Glossitis Causes

As you stick your tongue out in front of the mirror, with a tongue cleaner to weed out all that white gooey stuff from your mouth, do you notice a slight swelling in your tongue? Does your otherwise pink luscious tongue appear to have changed its color to a deep brooding red? When you and your beloved battled with each other’s tongues on the couch last night, it didn’t seem that sour, but now your entire tongue seems to have thickened five folds! Forget kissing even talking seems like a Herculean effort. If the swelling continues, you can be sure to see yourself doing a voice over for Sylvester the Cat. Or worse, being cast as the voice double for Sylvester Stallone! If you are suffering from all these symptoms, you might be a victim of this terrible condition called glossitis. Glossitis, to put it in layman’s terms, is nothing, but the inflammation of the tongue, which sometimes results in the finger-like projections. The condition is called glossitis because the tongue becomes glossy and smooth. There are various causes for this condition to occur. Read on to find what causes glossitis.

Causes Of Glossitis

A simple tongue injury could be the cause of glossitis. Tongue injuries can be caused by biting on your tongue by mistake, while trying to gobble something really fast or burning your tongue in a haste to drink up piping hot coffee.
Tongue infections caused due to poor oral hygiene can also be responsible for glossitis. If you are one of those lazy bums who abhors the idea of water touching your mouth, let alone a tooth paste, then a swollen tongue is no surprise! People with bad oral hygiene are most susceptible to tongue infections. You need to indulge in regular brushing to keep your teeth and gums at their best of health.
If you are an ardent admirer of the aftertaste of whisky and love the nice little place it takes you to, then don’t indulge in this luxury excessively. Large amounts of alcohol can cause glossitis.
Spicy Indian curries totally appeals to your fiery senses. You can’t do without a spicy tangdi kabab or a succulent piece of paneer tikka in your daily meal. However, a word of caution for all you spice lovers, extremely spicy food can also cause glossitis
An allergic reaction to a particular food item or cat hair or any other irritant like a new toothpaste or mouthwash can cause glossitis.
Did a recent trip to the dentist result in glossitis? This could be because of allergic reaction to the dental filling. Sometimes even new dentures cause glossitis.
Anemia or low production of red blood cells can result in a swollen tongue. Anemia can also occur when the body starts destroying the red blood cells. Glossitis is one of the common symptoms of acute anemia. A blood check up will confirm your fears. Consult a physician immediately in case of anemia.
If your intake of nutrients is insufficient, then chances are that you might be affected with glossitis. Glossitis is your body’s way of warning you that you are running short of some very essential nutrients and that you need to pop in some healthy and nutritious food to get relief from the condition.
With temperatures soaring sky high, the need for water has also increased twin folds. In case you have been neglecting your body’s need for water, be sure to be affected with glossitis. Lack of water in the body or dehydration can also results in glossitis.
Painful swelling of the tongue can also be due to intake of drugs. Certain medicines like diuretics, diabetes medications and high blood pressure medicines cause glossitis.
Hormonal changes in the body can also be the reason for the occurrence of glossitis. Switch from adolescence to adult or from adult to old age calls in for a lot of hormonal changes, especially in women, As such, glossitis seems to a body’s way of reacting to the changes.
Do you know that constant tension and anxiety can cause you to move about with a swollen tongue? Balanced amount of anxiety and tension looks good, but excess can be extremely detrimental for your oral well being. Also, depression is even cited as one of reasons for glossitis.
Dry mouth associated with connective tissue disorders, such as Sjogren syndrome also results in glossitis
Skin disorders like oral lichen are also responsible for glossitis. Oral lichen is a skin disorder and one of its early symptoms is glossitis.

How to Cite

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