Symptoms
The top side of the tongue is covered in small protrusions called papillae. In a tongue affected by geographic tongue, red patches on the surface of the tongue are bordered by grayish white. The papillae are missing from the reddish areas and overcrowded in the grayish white borders. Whitish/yellow discoloration of the tongue is frequently due to a yeast infection. The small patches may disappear and reappear in a short period of time (hours or days), and change in shape or size. While it is not common for the condition to cause pain, it may cause a burning or stinging sensation, especially after contact with certain foods. Foods that sometimes cause irritation, burning or slight swelling of the tongue include tomato, eggplant, walnuts, sharp cheeses, spicy foods, sour foods, mint, candy and citrus. Coincidentally, most of these foods contain high levels of natural salicylates, e.g. 2.39 mg/100 g in oranges, 9.4 mg/100 g in fresh mint, and 218 mg/100 g in curry powder. Geographic tongue may also cause numbness. Coexistence of fissures of the tongue is often noticed. Chemicals, such as mouth washes and teeth whiteners, can also aggravate the condition. Lesions may occasionally occur on sites other than the tongue in the condition areata migrans. Lesions that are histologically indistinguishable from geographic tongue may also be diagnosed in Reiter's syndrome.
Read more about this topic: Geographic Tongue
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