level, they won’t care for correcting the smooth, glistening,
ulcerated tongue. Here, they will let the curing process take its time. But in
Homeopathy , the tongue plays a major role in individualisation of patient,
selection of medicines and analysing the complete cure.
In Homeopathy, there are lots and lots of medicines for tongue disorders,
discolouration, disfigurement, etc. It will act to the core of the disease and
clear the tongue problems simultaneously. The drugs prescribed on the basis of
individualisation help in treating the patient as a whole. Even in case of
incurable diseases where the cause is unknown, Homeopathy can treat the patient
in a better way with tongue indications and characters. For example – thick,
milky coated tongue calls for Antim crudum medicine, Mapped (geographic) tongue
calls for Nat mur, smooth flabby tongue with imprints of teeth in edges will
call for Merc sol, smooth red cracked tongue calls for kali Bich, no thirst in
spite of dry tongue calls for Pulsatilla, etc.
In total, Homeopathy aims at normalcy (cure) in every way and in every
aspect.
For new hope
Dr. S. Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD
(Homeo)
Laxmi Homeo Clinic
24 E. New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai, TN 625 001, India
Tel: +91-984-319-1011 (Mob / Whatsapp)
Clinic : +91-452-233-8833
Web : https://drcheena.in | https://drcheena.org
Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@DrChidambaranathanhomeopathy
E-mail: drcheena@gmail.com
(Disclaimer: The contents of this column are
for informational purpose only. The content is not intended to be a substitute
for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the
advice of healthcare professional for any health problem or medical condition.)