If you decide to examine your tongue in front of a mirror carefully, you will see that its surface is not uniform. In some places, it is almost smooth, while in others, it is more embossed. Some will see cracks in their tongue, which can be either single or cover a significant part of the tongue. Is it worth worrying about this, and does such a strange "relief" mean some disease?
01.
Cracked Tongue
According to the American Academy of Oral Medicine (there is, it turns out, such a reputable institution), the tongue with cracks is called "folded." Most often, cracks are located in the middle third of the upper, dorsal surface of the organ. Thus, they can affect only the surface of the tongue or be quite profound.
02.
Very often, one large crack diverges into smaller ones, resembling a large river and its tributaries. Scientists from the United States claim that 5% of the world's population got the folded tongue, although many are ready to dispute this figure. Prominent British scientists claim that cracks are inherent in as many as 20% of the world's inhabitants. Who is right and who is wrong is not for us to judge.
It is interesting that modern medical science, already well aware of how to transplant a person's head, does not have an exact answer to where these cracks in the tongue come from and why some have them, while others do not. Perhaps this is a trace of some genetic mutation? In addition, it was noticed that with age, folds could become more profound and spread over a large area of the tongue. Still, science has not obtained a single confirmation that this is somehow connected with diseases.
03.
Deep crack in middle of tongue
The only inconvenience that a folded tongue can bring to its owner is bad breath (halitosis) if, when brushing his teeth, he does not pay enough attention to tongue hygiene. Food particles can get stuck in deep cracks on the surface of an organ and between teeth and interfere with the freshness of breath. Cleaning the tongue with a special brush or scraper twice a day solves this problem.
But another feature of the language, which experts call benign migratory glossitis and is popularly called "geographical language," requires attention. Although it is similar to cracking, it can already signal health problems. With glossitis, the upper and lateral parts of the tongue are covered with red spots, limited by a white border. There are no papillae on them that protect the tongue from adverse external factors.
04.
"Geographic tongue" has 1.5-2% of people, and in most cases, this condition does not pose a threat. But still, there is a minimal chance that the tongue is stained for a reason. In some cases, doctors associate spots on the tongue with diabetes mellitus and some other diseases of the endocrine system, stomach and liver. So it is better to consult a specialist, especially if the language has become "geographical" unexpectedly, and before that, it was expected.
But there is no reason for panic neither in the first nor in the second case. There are no cases in modern medicine when the folded or "geographical" language itself was a problem or led to severe malfunctions in the body.
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