The ideal is to have a thin, white coat on your tongue. This indicates a healthy gut flora and a normal, well-functioning gut wall and mucosa. Sluggish digestion appears as a thick tongue coat. A yellow tongue coating indicates a “heat” condition in the digestive tract, whereas a thick white coating indicates “cold”.
State of Your Digestion
How well your body metabolizes food is shown by the coating on your tongue. This coating appears in the middle and back of your tongue. It shows the state of your digestion and indicates any problems.
Open your mouth and look at your tongue. That may sound strange, but your tongue can tell a lot about your health. For example, a black and hairy looking tongue can signal poor oral hygiene, or diabetes. If your tongue is bright red like a strawberry, it could signal a deficiency in folic acid, vitamin B12, or iron.
Yes, it is possible for frequent or severe acid reflux to cause sore patches, or lesions, in the mouth. These can occur on the gums, tongue, or palate. However, this is an uncommon symptom, and can occur for other reasons. More common conditions that cause mouth sores include canker sores and cold sores.
The tongue (L. lingua; G. glossa) functions as a digestive organ by facilitating the movement of food during mastication and assisting swallowing. Other important functions include speech and taste.
Various muscles keep the tongue “suspended” in the throat: Muscles and ligaments connect the tongue to the hyoid bone (or lingual bone) in the upper part of the throat and to the voice box. The lingual frenulum connects the tongue to the lower jaw.
Anatomically, the tongue maintains several relations with the hyoid bone, and therefore, with the hyoid musculature (the suprahyoid and the infrahyoid muscles) [7]. The hyoglossus membrane and the lingual septum bind the tongue to the hyoid muscles [8].
Rarely, yellow tongue may be a sign of jaundice, a yellowing of the eyes and skin, which sometimes indicates liver or gallbladder problems. Self-care is usually all that's needed to treat yellow tongue, unless it's related to another medical condition. Medical treatment for yellow tongue usually isn't necessary.
A red tongue can be a sign of a vitamin deficiency (B2, B6, B9, B12) Iron deficiency, protein deficiency such as Kawasaki disease, or a strep infection (scarlet fever).
Anxiety tongue often refers to the physical effects that anxiety may have on your tongue and mouth. These effects may include tingling, twitching, numbness, burning, or pain in your tongue or mouth. Treating anxiety may relieve your tongue symptoms.
If you have jaundice, a yellow chemical compound called bilirubin builds up in your blood. It can cause yellow skin (including the skin on your tongue) and a yellowing of the whites of your eyes. This buildup may indicate liver damage or dysfunction.
05/7Discolouration and burning sensation of the tongue
Oral symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency may also include a swollen, beefy tongue, as well as burning sensations, discolorations and lesions throughout the mouth.
Every night while you are asleep, your digestive system is hard at work. One of its many nightly tasks includes removing toxins from the body and depositing them on the surface of your tongue. You must remove these toxins; otherwise, they reabsorb into the body.
B12 deficiency will also make the tongue sore and beefy-red in color. Glossitis, by causing swelling of the tongue, may also cause the tongue to appear smooth.
Key points about vitamin B12 deficiency anemia
Symptoms include weak muscles, numbness, trouble walking, nausea, weight loss, irritability, fatigue, and increased heart rate. Treatment may include vitamin B12 supplements. It is also important to eat a well-balanced diet.
a sore or red tongue, sometimes with mouth ulcers. problems with memory, understanding and judgment (cognitive changes)
Liver disease doesn't always cause noticeable signs and symptoms. If signs and symptoms of liver disease do occur, they may include: Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice) Abdominal pain and swelling.
Signs and symptoms
However, as your liver loses its ability to function properly, you're likely to experience a loss of appetite, nausea and itchy skin. In the later stages, symptoms can include jaundice, vomiting blood, dark, tarry-looking stools, and a build-up of fluid in the legs (oedema) and abdomen (ascites).
The Hypoglossal Nerve is the 12th Cranial Nerve (Cranial Nerve XII). It is mainly an efferent nerve for the tongue musculature. The nerve originates from the medulla and travels caudally and dorsally to the tongue.
The coating on the tongue may play a vital role in diagnosing heart failure. Researchers found a clear difference between the tongue microbiomes of healthy people and those who have chronic heart failure.
When the nerves in your tongue receive signals from taste bud cells, they pass them on to more nerves and then more, sending the message racing out the back of your mouth, up through a tiny hole in your skull, and into your brain.
A white tongue is usually caused by a white coating over the tongue. The coating can be due to a buildup of dead cells on the surface of the tongue, food residue, or an overgrowth of bacteria. It can also be from dried and caked saliva, damaged tongue tissues, or a combination of all of these things.
Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.