Things I Have: Geographic Tongue

The New England Journal of Medicine has posted a new “Images in Clinical Medicine” image, and this time it’s geographic tongue (and it’s freely available without a subscription to the journal). And that happens to be something I experience, so I thought I’d link to the info.

Basically, some of the bumpy parts of the tongue flatten out, making patterns kind of like continents/maps (hence the “geographic” moniker). Sometimes it kind of hurts. Sometimes it kind of itches. The patches are differently shaped and located over time. MedlinePlus and eMedicine both provide more info.

It’s not harmful, just odd, and can draw comments/reactions from people who see it and don’t know what it is. The NEJM piece explains that “Geographic tongue (benign migratory glossitis) is a benign inflammatory condition that affects approximately 2% of the world’s population.”

2%, huh? I wonder what percent have *both* geographic tongue *and* Asian flush…

[Thanks to Becky for pointing me to the NEJM piece]
[Note: I initially used the word "afflicted" in the post title, but I decided I didn't like the suffering that implied. So I changed it.]