TONGUE FEELS WEIRD
There are times when your tongue feels weird, not just weird you can feel like your tongue going numb, or having a feeling of pins and needles in your tongue.
This tingling can be felt in any other body part, especially arms and legs when put in a particular position for too long and by putting pressure on them. This tingling can go away once you change position or stop putting the pressure on the affected part, but sometimes your tongue feels weird, in that case it may even stay for a while.
This tingling sensation or what you may commonly know it as pins and needles is called Paresthesia in medical terminology. This feeling of tingling is painless, and often occurs all of a sudden. Even though arms, legs, and hands are more susceptible to feeling weird and number, but there can be times when your tongue feels weird.
To sum up why your tongue might be feeling weird, we will discuss some causes why you might be feeling so. Some of the causes that might be the reason why your tongue feels weird and will be discussed in this article are:
Further in this article we will discuss about:
TRAUMA:
Sometimes eating or drinking hot food can hurt your tongue and your tongue will feel weird. Once the burn improves so does this tingling sensation.
Other than this, if you’ve undergone a dental procedure and now your tongue feels weird, it may be because of nerve damage that might have happened during the procedure. This is a temporary feeling and goes away with time.
If your tongue is swollen, or it if pains, you can take over-the-counter drugs to help you relieve the pain and swelling.
FOOD ALLERGIES:
If you are someone who has seasonal allergies, you may be at a risk of being allergic to a number of foods and drinks.
Once you eat or drink such foods your body may start reacting against the substance that will make your mouth burn, and in the process your tongue feels weird.
You don’t usually need a doctor for this condition, and avoiding the trigger food or drink will be enough for you to be done with the allergy, but sometimes this feeling may persist, in which case you will have to see a doctor.
Severe allergies may also result in anaphylactic shock. It can prove to be fatal for your life if left untreated. To save yourself from the worst consequences, know the symptoms of an anaphylactic shock, which when noticed you should call emergency. Some of the symptoms of anaphylaxis include:
- Difficulty in breathing.
- Heart beating rapidly.
- Confusion.
- Feeling like dying.
- Skin rash.
- Swollen face, or tongue.
HYPOGLYCEMIA:
It is a medical term used for the times the levels of your blood glucose (or simply sugar) drop below the normal level.
Because glucose is the prime source of energy for the whole body, it is true for nerves as well. When the blood sugar level drops, your nerves no longer get the required amount of sugar and they stop working properly. Once the nerves become dysfunctional, the parts they supply to stop working and feeling fine. One such part that might be affected is tongue. Once the nerves get weak, your tongue feels weird, and this might be one of the symptoms of Hypoglycemia, or that your blood sugar level is lower than normal.
Other symptoms of Hypoglycemia are:
- Weakness.
- Sweating.
- Tingling in tongue, lips, or face.
- Confusion.
- Dizziness.
If Hypoglycemia is severe enough, you may even lose consciousness.
HYPOCALCEMIA:
Hypocalcemia means the calcium level in your body is lower than normal. It can occur for many reasons like vitamin D deficiency, which might be because of diet not being good, or because of kidney or liver related issues. Another reason of calcium levels being low in your body can be because of hypoparathyroidism. Parathyroid is a gland that produces hormone of the same name, it is required for balancing calcium levels in blood. When parathyroid gland produces too little hormone it results in calcium levels being low in your blood.
Calcium is required by muscles and nerves to function properly. Once calcium levels are low, there is a dysfunction in both of them. This may result in a number of symptoms including a symptom where your tongue feels weird.
Symptoms include:
- Numbness or tingling in hands, feet, lips, or tongue.
- Heart rhythms not normal.
- Muscular pain.
- Muscle spasms.
- Seizures.
- Difficulty in breathing.
If you experience seizures, or if you feel like you cannot breathe properly, see a doctor.
VITAMIN B DEFICIENCY:
Vitamin B12 and B9 (folate) are important for red blood cell formation, and overall, all the cells as they help in DNA formation. There are times when levels of vitamin B12 or B9 are low in your body, which can happen because of many reasons like a type of anemia called pernicious anemia, diet deficient in these vitamins (particularly if you are a vegan), or some medicines.
When there is a deficiency of vitamin B12 or B9 in your body, your body can no longer make normal blood cells, hence disrupting normal blood and oxygen flow to the body (since red blood cells carry oxygen around). This results in a number of symptoms including where you tongue feels weird.
Symptoms include:
- Tingling feeling or paresthesia or pins and needles.
- Fatigue or tiredness.
- Running low on energy.
- Painful ulcers in mouth.
- Tongue or mouth pain.
- Vision problems.
- Mental health issues- like depression, issues with memory, and overall understanding.
You should see a doctor if you think you may such condition as some of the symptoms it causes can be permanent and irreversible if left untreated.
MIGRAINE:
It is a severe headache, usually on one side of the head, and is triggered by bright light, noise, or certain foods. Even though if your tongue feeling weird isn’t directly associated with migraine, but it can be a part of the aura that occurs before one of the types of migraines.
Aura is basically a set of symptoms that act as warning signs for the migraine attack you are about to have. Symptoms might include the situation where your tongue feels weird.
BURNING MOUTH SYNDROME:
It is a rare syndrome where you feel burning sensation that don’t go away or improve in and around your mouth, lips, gums, or even tongue.
This syndrome can occur primarily where there is no apparent cause and happens all of a sudden, or because of some other underlying causes like deficiency of vitamin B, food allergies, some drugs, endocrine issues, or some psychological problems.
It has many different patterns like the discomfort happens once day, twice a day, particularly when you wake up and then improve with the day, or just stay constant.
Symptoms of this syndrome may include:
- Tongue feels weird.
- Tingling sensation in lips, tongue, or gums.
- Dry mouth.
- Changed taste of mouth.
- No taste at all.
There are some risk factors that increase the probability of you getting this syndrome, including:
- Female gender.
- Age of 50 or above.
- If you’re taking certain drugs.
- If you are suffering from anxiety, depression or other psychological problems.
- If you have endocrine issues like diabetes or thyroid issues.
- If you are allergic to some foods or drinks.
See a doctor if you have persistent mouth discomfort.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS:
In this condition the nerves are attacked by your immune cells, and this results in affecting your brain and spinal cord.
There are many symptoms of multiple sclerosis including where your tongue feels weird. Other symptoms may include:
- Series of symptoms related to your eyes- like double vision, not being able to see color well particularly red color, your eyes will pain when you try to move them around.
- Tingling sensation in lips, or tongue.
- Lethargy or fatigue or weakness.
- Issues in walking.
It is important for you to get treated for multiple sclerosis. Even though it is a chronic condition, meaning it lasts forever and doesn’t have a cure, but your doctor will make it easier for you to live with it and treat your symptoms.
STROKE:
Stroke is a condition where your brain either doesn’t get enough blood, which is known as ischemia, or when there is bleeding in your brain called hemorrhage. Both these situations will result in your brain being dysfunctional and not working well.
It is a medical emergency, and should be taken care of. Remember the symptoms, and in case of experiencing them, call emergency. Symptoms include:
- Tingling in tongue, or lips.
- Paresthesia of face on one side.
- Not being able to speak properly.
- Issues with vision.
- Unbearable headache.
- Drooping of face on one side.
Sometimes these symptoms may last for just for some time, but even this doesn’t make the emergency less serious.
MEDICATION:
Certain drugs, when taken, can cause tongue numbness or tingling where your tongue feels weird. Mostly drugs that are taken orally or by mouth cause this symptom.
An example is a drug taken for glaucoma, edema, and seizure, called Acetazolamide.
CANKER SORE:
These are little, round sores that appear on your cheeks, around your mouth, on your gums, or on your tongue. They pain a lot, but go away in a week on their own.
In case you have a canker sore on your tongue, your tongue feels weird and becomes numb.
BELL’S PALSY:
Bell’s palsy is condition where your facial nerve (or nerve 7) is swollen, compressed, or inflamed. This nerve controls all your facial muscles, thereby causing weakness in muscles.
Symptoms include:
- Tongue feels weird.
- Drooling.
- Face droop on one side.
- Muscular twitches in face.
- Eye irritation on the involved side.
See a doctor in case you experience any such symptom.
ELECTROLYTE DISTURBANCES:
Certain electrolytes like phosphorus and zinc are important for our overall body functioning, and for our nerves to function well. In case of disturbance of any such mineral, your tongue feels weird and you may feel tingling in your tongue.
NERVE DAMAGE:
Dentists, usually, use an anaesthetic drug (or a drug that numbs the area where doctor needs to work on) by injecting it in the area. Sometimes, doctor may touch a nerve or a blood vessel nearby causing tingling in your tongue and your tongue feels weird for some time. This happens when you have to get your tooth extraction, or undergo a root canal.
Not only this, tongue piercing may also subject you to such condition.
HYPOPARATHYROIDISM:
Parathyroid gland secretes parathyroid hormone, which is required to maintain the levels of calcium and phosphorus- both of which are important for muscle and nerve function.
If, due to any reason, your parathyroid hormone is produced less in amount, calcium levels drop in blood and phosphorus levels increase. This causes a number of symptoms including tongue tingling where your tongue feels weird.
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR:
As discussed in the article, there are many causes for paresthesia of tongue, but in case you experience any of the symptoms mentioned below, call emergency:
- Swollen tongue or face.
- Breathing difficulty.
- Difficulty in swallowing.
- Drooping of face on one side.
- Vision problem.
- Not being able to speak properly.
TAKEAWAY:
Tongue that feels weird and improves spontaneously within some time is nothing to be worried of. Sometimes, certain food, drinks, or drugs may cause such feeling. Once the trigger food, drinks, or drugs are avoided, you start to feel better.
But to be safe, and not to bear the fatal consequences, always know the symptoms and keep a check on them. Once you feel like you are experiencing any such symptom call emergency.