What causes tongue coating to fall off? What are the types?

We all know that the tongue coating is a layer of dirt spread on the tongue. The tongue coating of a normal person is thin, white and moist, with moderate dryness and wetness, neither slippery nor dry. So what is the reason for the tongue coating to fall off?

According to the location and size of tongue coating peeling, it can be divided into the following types:

The peeling of the coating in the front half of the tongue is called front peeling; the peeling of the coating in the middle of the tongue is called middle peeling; the peeling of the coating at the root of the tongue is called root peeling. The peeling of the coating in many places, with only a small amount of coating remaining on the tongue surface, is called flower peeling; the peeling of the coating around the tongue, with only a small piece in the center, is called chicken heart coating; the peeling of the entire tongue platform, with the surface smooth as a mirror, is called mirror tongue. The coating peels irregularly, with protruding edges, clear boundaries, and a map-like shape, and the location sometimes shifts, is called map tongue. The peeling of the coating, the tongue surface is not smooth, there are still new coating particles, or the tongue papilla is visible, is called pseudo-peeling.

It is generally caused by insufficient stomach qi, exhaustion of stomach yin or deficiency of qi and blood, and is also a sign of general weakness.

The formation of exfoliative tongue coating is always caused by the lack of stomach qi, which cannot be fumigate the tongue, or the dryness of stomach yin, which cannot be moistened on the tongue. Due to different causes of the deficiency of stomach qi and stomach yin, the degree of damage can be mild or severe, thus forming various types of exfoliative tongue coating.

Red tongue with peeling fur is mostly due to Yin deficiency; pale tongue with peeling fur or almost peeling fur is mostly due to Qi deficiency or Qi and blood deficiency. A red mirror-like tongue is a sign of stomach Yin depletion and lack of vitality, which is a severe Yin deficiency syndrome; a yellow-white tongue like a mirror, or even bloodless, is mainly due to severe deficiency of blood and Yang Qi, which is difficult to treat. A tongue with partial peeling fur and greasy fur on the unpeeled part is mostly due to deficiency of vital energy, untransformed phlegm, and a more complicated condition.

The extent of the peeling is mostly related to the degree of deficiency of Qi and Yin or Qi and Blood. The peeling location is mostly corresponding to the distribution of internal organs on the tongue surface. For example, peeling of the tongue coating in the front is mostly due to deficiency of lung Yin; peeling of the tongue coating in the middle is mostly due to deficiency of stomach Yin; peeling of the tongue coating at the root is mostly due to exhaustion of kidney Yin.