Geographical Tongue

[nba35]

I have had Geographical Tongue for 3 years now. I was a 22 yrs old when I first noticed it. Around 5 months after I noticed it I went to the doctor to get it checked out. At the time, I explained to him that it would come and go every 3-4 weeks. He ran some blood tests to make sure I didn't have any sort of immune defficiency and all the tests came back fine. I heard about candida and how it can cause Geographical Tongue. I have seen 4 different doctors since, one of them being a dermatologist, and they all said it was nothing to worry about. One of the doctors put me on Nystatin but that didn't seem to do anything. I then went on a "no yeast diet" but that did not really seem to have much effect either. I do drink alcohol quite a bit and I have noticed that my geographical tongue tends to start its course during hangovers. (Not sure if it's  related)  

For the past year I have nonticed my Geographical Tongue problem decreasing - only occuring maybe once every 3-4 months.  However, just recently I've noticed it starting to come back more often. I rarely ever get sick, I don't feel unhealthy, I just want to know why this is happening.

I have been reading more and more about Geographical Tongue on the internet and some of the information can be quite alarming. Is there anything I can do? Is this a serious problem? How can I find out what is causing this?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your feedback!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I suggest that you don't read the internet about this (except for this site, of course!)  Geographic tongue has no known cause but means exactly nothing.  Don't waste your time with yeast-free diets or pay attention to alarmist nonsense.  Just ignore the condition, which will take care of itself soon enough.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Momma Stasz]

Don't worry about your tongue. When my son was almost a year it suddenly became covered in ridges. It was diagosed as Geographic Tongue. His pattern would change, but it never went away until he was older. He is now almost 17 and geographic tongue-free for a number of years.

[flattail]

I've had GT for as long as I can remember. As a kid it was very painful, and more so if I ate acidic or salty foods (fries and ketchup, being both salty and acidic, was terrible). I would get sores that lasted several hours. The dentist at one time prescribed some nasty stuff to numb the tongue (I think it was xylocaine), but it tasted so bad I preferred the pain. The condition has persisted into adulthood (I'm 35) and the deep fissures in my tongue make it look like it has been hacked with a knife all over--it really looks quite awful. In the mornings I have white outlines in various patterns, which I assume are either bacterial or yeast colonies. I keep hearing "don't worry about it--it will just go away," but in my case it never has. I am not bothered much by the pain anymore, but it is always there.

[ooze]

I just logged on to this forum today.
When I was 10 years old, now 56, I asked the Dentist what was up with my tongue, big splits and strange colored textures. The Dentist opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, his tongue looked like it went through a meat grinder. He told me about geographic tongue, looks weird, but no problem. The only problem I've noticed, and maybe it's not because of geographic tongue at all is, raw pineapple directly from the whole fruit burns my tongue alittle. So I eat canned pineapple. No big deal.
Regards
OOZE

[Sweet-Sweet]

I was just diagnosed with Geographical Tongue on yesterday.  In the past, I have always been able to each fresh pineapples and other acitic foods.  My tongue would welp up for a day or two but then I would be fine.  About 2 months ago, my tongue started looking really weird.  I thought it was something I had eaten but it never really cleared up.  I have been up all day on sites such as this one looking for suggestions and help.  A physician telling you that it will clear up later and be fine is not the truth.  I hear this can be very painful.  I doubt if I will even waste a $40 co-pay at the ENT so I will begin my cycle of B100 vitamins and all the other remedies I have read about to see what works best for me.  I pray healing for us all.