What Your Tongue Says About Your Health

A Purple Tongue

In the body, purple and blue hues generally signal a lack of oxygen, which remains true when talking about your mouth and tongue. If your tongue is purple, your circulation may be off, or you may be suffering from bronchitis, asthma, or another lung issue. High cholesterol, including blockages and plaques in the arteries, may also cause your tongue to turn purple.

A Dry Tongue

There are a whole host of causes of a dry tongue and mouth, ranging from the minor to the serious. People who tend to breathe through their mouths, as well as smokers, have a tendency to wind up with tongues that feel dry and sticky. Many different medications, especially cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, also come with dry mouth as a common side effect. And of course, minor dehydration often first appears as a feeling of dryness on the tongue or in the mouth.

However, a dry mouth can also indicate some more dangerous issues that you might want to talk to your doctor about if you can’t find an immediate cause of your symptoms. A number of diseases, ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease to HIV/AIDS, can cause dry mouth. Nerve damage stemming from injury or past surgeries can also play a role in the development of oral dryness. Finally, injuries affecting the salivary glands themselves also prevent the proper amount of moisture from being maintained in your mouth.

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