Many people don’t realize it, but your tongue says quite a lot about your health. Your tongue will often change in appearance in ways that are reflective of your health, and you can use these changes to make certain assumptions about your health. If you are looking at your tongue in the mirror and wondering what it means for the rest of your body, below are some things to keep in mind.
Strawberry Red
A tongue this colour could mean that you have a vitamin deficiency. You might be lacking iron or vitamin B12. Both of these are needed in order to mature papillae on the tongue, and if you don’t have enough in your system, you can lose your papillae, making your tongue appear overly smooth.
Brown or Black Fuzz
If you don’t have the best oral hygiene, you might find yourself with a tongue that looks like it is covered in dark hairs (which is actually called black or hair tongue). It doesn’t look very pleasant, but most doctors agree that it is not a major cause for concern. If you notice particularly bad breath, or don’t like the look of your tongue, simply taking a tongue scraper to your tongue may be all that you need to do.
Cottage Cheese White
If your tongue looks like this, it could be a sign that you have a yeast infection somewhere in your body. It might mean that you have thrush, which is an oral yeast infection caused by an overproduction of candida. Often, this could be symptomatic of your body not taking well to an antibiotic, which kills a lot of the bacteria in your body when you take it (good and bad). If you have recently taken a strong antibiotic, this might be the reason why your tongue looks the way it does.
Wrinkles
Wrinkles show up everywhere on our bodies as we age, and the tongue is no exception. While fissures and cracks in the tongue are generally quite harmless, they can become cause for concern if they get infected. Dental appliances like braces and dentures can also cause cracks and fissures in the tongue.
While not every change you see on your tongue is cause for concern, there are some changes, such as those listed above, which could indicate certain things about the internal processes of your body, and which let you know what you need to do to bring everything back into balance. If you have noticed a change in the colour and appearance of your tongue lately, and would like to know what it means, use the above information as a guide and seek professional help where required.