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Basics
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Research
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Summary
Your tongue helps you taste, swallow, and chew. You also use it to speak. Your tongue is made up of many muscles. The upper surface contains your taste buds.
Problems with the tongue include:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Changes in color or texture
- Abnormal movement or difficulty moving the tongue
- Taste problems
These problems can have many different causes. Treatment depends on the underlying problem.
Specifics
- Black Hairy Tongue (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Fissured Tongue (American Academy of Oral Medicine) Also in Spanish
- Yellow Tongue (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Images
- Hairy Tongue (VisualDX)
Clinical Trials
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Glossitis
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Glossitis, Benign Migratory
(National Institutes of Health)
-
ClinicalTrials.gov: Tongue Diseases
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Application value of indocyanine green lymphography in the management of stage...
- Article: Extensive and persistent tongue ulceration is an early character of dyskeratosis...
- Article: Association of Scalloped Tongue with Blood Pressure Among Community-Dwelling Japanese: The...
- Tongue Disorders -- see more articles
Reference Desk
- Find an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist) (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
Children
- Tongue Tie (Ankyloglossia) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
- Your Tongue (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Geographic tongue (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Glossitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Leukoplakia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Macroglossia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tongue biopsy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tongue problems (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Tongue tie (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health.