What Should your toung Look Like

Tongues have the obvious purpose of helping us to eat and speak, but they can also be indicative of our health. In this video, Dr Christian talks about how to check the tongue for any abnormalities.


 

A healthy tongue should be pink, clean and covered in papillae which contain taste buds.
Inflamed, red, black or white tongues, though usually just a sign of poor oral hygiene, could be a sign of other conditions like glossitis, geographic tongue or thrush. A swollen tongue can be a sign of an allergic reaction, and if it persists you should contact your GP for a check-up.

 

Look at the colour  

A healthy tongue should: Be pinkish in colour
A dark red shade: Indicates inflammation
A brownish or black discolouration of the tongue is caused due of excess consumption of tobacco, gutka and paan.
A strawberry pink tongue could indicate the onset of scarlet fever or Kawasaki disease
A thick white coating could be due to the oversecretion of bile in the liver and gall bladder.
When the tongue turns blue or purple, it's time to seek urgent medical help.
White patches can indicate a fungal infection or leukoplakia.

Look at the surface
A healthy person's tongue must be light pink and moist.
Lack of normal texture called as bald tongue can occur due to deficiency of Vitamin B complex or Iron.
Patches or spots means the person could be prone to allergies.
A dry tongue is a sign of stress, since the salivary glands are not functioning at optimum level.