Illustration of 36 tongue images in traditional Chinese medicine

White tongue coating is a term in traditional Chinese medicine, which refers to a layer of white, greasy and moist coating on the tongue of ordinary people. Because the white tongue coating is caused by the stomach qi, and the five internal organs all receive qi from the stomach, therefore, the change of the white tongue coating can reflect the cold, heat, deficiency or excess of the five internal organs, the characteristics of the pathogenic factors and the intensity of the main symptoms. The inspection of white tongue coating includes two parts: observing the color and the texture of the coating. Coating color: the color of the tongue coating. The main types of tongue coating that indicate psychological abnormalities include white coating, yellow coating, and gray-black coating.

Since Chinese medicine diagnosis by observation has a long history, it is difficult to explain the various secrets of white tongue coating in a few words. The following lists the common situations of white tongue coating, the physical characteristics it represents, and the methods of body conditioning.

Normal tongue characteristics

Tongue appearance: The tongue is light red in color, moderately thin or fat, with a thin white coating that is appropriately dry and moist.

Common abnormal white tongue coating and analysis

Thick white tongue coating

Conditioning standards: Eat less cold food, control your diet, and keep exercising

Symptoms: When the six evils such as cold, rheumatism, dampness and cold are still on the surface and have not yet spread to the inside, and the disease is relatively mild and the qi of the internal organs is not injured, the tongue coating is mostly white and thin.

If the tongue coating becomes white and thick, it means that there is something wrong with the body and the phlegm is heavy, so you should pay attention to it.

A white tongue coating indicates that the body is cold, whether it is after eating cold food or catching a cold, the tongue coating is white. Nowadays, most people have white coating, which is caused by eating fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator and often drinking cold food. In addition, in daily life, a fat tongue and thick white tongue coating are common in patients with obesity, gastrointestinal digestion disorders causing edema, and damp phlegm and internal heat. Patients with hyperlipidemia, arteriosclerosis and hypertension also generally have thick, white and greasy tongue coating.

Yellowish white tongue coating is thick and sticky

Conditioning standard: light diet to strengthen the spleen and stomach

Symptoms: If there is a thick layer of yellow-white scale on the tongue, the tongue coating is white, sticky and thick and not easy to scrape off, there is a sour and smelly odor in the mouth, and there is no appetite and constipation.

This condition is probably caused by excessive daily diet, or excessive high-calorie food, poor gastrointestinal digestion or confusion. Ordinary people call it indigestion.

Black tongue coating

Recuperation standard: Actively seek medical treatment and follow the doctor's advice

Symptoms: Extreme heat and cold can cause the black tongue coating to turn white, of course, in addition to the pigmented tongue. In daily life, if you take some medicines or food, the tongue coating will usually turn white and lose color, but these are not diseased coatings. Generally speaking, the color of dyed tongue coating is brighter and lighter, while the diseased tongue coating is not easy to fade. This can be used to make the distinction. Never mistake normal tongue coating for diseased tongue coating and cause a false alarm.

Black tongue is usually closely related to diseases. In clinical medicine, this tongue pattern is commonly seen in patients with chronic asthmatic bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, gastric cancer, chronic renal failure, etc. People with black tongue coating should attach great importance to the treatment of the disease in order to take care of their health.

Many diseases can cause black tongue coating, so you should follow the doctor's advice and treat it according to the condition.

White tongue coating falls off or there is no tongue coating

Conditioning standard: replenish blood and enhance immunity

Symptoms: During the course of the disease, all or part of the tongue coating turns white and falls off, which is called peeling (shedding). If the tongue coating turns white and falls off completely, so that the tongue is as smooth as a mirror, it is called 'smooth peeling tongue' or 'mirror tongue'. If the tongue coating turns white and falls off incompletely, the peeled-off area is smooth and has no coating, while the remaining areas are covered with patches of white coating with obvious boundaries, it is called 'flowering peeling'.