Creator: Dr. Reeja Tharu
Keywords: Hairy Tongue, condition, hypertrophy, filiform papillae, tongue, desquamation, tobacco, hair, foodstuff, Anemia, gastric troubles, Antibiotics, penicillin, Aureomycin, Smoking, head, neck, cancer, toothbrush

Written by Dr. Reeja Tharu, M.Phil.,Ph.D
Medically Reviewed by The Medindia Medical Review Team on Nov 12, 2014

Hairy Tongue

This is a condition characterized by the hypertrophy of the filiform papillae of the tongue as well as desquamation of the area where this occurs.

If the papillae become stained with tobacco, they appear black in color and look like hair on the tongue. The tongue could also appear yellowish-white if foodstuff is trapped within these papillae. Anemia and gastric troubles are said to have a significant bearing on the development of this condition. Antibiotics like penicillin and Aureomycin are also responsible for the staining of the papillae. Smoking remains the biggest cause for the occurrence of the condition. Sometimes, head and neck irradiation after cancer may also produce this condition. The only treatment of the condition is to keep the tongue as clean as possible by using a toothbrush.

Published on Nov 12, 2014
Last Updated on Nov 12, 2014

Comments

Tunji65 Saturday, October 29, 2011

My daughter is just 4months old but i notice that from birth she is used to putting her tongue between her mouth.She is still doing it up till now.WHAT could be the cause and what can be done to correct it.

siva_ Wednesday, September 7, 2011

my tongue has more black dots,is anything problem

margot Saturday, January 9, 2010

i was looking up stuff for a friend and happened to notice that symptom. It was a thyroid condition, I think it was lingual thyroid.

lou14 Monday, July 13, 2009

My 5 year old daughter appears to have another small tongue growing at the back of her throat. It is quite bizarre and i have never seen anything like it. It is right at the back and can only be seen when checking for a sore throat and opens her mouth very wide. Is it really a phenomenon as there is so little on the web.

guest Friday, September 4, 2009

Can I please ask if you ever had any outcome from this as my daughter has the same thing. We took her to the doctors toay and he also said he has never seen anything like it and has referred us to a specialist but it is driving me crazy

guest Thursday, September 10, 2009

I have just noticed the same exact think on my son. He is about the same age, four-and-a-half. I was checking his throat when I noticed it; I have never noticed it before now, nor have I seen or heard of anything like this. Does anyone know what this is??

guest Monday, September 21, 2009

I recently asked the kids' doctor and she told me it was his epiglottis I was seeing. She told me most people can't stick their tongues out that far and that's why I hadn't noticed it before; nothing abnormal after all. Hope this helps some of you!

margot Saturday, January 9, 2010

i was looking up stuff for a friend and happened to notice that symptom. It was a thyroid condition, I think it was lingual thyroid. It's on wiki. here's another link: http://www.ghorayeb.com/LingualThyroid.html

morussell1 Monday, June 15, 2009

I have had a swollen and white smooth tongue (occasionally sore) for about six months - any clues please?

guest Monday, January 18, 2010

hi, it may be a cause of a yeast infection, babies usually get this when they are born. If it's sore, and has been there for about 6 months, you may want to visit your doctor and get a blood test done. It could also be signs of HIV.