Tongue Disorders

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.

Find an Expert

• American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Specifics

• Black Hairy Tongue Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Fissured Tongue American Academy of Oral Medicine
• Yellow Tongue Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

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

Reference Desk

• Find an ENT American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

Patient Handouts

• Geographic tongue Medical Encyclopedia
• Glossitis Medical Encyclopedia
• Leukoplakia Medical Encyclopedia
• Macroglossia Medical Encyclopedia
• Tongue biopsy Medical Encyclopedia
• Tongue problems Medical Encyclopedia
• Tongue tie Medical Encyclopedia

Images

• Hairy Tongue VisualDX

Start Here

• Lip and Tongue Disorders Merck & Co., Inc.

Journal Articles

• Tongue Disorders

Children

• Tongue Tie (For Parents) Nemours Foundation
• Your Tongue Nemours Foundation