Yellow coating on the tongue: what's the problem?

Ask any doctor why the tongue is covered with yellow coating, and you will hear advice to ask for the correct answer to the gastroenterologist. However, such a recommendation will sound if there is a touch of any other color.

Yellow plaque on the tongue as a symptom of this or that pathology is perceived in many cases, and it remains to be understood: what kind of problem in the body does language tell us, acquiring such a color.

Causes of yellow plaque in the tongue

To begin with, the mild white-yellow plaque present in the morning in a language under which the normal pink color of the tongue is clearly visible is not an anomaly. The fact is that while the person is asleep, the bacteria that make up the microflora of the mouth continue to feed, and some of them, for example colonizing the mucous throat and the oral cavity of staphylococcus, produce protective carotenoid pigments of yellow color. So in the morning the yellow plaque on the tongue of healthy people is explained precisely by this reason.

Those who love strong tea and coffee, and uses them in unmeasured quantities, do not be surprised by the intense yellow-brown coloration of the tongue. Anyone who smokes can join them.

But an uneven white and yellow coating with painful ulcers in the tongue and oral mucosa should disturb you, since it is characteristic of stomatitis, an inflammation that can develop in the mouth under the influence of a variety of factors: from mechanical damage and bacterial infection to avitaminosis, sugar diabetes and psychogenic pathologies. A yellowish coating, accompanied by a very unpleasant odor in the mouth, is attributed to the consequences of chronic constipation or, quite simply, constipation.

Much more serious concern should cause a rather dense or, as it is often called by patients, a strong yellow coating on the tongue - an indicator of malfunction in the operation of the gallbladder or liver, which lead to the accumulation of bile. There is a direct connection with dyskinesia of the gallbladder or bile ducts; jaundice of various etiologies; the obstruction of extrahepatic biliary tract by cholestasis; hereditary pigmentary hepatosis (congenital hyperbilirubinemia); stones or a cyst of the common bile duct (choledocha), etc.

Also, with these pathologies, the blood content of the main bile pigment increases - bilirubin, but in addition to it there is a green pigment of biliverdin in the bile, which causes a yellow-green coating on the tongue. But if the plaque is closer to green, here, most likely, the fungus Candida is guilty, because of which the fungal inflammation of the tongue (candidosis glossitis) began.

Clear evidence of functional malfunctions in the biliary system - nausea and yellow coating on the tongue. And one of the many symptoms of such diseases as:

• duodenitis,
• pancreatitis,
• gastroduodenal reflux,
• cholangitis, cholecystitis,
• cholelithiasis - yellow-brown coating on the tongue.

It should be borne in mind that chronic renal insufficiency can affect the state of your tongue in the form of a coating from light yellow to brown. But with problems with the kidneys, the tongue, plus everything, swells, on the sides of the tongue are visible prints of teeth, and from the mouth smells of urea.

In some cases, the cause of yellow plaque in the tongue is not gastrointestinal problems, but disorders of the metabolism of bile pigments in congenital hemolytic anemia of an autoimmune character, developing due to the destruction of erythrocyte hemoglobin, the product of which is bilirubin found in blood in excess quantities. Also, the tongue becomes covered with a yellow coating with genetically determined sickle cell anemia.

When there is a gray-yellow coating on the tongue, the otolaryngologists will look for a foci of infection, for example, with pharyngitis or chronic tonsillitis. Thus, with acute inflammation of the tonsils and the use of antibiotics in its treatment, such a plaque is almost inevitable. And in gastroenterologists in such cases there is a suspicion that the patient is not all right with the gastrointestinal tract, because a similar kind of language is often observed in chronic forms of gastritis or acute inflammation of the intestine (enterocolitis), when a brownish or yellow coating on the root of the tongue .

[1], [2]

Yellow coating in the language of the child

In addition, that yellow plaque in the language of the child can appear in the same cases as in adults, it is necessary to take into account some features of the developing child organism. Thus, in adolescence, the tongue may become covered with a yellowish coating due to the ingestion of hormones into the blood due to the onset of puberty (puberty).

If the child does not have diabetes (and in children this disease is diagnosed more often), then the tongue is rough with a yellow coating can only be if the nasal breathing is disturbed, when the hypertrophic pharyngeal tonsil completely blocked the nasopharynx. Because of this, the child has to breathe through the mouth, and then the saliva evaporates, the parched tongue becomes rough, and the bacteria (about them already mentioned above) are protected from the resulting "discomfort" by the increased production of carotenoid pigments.

Parents need to know that coughing and yellow plaque on the child's tongue are signs that his body is infected with parasites, and lamblia, ascarids or liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) have climbed up to the gall bladder . Cough in this case is allergic - as the body's response to the products of vital activity of parasites.

By the way, pay attention to the circles under the eyes of the child : when helminths under the eyes of children of any age appear dark circles.

Diagnosis of yellow plaque in the language

As follows from all the above information, the diagnosis of yellow plaque in the language - and, as early as possible - an indispensable condition for the restoration of the normal state of the language.

If the whole thing is stomatitis, then the dentist will not be difficult at physical examination of the oral cavity to determine the presence of pathology and to prescribe the correct treatment.

To find out the true cause of the appearance of yellow plaque associated with the problems of the digestive system, you will need to surrender:

• general analysis of blood, urine and feces;
• analysis of blood for eosinophils (allows one hundred percent accuracy to establish parasitic invasion);
• biochemical blood test for the presence of bilirubin, amylase, cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, etc.

To study the morphology of the gallbladder and determine the presence of concrements in it, cholecystography is performed, and cholangiography is used to study the bile ducts. And, of course, if you suspect a pathology of the stomach, duodenum, pancreas, liver or spleen, you need to undergo ultrasound.

[3], [4]

Treatment of yellow plaque in the tongue

You want to know how to treat yellow plaque in a language. Correctly, treatment is necessary, but by itself, the plaque on the tongue is not treated, as it is one of the signs of another disease. And it is necessary to treat exactly the pathology that caused this symptom.

For example, if a cough and yellow plaque in a child's tongue is a sign of helminth infection, then you should not treat the yellow plaque in the tongue and cough, but lambliasis, ascariasis or fascioliasis. And so - in each case. And the doctor appoints the doctor, and not the grandmother of the boy from the neighboring apartment, who "also had this, and then everything went away" ...

And for better oral hygiene, a classic and very effective method is used: three times a day, rinse the mouth with a 2% solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate - a teaspoon of baking soda into a glass of water. For the same purpose, herbal infusions are used (from flowers of chamomile, calendula, sage or yarrow), herbal infusions of St. John's wort, eucalyptus leaves and oak bark or pharmacy preparations based on medicinal plants.

Is yellow plaque prevention possible in the language? Ask the doctors about it, and half of them will advise all the known things: do not smoke, regularly look after the oral cavity, strengthen immunity, so that the bowels work normally - eat healthy foods, do not get carried away by too hot drinks.

In many cases, such prevention will indeed help, and the yellow raid will disappear. And to give a forecast of yellow plaque in the language - in the presence of such a list of serious causes of its occurrence, probably, no one will undertake.