By Dianna Porter (Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner)
The tongue has many important uses. It is used for taste, helping in chewing and
swallowing our food, forming sounds when we speak and as an aid in determining
how much food to eat (for some).
But to a trained practitioner of Chinese
medicine it has so much more to offer.
The tongue is a highly vascular muscle
which contains taste receptor cells. The
tongue is richly supplied by the nervous and circulatory systems. It is constantly “bathed” in saliva that is
secreted by our salivary glands and is controlled by the autonomic nervous
system. Saliva contains water, enzymes,
electrolytes and mucous – these can change the appearance of the tongue. Observation of the tongue, from a Chinese
medicine perspective, enables us to see subtle changes in body systems and
functions. When we ask you to stick out
your tongue we are looking for these physiological changes in the body.
So how can that wiggly little muscle tell us so much?
Firstly we look at the tongue proper – this
is the body of the tongue. We check to
see the size of the tongue in relation to the mouth. Sometimes a tongue can look thick and
swollen, or have teethmarks at the sides (scalloped edges), it may be too thin
or it may tremble.
We may also look at the colour of the
tongue to get an idea of one’s general health and vitality. A healthy tongue should be pink/red. If the tongue is too pale it can indicate
blood deficiency in Chinese Medicine.
This may be a sign of anaemia or a weakened system. If the tongue body has a mauve/purplish hue
it may be a sign of blockage, congestion or pain. If the tongue body is too red it may indicate
a heat or inflammatory condition. The
tongue body should have signs of vitality, it should have moisture.
The tongue in good health has a very thin
white coat as an indication of proper enzymatic content and salivary
secretions. If the coat is too thick it
signals an imbalance in the digestive function.
When the coat is peeled it is a sign of weakening in certain area. A yellow tongue coat frequently means
infection or inflammation.
Different regions of the tongue are
represented by the function of different areas of the body ie. The tip of the
tongue represents the emotions in Chinese medicine. Therefore a red tongue tip can indicate
anxiety, changes in mental state, insomnia.
The sides of the tongue represent the liver
function in Chinese medicine and changes can indicate toxicity levels in the
body.
The middle of the tongue represents the
area corresponding to digestive function and any changes or cracks here can be
a sign of an imbalance in the digestion and absorption functions of the
body.
A complete tongue assessment can only be
made, in person, by a qualified Chinese medicine practitioner. The tongue diagnosis is used in conjunction
with other diagnostic tools to give a complete picture of your health.
Don’t eat any foods that may discolour your
tongue before your assessment and don’t scrape your tongue beforehand.
So next time when we ask you to stick out
your tongue, please do it with gusto and don’t close your eyes.
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