The tongue hurts

"Show the language and say" A "- it used to be an obligatory part of the medical examination, even if your symptoms did not seem to be associated with the tongue at all.Some old-school doctors are still asking to show the language.For many years the language has been the symbol of the indicator Health, although it provides limited information, at least according to today's standards of high medical technology.

What can you learn by looking at your own language?

An increase in the tongue may indicate a decreased thyroid function or an increased function of the pituitary gland, the commander among all the glands located in the brain.

The trembling of the tongue can be the result of an overactive thyroid gland, multiple sclerosis and a number of other neurological diseases.

Smooth and pale surface of the tongue usually appears as a result of poor nutrition.

Plaque on the tongue may indicate dehydration, alcohol abuse or the fact that you have recently taken antibiotics.

The tongue deviates to one side - you have, apparently , a stroke.

Changes in color of the tongue can mean jaundice, anemia or lack of oxygen.

In all these cases, the language indicates a problem somewhere else in the body. But most often the cause of pain in the language is a viral sore - a painful tissue damage that appears on the tongue (or somewhere else in the oral cavity) for no apparent reason. Some doctors think that these viral sores (painful stomatitis) are the result of emotional stress, fatigue or reduced resistance of the body.

Other possible causes of pain in the tongue.

Lichen.

Poorly seated dentures.

Injury. With an epileptic fit, patients can bite their tongue, which leads to pain. Damage to the tongue can also occur in the event of an accident, while playing sports.

Anemia due to lack of iron or vitamin B12 can give you a constant pain in the tongue.

Excessive smoking irritates the tongue and makes it painful.

If you do not understand what causes pain in your language, and the discomfort continues, let your doctor or dentist look at it. Sometimes small tumors , invisible to you, develop on the lower surface of the tongue.

If neither you nor the doctor can find anything on the tongue to explain the pain, it may be a neuralgia: the excitation of nerves serving the oral cavity. You feel pain in the tongue, but in fact it can go from the neighboring teeth and gums.

If the pain in the tongue happens with fast walking and stops, when you relax, the cause is in the heart . I had several patients with the angina pectoris, whose painful symptoms did not appear in the chest, but in the teeth, jaws and sometimes in the tongue.

Constant pain in the tongue should be the subject of your doctor's attention. It can be associated only with a small infection or irritation. But this organ, easily accessible for inspection, can really reflect disorders in such remote parts of the body as the intestines, brain and heart , and even the type of diet that you follow, and your other personal habits. So old-fashioned doctors can be, after all, right.

Symptom: worried about the tongue