Have you ever seen someone who has brown spots on tongue ? What is the meaning of brown spots whether it is dangerous or not? In this short article we will study everything related to brown spots on the tongue. This starts from the cause, symptoms, even the image of the brown spots.
Before we see more about the cause of dark spots on tongue, let’s see the uniqueness of the tongue it self. Tongue is a very interesting muscle to give attention. The upper surface is covered by small bumps called papilla, these are covered with flavor buds. Do you know the benefits of our tongue? The tongue plays an important role in chewing food, swallowing and speaking. Without the tongue maybe we will not be able to do these three jobs.
Tongue is a reflection of someone’s health, from the tongue can be see whether one’s health goes well or not. Normally healthy tongue is pink and covered with flavor buds. Well, if the tongue is no longer formed like that, then this is a sign that a person’s health began to be disturbed. The tip of the tongue provides information about the small intestine and heart. The back end of the tongue tells about health of breathing and immunity, while the side of tongue tells heart condition for someone.
Can health care be confirmed by checking the tongue periodically?
Yes, always check the condition of your tongue, in case of suspicious things such as brown spots appear on the tongue or others, contact your doctor to consult about your health.
If a person’s tongue is red like strawberries, it indicates that he is deficient in vitamin B12 or lack of folic acid. This condition can be overcome and treated by eating foods rich in nutrients.
Causes of Brown Spots on Tongue
One problem that occurs on tongue is hairy, hairy tongue common in adults and usually caused by poor oral health. Hairy tongue can be brown, or depending on the color of the food eaten, or drinks.
1. Smoking
Apart from the hairy tongue, there are other things that cause brown spots on tongue. Smoking and smoking tobacco is one of them. Smoking and chewing tobacco is one of the reasons for the growth of bacteria and fungi. If bacteria and fungus are excessive on the tongue, it can cause brown spots.
2. Oral fibroma
This is a condition where the tongue is formed scar tissue due to injury in a very long time. The process of occurrence is showing small spots on the tongue and causing brown spots or dark patchy. In the case of oral fibroma, these brown spots are accompanied by other symptoms of large spots such as domes over the tongue.
3. Tongue piercing
Tongue piercing is now a popular thing in doing young people. Though this is very dangerous for the health. The piercing is a factor against the appearance of brown spots on the tongue. Well, when the healing wound heals, this dark spot remains not lost and this triggers for the growth of the fungus. Another side effect is the loss of tongue pigmentation, this will bring brown and black spots on the tongue.
4. Oral cancer
Oral cancer is a dangerous disease whose presence can change the color of one’s tongue. Brown spots appear on tongue along with the growth of cancer cell tissue.
5. Hyper-pigmentation
Furthermore, the cause of appearance of brown spots on tongue is the result of hyperpigmentation. This is a health problem that occurs due to hereditary factors due to consume a lot of pigmented foods that said melanin. Brown spots can also occur because of something like cancer, also called melanoma. Melanoma is mostly caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet light. Usually melanoma is often experienced by those aged over 40 years.
6. Usage of Contraceptives
Using contraceptives is the most common trigger against brown spots. Brown spots will occur during pregnancy or during use of the tool. Contraceptives become the trigger for hormonal changes that cause hyper-pigmentation of the tongue.
More: Essential oils for menstrual pain
7. Consume Certain Medications
Consuming certain medications can also cause brown spots on tongue. Among the drugs that can cause this is bismuth or doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide. Those who are treated with radiation on the neck and head can also cause the appearance of brown spots on the tongue. This brown spots are a side effect of the radiation. Other causes can also include installing silver teeth and others.
8. Fungal infection
If the brown spots occur on the baby’s tongue, then it could be the result of a vcandidiasis fungi infection. However, in this case usually spots or that appear are white. The color of brown as described above is very rare in infants.
9. Anemia
Red spots on the tongue can also appear due to anemia or lack of blood. A person less deep can affect the color of his tongue so that the color appears red or brown. This case is common in children under 5 years old. This is commonly referred to as kawasaki syndrome. The color of the tongue changes and spots appear because the blood supply to the tongue is disrupted as a result of anemia.
How to get rid of Brown spots on tongue?
In genera, brown spots on the tongue appears because it does not pay attention to oral hygiene. Brushing your teeth twice a day and using mouthwash is the best way to avoid dark spots on the tongue.
Here we look at some ways of treating and eliminating the appearance of brown spots on the tongue.
- Brown spots that wrap your tongue can be cleaned with a toothbrush, rub brush lengthwise on the tongue.
- Pain associated with brown spots can be overcome with milk magnesia, use cotton balls for application.
- Stop smoking and tobacco, it is beneficial if the spots appear due to smoking or tobacco smoking.
- Drink enough water and avoid or limit spicy foods
- Using home remedies by consuming pineapple juice, lemon juice, Aloe Vera, potato juice, can relieve brown spots on the tongue. In addition to natural juices, OTC products such as calcium, soy milk, kojic acid, can also be applied to brown spots to reduce appearance.
- If brown spots or brown spots continue to appear endlessly and cause bleeding, immediately consult a doctor because of the possibility of mouth cancer.
These are some causes of brown spots on tongue. But despite of all causes already mentioned above, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome or Laugier-Hunziker syndrome can also cause dark spots on the tongue.
