Guest guest Posted December 6, 2003 Report Share Posted December 6, 2003 Attilio & All, Week in Review - Medscape Today MedPulse® www.medscape.com/medscapetodayhome The Tongue Speaks in Many Ways One of the first clinical skills learned by medical students is the importance of asking the patient to " put out your tongue, please " , recognizing that observing the tongue may frequently provide clues to a patient's overall well being. My thoughts follow with an excerp from the page quoted above. I have heard that tongue diagnosis played a much larger part in WM up to about 50 years ago, but even in my time as a youngster the 'art' was quickly dying: My experience of the doctor's " put out your tongue please " was simply for him to examine the tonsils / lymph nodes in the throat. Even as a young child putting out my tongue was accompanied by the doctor depressing it with a wooden spatula so he could get a better view of the throat. I happen to remember having a yellowish coating at about the age of five, but this was never commented on by a doctor, although my mother mentioned it. My grandmother had a similar pattern and would brush her tongue at the same time as she cleaned her teeth. In Asian cultures a 'tonge scraper' is as important as tooth brush for oral cleanliness, espceially after a Vindaloo ! So does this article represent some kind of 'assimilation' of TCM knowledge within the WM paradigm, or does it express a resurgence of existing traditional views within the WM ? Furthermore, if this does represent a resurgence in traditional western knowledge, what are the underlying assumptions and contingencies? In TCM tongue diagnosis has concepts you are all well aware of to assist in the notion that the tonge is capable of reflecting the state of inner organs - but what 'equipment' has WM to do this with unless it has covertly borrowed notions from TCM ? Despite the ability of WM to deal with trauma and acute conditions on a glorified 'First Aid' basis, there appears to be no way that WM could diagnose a Kidney or Lung or Spleen condition - it would be limited to broad generalisations such as : " The patient's tongue is red / dry so he must be dehydrated or have a fever " .. or " the patient's to tongue is wet and flabby so he must be suffering from water retention " . Here it is: You may have to register with Medscape to access the full article. This is free and worth a couple of minutes time just to see the complete article. I have only quoted the most 'challenging' part, please don't shoot the messenger ! The rest of the article lists conditions of the tongue with a WM flavour that TCM practitioners might find it valuable to be familiar with. The Tongue Speaks in Many Ways Posted 11/25/2003 Alison J. Bruce, MD, Roy S. Rogers, III, MD " The tongue can have a variety of morphologies that may be noticed by patients or their physicians, which are completely banal. The furred tongue and the black hairy tongue are examples of such incidental benign conditions. Both of these conditions are due to hyperplasia of the filiform papillae, which become hyperkeratotic and enlarged giving the appearance of " fur, " usually seen on the anterior two thirds of the dorsal tongue (Figure 1). In the latter condition, bacteria trapped between the papilla produce porphyrins, which impart a dark brown to black color to the fur (Figure 2). These conditions are typically asymptomatic, but interestingly, they may provide unspoken history about a patient -- as they are seen more commonly in smokers, mouth breathers, patients with poor oral hygiene or who have a soft diet with little fiber content, or in patients who have been recently febrile. Both may be associated with halitosis. Brushing of the dorsum of the tongue two to three times daily with 5-15 strokes using a soft-bristled toothbrush and regular dentrifice can reduce the halitosis problem .. " Did she say " banal " ? There is more where this came from ;-) Sammy. Chinese Medicine , " Attilio DAlberto " <attiliodalberto> wrote: > Hi Shmuel, > > I read your doc, very interesting. Yes, i agree, its probably > related to Empty Heart Fire caused by a deficinecy of Kidney Yin, > commonly seen post menopause. Tian Wang Bu Xin Wan may be a good > formula to try. > > Attilio > > " Shmuel Halevi Ph.D " <halevis@a...> wrote: > > Hi Val, > > I posted a doc file in the Files section of this group at: > > > > > http://health.Chinese Medicine/fil > > es/Misc/ > > > > This describes the nature and possibilities of this syndrome > > according to W.M. In terms of Ch.M. all possibilities are open... > If > > there is an identifiable pattern that you can associate with this > > symptom, such as: H. fire blazing, St. fire or even an aparent > Yang > > (Yin deficiency) - treat according to this pattern. In my opinion > > though, in many cases this may be an isolated problem of the > tongue, > > not necessarily corresponding with a clear cut syndrome. In such a > > case, use points: Jinjin-Yuye underneath the tongue in bleeding, > as > > well as P-7 (bleed) H-5 in dispersion. Also Li-11 and St-44 may be > > added symptomatically. Rest of the points - according to your > > differentiation. I have already treted one or two cases like this > > and this treatment should give good results. > > If you can keep me posted about the rsults I would like that. > > > > > > > > > Hi, I have a new patient this week who describes herself as > being > > diagnosed > > > by her G.P. as having " Burning tongue syndrome " . Has anyone any > > experience of > > > this? There is nothing to see on her tongue apart from it being > > slightly red > > > at the tip. She describes it as feeling like it has red hot > > chillies on it. > > > She isn't particularly thirsty. On H.R.T. for a few months but > > this has not made > > > any difference to her symptoms. I would appreciate any advice or > > suggestions. > > > Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 7, 2003 Report Share Posted December 7, 2003 Struggling to assimilate all this info and suggestions. Thank you all. Will get back to you when i've seen her again this week. Val Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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