Western medicine believes that the human tongue is rich in blood vessels, nerves, and glands, which is closely related to digestion and circulation systems. The healthy human tongue is light red, neither fat nor thin, and moves freely. It is covered with a thin layer of white moss on the surface.
. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the tongue is the seedling of the heart, and the symptoms outside the spleen are caused by stomach qi . The internal organs are connected to the tongue through meridians, which is an important guest for Chinese medicine to diagnose diseases. The difference between the hand Shaoyin is the tongue source, the pulse of the foot Shaoyin is the tongue source, the meridian of the foot Jueyin is the tongue source, and the pulse of the foot Taiyin is connected to the tongue source, and it is dispersed under the tongue. Therefore, the internal organ lesions can be reflected on the tongue and the tongue coating. Tongue Diagnosis mainly diagnoses the shape, color, moisturization, etc. of the tongue and tongue coating, so as to judge the nature of the disease, the shallowness and depth of the disease, the rise and fall of the qi and blood, the profit and loss of body fluids, and the deficiency and excess of the internal organs.
The changes in tongue quality and tongue coating are like a mirror, which can reflect the healthy state of the human body's internal organs and qi and blood.
1. Look at the color of the tongue
light white tongue
The color of the tongue is lighter than that of normal people, and is light white, mostly clinical manifestations of deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome.
is generally common in spleen and kidney yang deficiency and insufficient qi and blood, and is related to anemia, protein metabolism disorders, edema, etc.
red tongue
The color of the tongue is redder than that of healthy people, and is even dark red or bright red. It is mostly the clinical manifestation of heat syndrome . Generally speaking, the deeper the redness, the heavier the internal heat.
is more common in patients with high fever, and is also seen in acute gastroenteritis, pneumonia, hepatitis and other infectious fever, or hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism), tuberculosis, and other diseases, which are related to inflammation, congestion, high fever, and dehydration.
Blue-purple tongue
The entire tongue is bluish-purple or locally, with petechiae and ecchymosis, which is a sign of poor blood circulation in the body and blood stasis.
is more common in coronary heart disease , heart pulmonary heart disease, chronic bronchitis, heart failure , cirrhosis , tumors and other blood stasis, and is related to venous blood stasis, tissue hypoxia, etc.
2. Defend tongue quality
fat big tongue
The volume of the tongue is larger than that of normal people, and there are traces of tooth compression on both sides of the tongue - tooth marks. This is a clinical manifestation of insufficient yang energy and excessive water and dampness.
is more common in chronic gastritis, enteritis , nephritis edema, hepatitis, cirrhosis ascites, hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism), and is related to the reduction of hemoglobin and tissue edema.
cracks Tongue
crisscrossing cracks appear on the tongue surface, which is a sign of severe heat damage to the yin.
is more common in various yin deficiency , heavy internal heat, high heat dehydration, chronic wasting diseases, etc. But there are also a very small number of healthy people who have physiological cracks.
3. Tongue Coat
White Coat
There is a white mossy attached to the surface of the tongue, which is a clinical manifestation of exterior syndrome and cold syndrome.
Generally, thin white moss is common in normal people or external diseases such as colds or colds; white and thick moss is more common in patients with severe cold and dampness in the body, such as chronic bronchitis, chronic gastroenteritis, nephritis, , etc.
yellow coating
The surface of the tongue is accompanied by yellow coating, which is a clinical manifestation of heat syndrome. The darker the yellow, the heavier the internal heat.
is generally found in bacterial infections or fevers, pneumonia, acute gastroenteritis, bacterial dysentery , pyelonephritis and other bacterial infections or fevers. It is caused by the combined effect of filamentous papillary hyperplasia, local inflammatory exudation, and oral bacteria.
gray-black moss
moss is gray-black, which is a clinical manifestation of great cold or heat in the body. Due to lack of understanding, the ancients always thought that "the moss is black... there is no treatment for it." Although this understanding seems a bit ridiculous now, it reflects that once gray and black moss appears, it indicates that the condition is serious and attention should be paid.
If patients with high fever, severe hepatitis, uremia have black moss , which means that the condition is serious and should be treated in time. At the same time, black moss is related to high-heat dehydration, toxin stimulation during the chronic inflammatory period, gastrointestinal dysfunction of , mold infection, etc.In addition, it should be noted that large amounts of antibiotics (i.e., anti-inflammatory drugs) are also prone to black moss, and it usually disappears on its own after stopping the drug.
