Burning tongue syndrome -=- The Tongue Speaks in Many Ways

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Attilio & All,

 

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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

[Guest guest]

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