Medical Importance Of Tongue

On a visit to a physician, we are generally asked to protrude out the tongue for general examination. The examination of tongue is very important, much more in case of medical diseases diagnosis and quite huge in surgical cases.

Many aspects come in front of the physician on viewing the tongue of the patient. There are different clinical aspects associated with the tongue.

Inability to protrude the tongue hints at tongue-tie in children or carcinoma of tongue involving the floor of the oral cavity in old age.

Sometimes the tongue may deviate to one side while protruding. This is due to hemiplegia (paralysis) of the tongue and is commonly seen in cancerous cases.

The tongue may be too large (known as ‘macroglossia’), which may be due to acromegaly, cretinism, myxoedema and some other ailments.

Another characteristic aspect is the tremor of the tongue on protrusion. This is seen usually in primary thyrotoxicosis, but may also be seen in parkinsonism.

The colour of the tongue also holds importance and shows the quality of blood supply to the organ. Rich blood supply makes the normal appearance of the tongue as dark red. Pale tongue is seen in anaemia. Other discolourations of the tongue may be seen due to ingestion of certain foods.

Moist tongue is an indication of perfect hydration in the body. Dry tongue implies dehydration and low content of water. A dry, brown coloured tongue is found at the later advanced stages of certain severe illnesses such as advanced renal failure.

A black furred tongue may be seen in smokers or may be due to some fungal infection.

Smooth and bald tongue is found in case of atrophy of the papillae and is characteristic of vitamin B12 deficiency, iron deficiency anaemia and other gastro-intestinal disorders.

Thus, tongue holds an important place in the general physical examination. So, the next time your doctor asks you to take out your tongue, don’t think he is wasting time!