What Your Tongue Says About Your Health

Dr. Siobhan Deshauer explains:

The answers may be on the tip of your tongue

Things to watch out for:

1. Red, smooth tongue (glossitis): can indicate vitamin B12 deficiency, often due to pernicious anemia.
2. Touching tongue to nose (Gorlin sign): may be a sign of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or macroglossia, but is also a rare normal variant in <10% of people.
3. Teeth imprints on tongue sides (macroglossia): suggests a large tongue, which can be due to allergies, hypothyroidism, acromegaly, amyloidosis, or congenital causes.
4. High Mallampati score (visible mouth structures): indicates a potentially difficult airway and an increased risk of sleep apnea.
5. White coating on tongue: may be due to oral thrush, leukoplakia, lichen planus, or hairy leukoplakia (often linked to HIV).
6. Reduced tongue mobility: can be an early sign of a neurological issue or a lesion.
7. Color changes in tongue from cold (Raynaud’s phenomenon): rare, but may be the first symptom of scleroderma or result from radiation treatment.
8. Strawberry tongue: seen in scarlet fever or Kawasaki disease, typically affecting children.
9. Geographic tongue: harmless condition possibly related to psoriasis or asthma, with unknown cause.
10. Dry tongue: may be a sign of Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease affecting saliva production—can also be a side effect of some medications (read labels / check with your pharmacist).
11. Hairy tongue: caused by keratin buildup, often worsened by smoking, antibiotics, poor oral hygiene, or ICU stays.
12. Canker sores (aphthous ulcers): painful but benign; recurrent sores may suggest underlying conditions and warrant further evaluation.
13. Persistent ulcer or lump: may signal oral cancer, especially with smoking or HPV exposure; needs prompt medical attention.

For more on each of these, plus visual illustrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!