Disorders of the tongue are a common reason for dermatological consultation. They require a correct clinical diagnosis in order to avoid unnecessary treatments and create increased anxiety for the patient.
The pathology of the tongue is very extensive and we should differentiate between whether the patient has a coated tongue (hyperplasia of the papillae due to work, poor oral hygiene, dehydration, etc.), a black, hairy tongue (a blackish-brown colored tongue due to embedded oral flora), a red, swollen tongue (a smooth red tongue with papillary atrophy, should rule out infections), a cracked tongue (a normal variant, it is a tongue with longitudinal fissures and parallel or perpendicular grooves), medial rhomboid glossitis (a red or white spot of unknown etiology in the lingual V), a geographic tongue (red patches with whitish edges which can cause burning), hairy oral leukoplakia (white spots that do not detach, a risk factor for the development of epidermoid carcinoma) herpetic geometric glossitis (a similar form of fissured tongue, but with severe pain) or macroglosia (an increase in the size of the tongue).
