Oral ulcer with white tongue coating

Generally speaking, there is not much connection between oral ulcers and white tongue coating. Oral ulcers are caused by lack of vitamins or some other trace elements, while white tongue coating represents stomach symptoms. Many Chinese medicine practitioners will look at the tongue when treating patients. This is because the tongue and tongue coating will reflect the health status of various parts of the body.

1. The presence or absence of tongue coating: A normal tongue has a thin layer of white coating, which is caused by stomach qi. During the course of the disease, the tongue coating disappears from the surface, which is a sign of insufficient stomach qi and yin, and a gradual decline in vital energy. However, after the tongue coating peels off, a thin white coating grows back, which is a sign that the evil is retreating and the vital energy is regenerating, and stomach qi is gradually recovering.

2. Thickness of tongue coating: If you can faintly see the tongue texture through the tongue coating, it is thin coating, while if you cannot see the tongue texture, it is thick coating. The thickness of the tongue coating can determine the strength of the positive and negative forces and the severity of the disease. Thin tongue coating indicates external symptoms of infection, as well as internal injury and qi stagnation. Thick tongue coating indicates phlegm, dampness, and stagnation. When the tongue coating changes from thin to thick, it means that the pathogenic factors move from the surface to the inside, and the disease progresses as the pathogenic factors are stronger; when the tongue coating changes from thick to thin, it means that the pathogenic factors move from the inside to the surface, and the disease progresses as the pathogenic factors prevail.

3. The moisture or dryness of the tongue coating can help us understand the changes in body fluids: if the tongue surface is moist, and the dryness and wetness are moderate, it is a normal tongue image, and although there is disease, the body fluids are not damaged; if it feels moist and slippery, it is called slippery coating, which mostly indicates cold and dampness, or yang deficiency and water retention. If the tongue looks dry and there is no saliva when touched, it is dry tongue coating, which is mostly caused by excessive heat damaging body fluid, loss of yin fluid, or failure of qi to transform body fluid.

4. Greasy and partial tongue coating: changes in the distribution of tongue coating on the tongue surface. The tongue coating covering the entire tongue is called full tongue. When the tongue coating is distributed partially on the front, back, left or right side of the tongue, it is called partiality. By observing the distribution of the tongue coating, one can determine the location of the lesion. The whole tongue coating indicates that the evil qi is scattered, which is mostly a sign of damp phlegm blocking the middle burner; the tongue coating is biased on one side of the tongue, which means that the evil is half-exterior and half-interior, or the disease is in the liver and gallbladder; the root of the tongue coating is thick and greasy, which is mostly phlegm or gastrointestinal stagnation.

5. The peeling and increase and decrease of the tongue coating: Changes in the thickness and amount of the tongue coating also reflect the progress of the positive and negative forces. If the tongue coating changes from less to more, or from thin to thick, it generally means that the evil qi has worsened and the disease is progressing; if the tongue coating changes from thick to thin, or from more to less, it means that the positive qi has gradually recovered and the disease is retreating. If the tongue coating suddenly increases or decreases, it is usually a sign of a sudden change in the disease.

6. The authenticity of the tongue coating: Distinguishing the authenticity of the tongue coating can determine the severity and prognosis of the disease. The authenticity of the tongue coating is determined by whether it has roots or not. Any tongue coating that adheres closely to the surface of the tongue, is not easy to scrape off, and seems to grow from the tongue is called true coating or rooted coating. If the moss is not solid, such as floating on the surface of the tongue, it will come off by scraping it. It is false moss and is also called rootless moss. In the early and middle stages of the disease, rooted moss is more severe than rootless moss, while in the late stages of the disease, rooted moss is better than rootless moss. If there is a thick layer of moss on the surface of the tongue, which seems to have no roots, and a new layer of moss grows underneath, it is a sign that the disease is recovering. Three aspects should be noted when distinguishing false tongue coating: First, the tongue is covered with tongue coating in the early morning and disappears after eating. Although it is false tongue coating, it is not rootless. If there is less or no tongue coating after it disappears, it means that the internal organs are weak. Second, if there is tongue coating with color and it disappears easily by scraping, the disease is mild. If it disappears easily by wiping, the disease is even milder. Third, if there is a thick layer of tongue coating without roots and new tongue coating cannot grow underneath, it means that the original stomach qi has been deficient and cannot evaporate the gastric juice to rise. It is mostly caused by taking too much cold medicine which damages the Yang Qi, or taking too much hot medicine which damages the Yin fluid.