My daughter gets strange spots on her tounge.

[Jeanne Parra]

My daughter gets strange spots on her tounge.  They appear one at a time usually, smaller than a pea.  They actually look like a small dot of missing tissue. The tissue around the area is white.  The patch of missing skin gets bigger and bigger until it covers most of her tounge.  They have occured regularly since she was about six months old.  She is two years old now.  There does not seem to be any kind of discomfort but its hard to tell with a two year old.  Is this normal?  Is it some type of fungus?  Do I need to treat it?  I have asked her pediatrician and he says that its nothing and I should just ignore it.  Is this true?  -Jeanne Parra

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Jeanne:

It sounds as though you are describing geographic tongue, an interesting but unimportant condition.  The affected tongue develops patches which change from day to day.  if you have a good imagination, you can think they look like maps.  Cause: unknown.  treamtnet: irrelevant.  I think your pediatrician's right.

Best.  Dr. Rockoff

[Colin]

I have had geographic tongue evry few weeks for a number of years - starts with a small round patch, deep red in colour, with the rest of the tongue usually covered ina white film.  It always occurs in the same area of the tongue and spreads over successive days before fading.
I have noticed over the years that it is often preceded a couple of days earlier by physical exhaustion and aches and pains.  I have asked several doctors about this but have never received a satisfactory explanation.  Candida has been suggested.  However, it does not seem to have done me any real harm and I tend just to ignore it now.  Candida treatments, both orthodox and complimentary  have made no difference.

[murray]

I've had geographic tongue my entire life. It's not something that changes for me, it looks the same all the time. It's not a big deal for me at all, I told my neice I cut my tongue in the lawn mower as a joke and showed her it. We all had a good laugh. It's a little gross to look at, but I don't even think about it. If I pinch my tongue between my teeth while curling it, it looks like a dozen or so cuts in the tongue. No pain, just makes it rough.

My wife says it must be what I was given to make up for lack of a long tongue, if you know what I mean. ;o)

[S Slack]

I have also had those spots.  I am mostly concerned with the possibility of spreading to to someone else, so I haven't had a date in quite a while.  The only thing that seems to help to keep my tounge clean with a scraper-like device found in any drug store  -- twice a day minimum.  Also I have noticed that if I have to take an antibiotic for something else, it usually goes away.  I have recently started to take Olive Leaf which is supposed to deal with all kinds of pathogens.  When the Olive Leaf extract is fresh, I really see a marked improvement.  

Candida treatments made no difference.

I really feels dismissed when doctors say, oh just ignore it.

51 year old female
slack

[andrea]

Don't feel alone. I have geographic tounge and have had it for the last 2 1/2 years. It is embarressing , but that's a bout it not painful, just annoying. I thought I was dying or had cancer or something, but my doctors all told me the same things. It is harmless, ther is nothing we can do, just ignore it. That is hard when you know it's there and are conscious of it when speaking to other people. I have learned to live with it even though I really hate it!

[Call me ALBERT]

I took have a geographic tounge.  My mom and my sis told me its very rare and 1 out of every 10,000 people in the world get it.  I only showed my tounge to a couple of people and they all said it was very disgusting.  This really sucks.  I want a cure it looks really nasty.  I have vains under my tounge too, its not a disease i know that for a fact but all i know is it looks damn sick!!
                                Your friend and counterpart,
                                        ALBERT

[Sara]

i agree with my co-horts here.  I also feel dismissed. I would love a cure.  Someone Please do a study!!!  Good luck my fellow icky tongued pals.

[Emily]

I have had this sort of thing on my tounge the majority of my life.  I can't remeber a time when my tounge has actually looked "normal".  Being 17, I've alway feared that when I kiss a guy, something strange will happen to him, but fortunately nothing has occured.  I have found that eating one thing of yogurt a day keeps the majority of the white spots away, but they will still be there.  I have an usual case, it seems to me, where slits in my tounge will also appear.  The yogurt also helps the pain of the slits decrease.

[Alli]

I have geographic tounge too and i absolutly hate it.  Does anyone know if it's obvious when kissing someone? It always feels rough and i freak when i think about kissing when it's at it's worst.  Citris acid inflames it, like oranges and grapefruit.  My doctor said it's pretty much like freckles on your tounge.  :***(  It really does blow and i would absolutly love someone to start a study on a cure!

[stephanie]

I also have a geographic tounge.  My doctor told me not to worry and so did my dentist.  I have read that a lack of b vitamins might be the cause.  But in this day and age with fortified foods its is hard to become defecient in b vitamins.  Also I have been with my boyfriend for almost two years and my geographic tounge has never affected him.  I wonder if eating sweets might trigger outbreaks.  I think I am going to experiment with foods that might cause outbreaks.  My tounge can sometimes become painfull especially when brushing my tounge and my teeth and using listerine.  Also a slight burn can cause it to outbreak again so I have to be very carefull with hot foods.  

[Cheryl]

My mom was told she has geographic tounge.  It sounds similar to what everyone else has said with their comments.  Only her's is different she has much pain, severe burning like fire and has lost her sense of taste.  It started at the tip of her tounge, but has now moved so it covers 3/4 of her tounge.  She has mentioned that it's like someone mowed over her taste buds.  She has tried yeast, B, B12 and zinc.  Nothing has stopped the movement or brought back her taste.  Any comment or helpful ideas?

[Cheryl]

My mom was told she has geographic tounge.  It sounds similar to what everyone else has said with their comments.  Only her's is different she has much pain, severe burning like fire and has lost her sense of taste.  It started at the tip of her tounge, but has now moved so it covers 3/4 of her tounge.  She has mentioned that it's like someone mowed over her taste buds.  She has tried yeast, B, B12 and zinc.  Nothing has stopped the movement or brought back her taste.  Any comment or helpful ideas?

[hashim alsawafy]

i am very scare ithink it may b developed,and it hurt when i brush or spicy food andotherstaff

[Cissi]

I've had it for years, and as far as B-vitamin deficit goes, I can tell that I must take B-12 and Folacine each day since I can't take it up from the food (these are prescribed amounts - I need to take tablets with 200 times the daily needed amount to get 0,5 % - it's important to take a bloodtest before you start taking Folacine since it can hide a B12-deficiency).
In my case I had neurological problems when I started to take these vitamins - sometimes I need shots too to get the proper blood values.
Well - to the geographic tongue - it gets severe when my blood-levels of these B-vitamins are low.
And I've found a cure - I have very painful geographical tongue. In Sweden the remedy is called Andolex, it's a precribed local anesthetic, the effective substance is benzydamine chloride (sp?)and it also contains alcohol. It is very important that you *never* swallow it. It has anti inflammatory effect as well, and it takes away both the pain and the visible signs quite fast. I use it about every 2 hours when I have severe problems.

I work as a pharmacist and I have not seen it prescribed much for geographical tongue.

Just wanted to share my knowledge! =)

Best wishes!

[Stuart]

I am 25 years old and have had geographic tongue for the last two years. Similar to everyone else i went to the doctors and was told there was no cure and it would go away. Well it hasn't and is present most days. I find gargling with salt water can help, but as to a cure I'm not sure?. I'm going to try Cissi's solution above and if it works i'll let you all know. For now we must all stay positive... things could always be worse.

[Stuart]

I am 25 years old and have had geographic tongue for the last two years. Similar to everyone else i went to the doctors and was told there was no cure and it would go away. Well it hasn't and is present most days. I find gargling with salt water can help, but as to a cure I'm not sure?. I'm going to try Cissi's solution above and if it works i'll let you all know. For now we must all stay positive... things could always be worse.

[iceman]

Andolex seems very encouraging for Geographic Tongue.  Does anyone know how to get it here in the states?

[ajfbwf]

I was told by my doctor that this could signal an immune system deficiany and asked if I was diabetic.  It scared me.  I have no known immuno deficancies and all she did was scare me.  Has anyone else been told this?  Is it true?

[worriedmom300]

A related discussion, worried mom was started.