Vincent's ulcerative necrotizing stomatitis
One of the reasons that the tongue hurts on the side is Vincent's ulcerative necrotizing stomatitis. With this disease, ulcers appear in the oral cavity, which can be located not only directly on the tongue, but also on the mucous membrane of the cheeks, and even spread further:
- on the gums;
- sky;
- tonsils.
The disease is caused by bacteria: spirochetes and fusobacteria. What is especially characteristic of this pathology is that the ulcers are covered with a dirty gray coating. Vincent's ulcerative-necrotizing stomatitis is treated locally with antimicrobial drugs. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are also prescribed.
Causes, symptoms and types of stomatitis on the tongue
Modern medicine has a huge variety of causes of stomatitis. As a rule, they are either bacterial or viral in nature. Not only adults, but also children can suffer from stomatitis on the tongue. Here are the most common causes of stomatitis on the tongue:
- Infectious diseases: diphtheria, influenza, scarlet fever, measles, acute respiratory infections. Such diseases are usually accompanied by acute stomatitis. Its development is facilitated by constant irritation of the mucous membrane during smoking, alcohol abuse, and regular consumption of too cold, hot or spicy foods. Among stomatitis caused by infection, herpetic stomatitis (herpetic sore throat) or stomatitis in the throat is distinguished. It is caused by various enteroviruses. In addition to stomatitis in the throat, this virus can cause enteroviral vesicular stomatitis with exanthema, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, and aseptic (serous) meningitis. If you suspect that you have stomatitis in the throat or herpetic sore throat (white or grayish-yellow blisters in the throat), contact your doctor immediately to clarify the diagnosis.
- Diseases of the digestive system and stomach.
- Bad habits.
- Dental damage: tartar, caries, periodontitis, bleeding gums.
- Various types of damage: mechanical or chemical. For example, low-quality dentures, chipped teeth. Such violations can lead, first of all, to the appearance of stomatitis on the lip. The thin, delicate skin of this area is injured (burn, chapping, etc.), through microcracks in the thin and delicate skin of this area, an infection enters the body, causing stomatitis on the lip.
- Worm infestation.
- Weakened immunity, vitamin deficiency.
Characteristic signs that you have stomatitis are a white-yellow coating. Then gray spots appear on the tongue, reaching up to 0.5 mm in diameter. Sometimes they change shape or merge into one large spot. By the way, they may not hurt or bother you at all, and ulcers may not appear either. But, nevertheless, even if there are no pronounced symptoms of stomatitis, treatment is necessary, otherwise stomatitis can become acute. In addition, the lack of proper and timely treatment can provoke recurrent stomatitis - an inflammatory disease of the oral cavity that is chronic, but has periods of remissions and exacerbations. Sometimes it occurs as an independent disease.
One of the common manifestations of stomatitis in both children and adults is severe swelling of the tongue, which thickens and becomes covered with ulcers. After epithelial detachment, red, atrophied areas of skin remain, which cause a burning sensation. It becomes painful to eat and talk. One of the symptoms of the disease in a child is often tearfulness, moodiness, and restless behavior. If they appear, you should immediately consult a doctor. As a rule, stomatitis in children develops much faster and more painfully.
There are several types of stomatitis on the tongue:
- Catarrhal: characterized by high fever and profuse salivation, and may cause bad breath.
- Aphthous: the appearance of small ulcers (aphthous) that are covered with a yellowish coating.
- Ulcerative-necrotic: characterized by the appearance of ulcers covered with a gray coating.
Tongue injuries
Another reason why the tongue hurts on the side lies in mechanical injuries to the organ. They occur when eating food with sharp parts (seeds, nuts, undercooked cereals), hitting, or biting. Damage can occur due to a seizure, sports, falls, or various accidents.
If you are absolutely sure that the soreness is the result of an injury, then you just need to give the tongue time to recover. Nevertheless, examination by a specialist to clarify the diagnosis and treatment will not be superfluous.
Glossitis
Glossitis
is an inflammation of the tissues of the tongue, manifested in its soreness, changes in color and structure, and the appearance of a dense coating. There is a burning sensation, hyperemia (overflow of blood vessels), food loses its taste, and salivation increases.
If the doctor has diagnosed the patient with glossitis, then the next step is to find out whether this indicates a pathology of other organs. This could be a herpes virus, poisoning with heavy metal salts, etc. Treatment is prescribed depending on the initiating cause, trying to exclude it. It usually includes local antiseptic therapy.
Catarrhal glossitis
If the tongue hurts on the side and a white coating covers its surface, then this is most likely catarrhal glossitis - a special case of this disease. It can be considered as a symptom of other pathologies. In particular, it is called:
- caries;
- stomatitis;
- gastrointestinal diseases;
- various infections (measles, diphtheria, etc.).
In addition to pain and plaque, symptoms of catarrhal glossitis include swelling of the tongue and a burning sensation, which is especially worse after eating or talking. The disease is treated by eliminating its causes and rinsing the mouth with antiseptic solutions.
What to do and how to deal with pain?
First of all, you should contact one of the specialists dealing with oral diseases. This could be either a dentist or an otolaryngologist. Only a doctor can determine why the tongue hurts and what treatment needs to be prescribed.
Most often, patients are interested in what to do if the tip of the tongue hurts. First of all, you should rule out injury. If you bite or burn the tip of your tongue, you need to give the wound time to heal. As it heals, the pain will go away on its own. If the pain is caused by a piercing, you should follow all care recommendations, paying special attention to oral hygiene.
If your throat and white tongue hurt, it is most likely a sore throat or other upper respiratory tract disease. Inflammation of the tonsils is usually accompanied by severe pain at the base of the tongue, and if the left side hurts, it means that the left tonsil is more enlarged and inflamed and vice versa. If you notice redness of the throat, enlarged tonsils and submandibular lymph nodes, you should consult a therapist or otolaryngologist for treatment. After the sore throat goes away, the pain in the tongue will subside on its own.
If the tongue is very sore and the surface of the oral cavity is covered with a white cheesy coating and is inflamed, this is most likely candidal stomatitis. It is unlikely that you will be able to cope with the disease on your own, so you should contact a specialist for help.
The tongue may hurt after anesthesia, tooth extraction, and a visit to the dentist. This happens especially often if a back root tooth has been removed. At the same time, swelling of the gums, which is inevitable when a tooth is removed, can also affect the tongue area, causing its pain. Usually the discomfort goes away a few days after tooth extraction. If the pain persists longer, you should immediately contact the doctor who performed the tooth extraction.
Inflammation of the salivary glands
This disease is called sialadenitis. Any salivary glands can be affected by it, but painful sensations in the tongue, closer to the base, occur if the sublingual gland is affected. Pathology is caused by viruses or bacteria. Symptoms of sialadenitis include:
- pain at the base of the tongue;
- the formation of a compacted swelling underneath;
- decreased salivation.
How to treat the disease if the tongue hurts on the side precisely for this reason? Antibacterial and antiviral drugs.
Causes
The causes of tongue pain can be very diverse, ranging from mechanical damage to the presence of cancer. Most often, pain occurs for the following reasons:
- presence of mechanical damage;
- development of inflammatory processes;
- various allergic reactions;
- development of neuralgia;
- the presence of hidden diseases of other organs of the human body;
- blockage of the salivary gland;
- presence of cancer.
The most common cause of pain on the tip or sides of the tongue is mechanical damage. Most often, the patient receives such injuries during eating, and they include biting, burns, scratches and cuts. The tongue can also be injured by chipped tooth enamel, an uncomfortable denture, or an unscrupulously installed filling with sharp edges. Constant, even minor injury can lead to long-term pain.
Inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity are dangerous and painful. If a patient has a sore tongue, throat, palate, and it hurts to swallow, the doctor has every reason to suspect the presence of inflammatory processes in the oral cavity. They can be caused by viral diseases of the nasopharynx, as a result of which the patient's sublingual lymph nodes become enlarged. In this case, the patient complains of pain when swallowing at the base of the tongue. With such symptoms, you should consult an otolaryngologist, since the cause of pain in the tongue may be acute purulent tonsillitis, which requires immediate medical treatment.
Another cause of pain is viral stomatitis. It affects both the surface of the tongue and the entire mucous membrane of the oral cavity. The disease is painful, causes difficulty in eating, and causes discomfort to the patient.
Often the causes of pain in the tongue lie in the presence of an allergic reaction in the patient. This could be an allergy to food or medications. Typically, the patient complains of tongue pain after eating, especially after kiwi, pineapple, seeds, drinking alcohol, and also after smoking a pipe and cigarettes.
Most often, an allergic reaction is expressed in the form of stomatitis or fungal diseases. Consumption of spicy food and alcohol only aggravates the painful condition. Discontinuation of those drugs and products that cause an allergic reaction leads to the disappearance of allergy symptoms.
Neuralgic diseases usually significantly complicate correct diagnosis; in this case, it is difficult to determine why the patient’s tongue hurts. The most common neuralgic disease is glossalgia. It occurs as a result of malfunctions of the endocrine system, as a result of neurogenic disorders, and also as a reaction to mental trauma or severe stress. With glossalgia, partial or complete numbness of the tongue, tingling, burning, and rapid fatigue of the tongue when speaking are observed. Often with glossalgia, the lips also hurt; the patient complains that he has a headache and a numb tongue.
Another reason for the appearance of pain in the tongue is the presence of hidden diseases of other organs and systems in the patient. The tongue reacts sharply to any changes in the condition of the body, and the result of infectious diseases of the body can be glossitis - inflammation of tissues.
Soreness can also be caused by diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular and endocrine systems, as well as the presence of anemia in the patient.
A blockage in the salivary gland, which is located near the tongue, can also lead to pain. In this case, the patient complains of pain under the tongue, constant discomfort and soreness of the oral cavity.
The most serious cause of tongue pain is cancer. In this case, patients complain of pain inside the tongue. In the early stages of cancer, there may be no pain at all; it usually appears in later stages. The treatment of oncological diseases is carried out by an oncologist, to whom both a general practitioner and a dentist can refer if there is a suspicion of oncological disease.
