Why does the middle of my tongue hurt? Reasons for pain in the middle of the tongue

Pain is the most direct sensory response of the human body. Especially when the tongue has lesions or ulcers, pain will be felt first. Some people in life feel pain in the middle of their tongue. What is going on? Understanding the causes of tongue pain can help us identify the cause and provide targeted treatment. Let’s take a look at what kind of clues pain in the middle of the tongue can give us.

1. Why does the tongue hurt?

If your tongue starts to hurt for no apparent reason, then it could be a sign of a tongue disease. The tongue itself is a muscular organ, covered with intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles. They are connected to the hyoid bone, allowing the tongue to move freely and allowing us to speak various languages.

There is a very thin mucous membrane on the tongue, and on this membrane there are countless taste buds, which allow us to distinguish various tastes. The tongue also has a very rich variety of blood vessels, so the color of the tongue can also reflect a person's physical health.

So why does the tongue hurt? The main cause of tongue pain may be damage to the tongue muscles, mucosa or nerves. If there is a problem with the blood vessels, the tongue will also show pain symptoms. In addition, oral ulcers are also a major cause of tongue pain. Some patients with anemia and diabetes may experience atrophy of the lingual papillae due to their illness, which can cause the tongue to feel pain but not taste.

The mucous membrane of the tongue is very prone to oral cancer lesions, so when the tongue begins to develop erythema and lichen planus, it will cause erosion and pain of the tongue.

Second, tongue pain is mainly divided into two categories in clinical practice:

The first category belongs to organic lesions of the tongue, such as tongue mucosal ulcers, tongue cancer, etc.

The second category belongs to non-organic lesions, namely the so-called glossodynia, and most patients belong to this category. There are many causes of glossalgia, including local irritation factors, systemic factors, mental factors, etc. Tongue pain caused by systemic diseases may manifest itself locally, in addition to systemic symptoms, as dry tongue, atrophy of the tongue papillae, and thinning of the epithelium. Local factors include local congestion, edema, erosion and ulcers. Neuralgic glossal pain may be transient and have trigger points, and may disappear after local blockade. Psychogenic glossodynia is more common in menopausal women. There is usually no abnormality in the tongue, and patients are often suspected of having serious physical illness. If you have symptoms of tongue pain, you should first go to the hospital for a check-up to rule out the first type of disease (i.e. organic tongue disease), and at the same time check whether you have systemic diseases or local oral irritants.