Symptoms of geographic tongue, how to identify

Tongue disease is a relatively common tongue disease. This disease mostly causes damage to the tongue surface or the edge of the tongue. Patients often feel a slight tingling sensation, and one or more oval erythema will appear on the tongue surface.

Early symptoms of geographic tongue include:

1. Most lesions occur on the tongue surface or tongue edge

Experts say that in the early stages of geographic tongue, lesions often occur on the tongue surface or edge, and occasionally on the lips, cheeks, soft palate mucosa, floor of mouth, and ventral tongue. It usually lasts for 2 to 10 days and then disappears on its own, but it may appear again somewhere else and often lingers for several days.

2. No obvious symptoms, only slight tingling sensation

Generally speaking, geographic tongue has no obvious subjective symptoms, but a slight tingling sensation, and is mainly seen in children, young women with weak constitutions. Occasionally it may coexist with psoriasis vulgaris or pustular psoriasis. The diagnosis can be made based on clinical manifestations, characteristics of skin lesions, and histopathological features.

3. One or more round or oval smooth red patches the size of a fingernail appear on the tongue

Experts also said that after the onset of geographic tongue, one or more round or oval smooth red patches the size of a fingernail will slowly appear on the tongue surface with clear boundaries and slightly raised edges that appear as yellow-gray or white halos. This is caused by keratinization of the filiform papillae. The filiform papillae of the skin lesions disappeared. Fungiform papillae are still present or more prominent. The lesions gradually expand and fuse into a map-like shape. Similar lesions are rarely seen on the tip of the tongue and soft palate.

The following methods can be used to treat geographic tongue:

1. Eliminate infection foci

Certain bacteria in your mouth may cause geographic tongue. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully check whether the child's teeth, tonsils and buccal mucosa are infected, and remove them immediately if found.

2. Symptomatic treatment

The child's oral cavity should be kept clean and hygienic. Every morning, you can use a soft-bristled brush to gently brush from the back of the tongue outwards 1-2 times to remove the exfoliated epithelium, and then rinse the child's mouth with 0.5% sodium bicarbonate solution, which can achieve significant results.