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.
A pink tongue is healthy and normal. A red tongue may indicate heat in the body like a fever or a hormonal imbalance. A reddish purple tongue is a sign that there may be inflammation or an infection in the body. A pale pink tongue may be a sign of a vitamin deficiency, a weak immune system or a lack of energy.
Whether you're suffering from digestive symptoms, stress or challenges with fertility, features on your tongue can offer clues to help identify the root cause of conditions throughout your body.
Signs of your body undergoing excessive stress can show up on your tongue as unusual redness, sores, and ulcers. Also, if your tongue appears to have marks around the edges, that could signify consistently biting your tongue as a reaction to stress.
Anxiety has also been linked to tongue swelling and scalloped tongue, which is a condition that causes waves or ripples along the sides of the tongue.
Final Answer: The four tastes that the tongue can taste are sweet, bitter, salty and sour.
Common tongue diseases and problems include canker sores, thrush, oral lichen planus, and tongue trauma. Other problems or conditions that can impact the tongue include tongue cancer, transient lingual papillitis, geographic tongue, vitamin B12 deficiency, Sjögren's syndrome, neuralgia, and allergic reactions.
Physicians often ask their patients to "Please stick out your tongue." The tongue can betray signs of illness, which combined with other symptoms such as a cough, fever, presence of jaundice, headache or bowel habits, can help the physician offer a diagnosis.
The symptoms of tongue cancer might include: a red or white patch on the tongue that won't go away. a sore throat that doesn't go away. a sore spot (ulcer) or lump on the tongue that doesn't go away.
An unhealthy tongue. If your tongue is a different colour than pink, or has large patches of white, brown, black, or another colour, this might indicate a specific health issue. Similarly, if you have large bumps or no bumps at all, you may also want to speak to a doctor.
When someone is dehydrated, the tongue appears dry and typically has a white or white-to-yellowish coating. In some cases, the tongue can appear patchy or splotchy. If your tongue commonly sticks to the roof of your mouth, you are dehydrated!
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.
White tongue is the result of an overgrowth and swelling of the fingerlike projections (papillae) on the surface of your tongue. The appearance of a white coating is caused by debris, bacteria and dead cells getting lodged between the enlarged and sometimes inflamed papillae.
A white tongue is usually nothing to worry about. But on rare occasions, this symptom can warn of a more serious condition like an infection or early cancer. That's why it's important to keep an eye on your other symptoms, and call your doctor if the white coating doesn't go away in a couple of weeks.
The majority of tongue problems aren't serious and most can be resolved quickly. In some instances, though, a discolored or painful tongue can indicate more serious conditions, including vitamin deficiencies, AIDS, or oral cancer.
While there is no definite data that links oral conditions and heart disease, your mouth may signal inflammation elsewhere in the body. The coating on the tongue may play a vital role in diagnosing heart failure.
Make an appointment with your doctor or dentist if: You're concerned about changes in your tongue. Your tongue hurts. Your white tongue persists for longer than a few weeks.
In general, the examination of the tongue should occur in the following steps: Have the patient touch the tip of the tongue to the roof of their mouth and inspect the ventral surface. Have the patient protrude the tongue straight out and inspect for deviation, color, texture, and masses.
The chemical stimuli of special significance to taste are sugars (sweet), amino acids (umami), sodium chloride and other salts (salty), alkaloids (bitter) and acids (sour).
According to the map, we detect sweetness on the tip of our tongue, bitterness at the back, and saltiness and sourness along the sides. This map led many people to believe that there are different types of taste buds on different areas of the tongue, each with the ability to detect one of the four basic tastes.
If you are stressed, you might feel: Irritable, angry, impatient or wound up. Over-burdened or overwhelmed. Anxious, nervous or afraid.
Feeling tired, anxious, depressed. Losing or gaining weight; changes in your eating habits. Sleeping more or less than usual. Gastrointestinal problems including upset stomach, diarrhea or constipation.