Yellow plaque on the tongue: what is the problem?

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

Yellow coating on the tongue is perceived as a symptom of one or another pathology in many cases, and it remains to be seen: what problem in the body is the tongue telling us about by acquiring this color.

Causes of yellow coating on the tongue

Let's start with the fact that a light white-yellow coating on the tongue in the morning, under which the normal pink color of the tongue is clearly visible, is not an anomaly. The fact is that while a person sleeps, the bacteria that make up the microflora of the oral cavity continue to feed, and some of them, for example, staphylococci that colonize the mucous membrane of the pharynx and oral cavity, produce protective carotenoid pigments of yellow color. So the yellow coating on the tongue in healthy people in the morning is explained by this very reason.

Those who love strong tea and coffee and drink them in immeasurable quantities should not be surprised by the intense yellow-brown color of the tongue. All smokers can join them.

But an uneven white-yellow coating with painful ulcers on the tongue and oral mucosa should worry you, as it is typical 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 vitamin deficiency, diabetes and psychogenic pathologies. And a yellowish coating, accompanied by a very unpleasant odor in the mouth, is considered a consequence of chronic constipation or, simply put, constipation.

Much more serious concern should be caused by a rather dense or, as patients often call it, strong yellow coating on the tongue - an indicator of problems with the gallbladder or liver, which lead to the accumulation of bile. Here there is a direct connection with dyskinesia of the gallbladder or biliary tract; jaundice of various etiologies; cholestasis caused by obstruction of the extrahepatic bile ducts; hereditary pigment hepatosis (congenital hyperbilirubinemia); stones or cysts of the common bile duct (choledoch), etc.

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

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

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

It should be borne in mind that chronic kidney failure can also affect the condition of your tongue in the form of a coating from light yellow to brown. But with kidney problems, the tongue, in addition to everything, swells, teeth marks are visible on the sides of the tongue, and the mouth smells of urea.

In some cases, the cause of yellow plaque on the tongue is not gastrointestinal problems, but disturbances in the metabolism of bile pigments in congenital hemolytic anemias of an autoimmune nature, developing due to the destruction of red blood cell hemoglobin, the product of which is bilirubin, found in the blood in excess quantities. The tongue is also covered with a yellow plaque in genetically determined sickle cell anemia.

When a grey-yellow coating is observed on the tongue, otolaryngologists will look for a source of infection, for example, in pharyngitis or chronic tonsillitis. Thus, with acute inflammation of the tonsils and the use of antibiotics in its treatment, such a coating is almost inevitable. And gastroenterologists in such cases suspect that the patient has problems with the gastrointestinal tract, because such a type of tongue is often observed in chronic forms of gastritis or acute inflammation of the intestine (enterocolitis), when a brownish or yellow coating forms on the root of the tongue.

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Yellow coating on child's tongue

In addition to the fact that yellow coating on a child's tongue can appear in the same cases as in adults, it is necessary to take into account some features of the developing child's body. Thus, in adolescence, the tongue can become covered with a yellowish coating due to the entry of hormones into the blood as a result of the onset of puberty (puberty).

If the child does not have diabetes (and this disease is increasingly being diagnosed in children), then a rough tongue with a yellow coating can only be due to a violation of nasal breathing, when the hypertrophied pharyngeal tonsil completely blocks the nasopharynx. Because of this, the child is forced to breathe through the mouth, and then the saliva evaporates, the dry tongue becomes rough, and bacteria (they have already been discussed above) protect themselves from the resulting "discomfort" by increased production of carotenoid pigments.

Parents need to know that a cough and yellow coating on the tongue of a child are signs that his body is infected with parasites, and lamblia, roundworms or liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) have gotten to the gallbladder. In this case, the cough is allergic in nature - as a response of the body to the waste products of parasites.

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

Diagnosis of yellow coating on the tongue

As follows from all the above information, diagnosis of yellow plaque on the tongue – and carried out as early as possible – is a prerequisite for restoring the normal condition of the tongue.

If the problem is stomatitis, then it will not be difficult for a dentist to determine the presence of pathology during a physical examination of the oral cavity and prescribe the correct treatment.

To find out the true reason for the appearance of yellow plaque associated with problems of the digestive system, you will need to pass the following:

• general analysis of blood, urine and feces;
• blood test for eosinophils (allows one to determine parasitic invasion with 100% accuracy);
• biochemical blood test for the presence of bilirubin, amylase, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, phospholipids, etc.

To study the morphology of the gallbladder and determine the presence of stones in it, cholecystography is performed, and to study the bile ducts - cholangiography. And, of course, if there is a suspicion of pathologies of the stomach, duodenum, pancreas, liver or spleen, it is necessary to undergo an ultrasound.

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Treatment of yellow coating on the tongue

You want to know how to treat yellow plaque on the tongue. That's right, treatment is necessary, but plaque on the tongue itself is not treated, as it is one of the symptoms of another disease. And it is the pathology that caused this symptom that should be treated.

For example, if a child's cough and yellow coating on the tongue are a sign of helminth infection, then it is not the yellow coating on the tongue and the cough that needs to be treated, but giardiasis, ascariasis or fascioliasis. And so on - in each specific case. And the treatment is prescribed by a doctor, and not by the grandmother of the boy from the neighboring apartment, who "had the same thing, and then it all went away"...

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

Is it possible to prevent yellow plaque on the tongue? Ask doctors about it, and half of them will advise well-known things: don't smoke, regularly take care of your oral cavity, strengthen your immune system, so that your intestines work normally - eat healthy foods, don't get carried away with too hot drinks.

In many cases, such prevention will really help, and the yellow coating will disappear. But no specialist will probably undertake to give a prognosis for yellow coating on the tongue - given such a list of serious reasons for its occurrence.