The tongue, in addition to helping us taste the delicious flavors of the world and express our tender feelings to our partners, is also the window to our health. By observing the state of our tongue, we can understand our physical condition, which is called tongue diagnosis in Chinese medicine.
Tongue Diagnosis for Health
This article is guided by Dr. Zheng Linbo, a clinician at a tertiary care hospital and a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine
According to Chinese medicine, the condition of human organs, meridians, qi, blood and fluids can be objectively reflected on the tongue, and can be revealed in time with the changes of the disease during its development.
Distribution of internal organs
The tongue has a close intrinsic connection with the internal organs and meridians. According to medical books, the tip of the tongue belongs to the heart and lungs, the edge of the tongue belongs to the liver and gallbladder, the center belongs to the spleen and stomach, and the root of the tongue belongs to the kidneys. For example, a red tongue tip generally indicates hyper-fire in the heart, while a red tongue edge indicates heat in the liver and gallbladder.
Normal Tongue Image
A normal tongue image indicates that the Qi, blood and fluid are abundant, and that the functions of digestion, metabolism and circulation are in a state of harmony and balance.
In general, a normal tongue is light red in color, sharp and moist, moderate in size, soft and flexible; the tongue is thin and white, with uniform particles, moderately dry and moist, not slippery and not dry; through the thin tongue moss you can faintly see the light red body of the tongue, and the tongue moss at the root is slightly thickened.
To sum up: "light red tongue, thin white moss".
The tongue is also divided into fat and thin
Everyone wants to maintain a slim and healthy body, but does the tongue also have a "body"? Fat people must have fat tongues and thin people must have thin tongues? Actually, no.
Fat tongue
Fat tongue" refers to a fat tongue and a full mouth, mostly related to water-dampness and phlegm. If the tongue is light and fat, and there are teeth marks on the edge of the tongue, it is mostly due to spleen deficiency or kidney yang deficiency, and water-dampness stays. If the tongue is red and fat, it is mostly due to damp-heat or phlegm and turbidity in the spleen and stomach. Spleen deficiency mostly reflects lesions in the digestive system, poor gastrointestinal motility and poor absorption. Deficiency of kidney yang is accompanied by cold limbs and fear of cold, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, and abnormal excretion of the bowels.
Thin tongue
Thin tongue" refers to a thin and thin tongue body, mostly due to deficiency. If the tongue is light in texture and thin in shape, the tongue is mostly deficient in qi and blood and will show symptoms such as weakness, laziness and tiredness, while if the tongue is red and dry, the tongue is mostly Yin deficiency and internal heat, which usually leads to sleep disturbance, dry mouth and heart trouble.
Yellow or white tongue coating
Tongue moss is a thin layer of dirt on the surface of the tongue, like moss on a dark and damp ground. The normal tongue moss is a thin white layer, which is tender but not thick, moderately dry, not slippery and not dry.
Excessively white tongue moss
The white moss is usually seen in superficial evidence and cold evidence. Thin white and moist is wind-cold evidence, which is commonly known as wind-cold cold, such as fever and cold, headache and nasal congestion, sneezing and runny nose, itchy throat and cough. White and thick and greasy is cold and damp internal evidence, such as fear of cold and warmth, cold limbs, abdominal pain, light mouth and no thirst, clear and long urine, loose stools, etc.
Yellow tongue coating
Yellow tongue coating
Mainly internal and heat evidence. The lighter the yellow color, the lighter the heat; the darker the color, the heavier the heat.
The thin and yellowish tongue moss is a symptom of external wind-heat (wind-heat cold), with heat, slight wind aversion, head swelling and pain, red face, yellow nasal stuffiness, cough, yellow phlegm, dry throat and dry mouth, and excessive drinking. Generally, pungent and cooling herbs (Yin Qiao San and Sang Ju Drink) are used to relieve the symptoms. If thin yellow and moist, although hot but fluids are not injured.
Thick yellow tongue coating
If the tongue coating is yellow and thick, it is hot, such as strong heat, irritability, thirst for cold drinks, abdominal pain, constipation, or diarrhea and vomiting, short and red urine. If the tongue moss is yellow and slippery, it is damp-heat internalized, as well as head distension and pain, chest and epigastric stuffiness, thirst without desire to drink, poor diet, nausea, etc.
If the tongue is thin, yellow and dry, it is the evidence of heat that injures fluid. In some external diseases, the tongue coating turns yellow from white at the beginning, which represents the transformation of heat from external evil, e.g. the disease starts with heavy malignant cold and light fever, with thin white moist coating, but later appears not malignant cold, but malignant heat, disturbed heart, thirst, and thin yellow coating.
Several common abnormal tongue signs - Mango Tongue
Mango Tongue
If the papillae of the tongue are enlarged, hypertrophied and protrude like thorns, the tongue is mostly hyperthermic. The heavier the heat, the larger and more spines there are.
Clinically, the thorns are mostly found on the tip of the tongue and the side of the tongue. The thorns on the tip of the tongue are caused by excessive heart fire, such as insomnia and dreams, sores on the mouth and tongue, heart and chest troubles, redness, thirst, yellow urine and constipation. Most of the awnings on the tongue are caused by heat in the liver and gallbladder, such as painful burning in the ribs, poor diet, abdominal distension, bitterness in the mouth, irregular bowel movements, short and red urine, etc.
Several common abnormal tongue signs - map tongue
Map tongue
If the tongue is partially flaking with clear boundaries, it is called "flower flaking tongue"; if a large part of the tongue is flaking with clear boundaries of thick moss around the edges, it is called "map tongue", and the flaking indicates that the stomach is injured in both qi and yin, which is mostly related to dysfunction of the spleen and stomach and zinc deficiency.
Several common abnormal tongue signs - Tooth marks tongue
Tongue with teeth marks
The fat tongue is often seen due to the pressure of the teeth on the fat tongue. It is caused by the inability of the spleen to transport water and dampness, resulting in a fat tongue.
If it is pale white and moist, it is cold and damp, with a stuffy and swollen stomach and abdomen, little food and loose stools, a vomiting desire, a light mouth and no thirst, a heavy head and body, swollen limbs, and short urine. If light red and with teeth marks, mostly spleen qi deficiency, such as less food and bloating, especially after meals, loose stools, tired limbs, less breath and lazy speech, shriveled or white face, etc.
Several common abnormal tongue signs - cracked tongue
Cracked tongue
If there are obvious cleft grooves on the tongue, one is heat and Yin injury, such as a thin body, five hearts, dry mouth and throat, hot flashes and night sweats, two cheek flushes, dizziness and tinnitus. The second is blood deficiency does not moisten, the face white without florid atrophy, pale lips, pale claw nail, dizziness, palpitations and insomnia, hands and feet numbness menstruation less colorful, etc. The third is spleen deficiency and dampness immersion, with symptoms similar to the above-mentioned spleen deficiency and dampness.
Several common abnormal tongue signs - mirror tongue
● Mirror tongue
If the tongue is completely peeled off and shiny like a mirror, it is a deficiency of stomach qi, depletion of stomach yin and deficiency of both qi and blood. However, it is thought to be due to a lack of B vitamins, niacin or severe anemia in the body.
Watch your tongue to know your health! Through the tongue, we can roughly know the body's deficiency of heat and cold, which can give us some guidance in our daily diet. As the saying goes, "If you are deficient, you should make up for it; if you are solid, you should take out the diarrhea; if you are cold, you should warm it; if you are hot, you should cool it." By accumulating some self-diagnosis tips, you can become your own "doctor" in life.
Editor: BY-HEALTH Nutrition Academy
(WeChat public number: tcbjyyxy)
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