What causes tongue pain?

The human tongue is used to stir up food that a person refuses to eat. So the tongue is very important to humans. The tongue is connected to the human internal organs. When people burn fire, they often suffer from tongue pain, mouth ulcers, etc. Some people experience tongue pain. There are many causes of tongue pain. Let’s take a look at what causes tongue pain.

Tongue diagnosis is an important method of diagnosing diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The tongue is connected to the five internal organs through the meridians. Therefore, the strength and weakness of the internal organs, qi, blood, and body fluids, as well as the severity of the disease, can be objectively reflected in the tongue. Tongue diagnosis can help us understand the strength and weakness of the internal organs and the nature, severity, and changes of the pathogenic factors. Among them, changes in tongue quality mainly reflect the emptiness and fullness of internal organs and the strength and weakness of qi and blood; while changes in tongue coating are mainly used to judge the depth and severity of the external evil, as well as the strength and weakness of stomach qi.

Traditional Chinese medicine divides the tongue into the tip, middle, root and sides of the tongue. It is believed that the tip of the tongue belongs to the heart and lungs, the middle of the tongue belongs to the spleen and stomach, the root of the tongue belongs to the kidneys, and the sides of the tongue belong to the liver and gallbladder (see Figure 3-1). The fact that different parts of the tongue reflect different organ lesions has certain reference value in clinical practice, but it cannot be viewed mechanically and needs to be considered in combination with other symptoms and signs.

1. Tongue quality: refers to the tongue itself, mainly observing its color, shape and posture.

A normal tongue is light red in color, subtle and moist, of moderate thickness, age and tenderness, and moves freely and flexibly, indicating sufficient Qi and blood. It can occur in healthy people, and also in those with the initial onset of external infection or mild internal injuries.

(1) Tongue color

① Pale tongue : The tongue color is lighter than normal, which indicates deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome. It is more common in blood deficiency and is a sign of weak Yang Qi and insufficient Qi and blood. Pale color, plump and tender flesh indicates deficiency of cold; plump and tender flesh with tooth marks on the edges indicates deficiency of Qi and Yang.

② Red tongue: The tongue color is darker than normal, bright red, indicating heat syndrome, mostly internal heat syndrome. A red tongue tip indicates that the heart fire is ascending; a red tongue edge indicates that the liver and gallbladder are hot; a red and dry tongue indicates that heat damages body fluids or that the yin is deficient and the fire is excessive.

③Crimson tongue: The tongue is dark red, which indicates excessive heat, mostly due to the evil heat penetrating into the nutrient and blood or due to yin deficiency and excessive fire.

The darker the red or purple tongue color, the more severe the heat evil is.

④ Petechiae tongue: There are purple bruises or spots on the tongue, which are mostly caused by accumulation of blood stasis.

⑤ Purple tongue: The entire tongue appears purple, which may be caused by extreme heat or cold. A deep purple and dry tongue indicates extreme heat, and in patients with febrile diseases, the pathogenic factors have been transmitted to the nutrient and blood. A light yellow-purple or bluish-purple and smooth tongue indicates yin-cold syndrome.