What Causes Pain In Tongue With Swelling,bumps And Rashes?

Posted on Mon, 7 Apr 2014

Question: Hello Doctor, Iam 36yr old lady,i am suffering from a tongue problem since last 3months now.The tongue developed quite pain in the initial days coupled with rawness,swelling,bumps,rashes,cuts ,lesions and patches on sides mainly left side front tip.The pain has continued since then alongwith teeth and gums pain. I have many ent specialists,physician,dentists and gastroenterologist. They said the reason is unknown and it could be glossitis, geographic tongue. I got vitaminB12 deficiency test done and result was 322(211-911range). I have gone into excessive stress and depression owing to my condition and do not know how to get rid of this and also know what is this. They have given me all medicines, vitamin injections, multivitamins but still they say it doesn't seem to be serious. One doc said that since we don't know what is this, better to go for Biopsy(which I did not get done), other docs said that biopsy is not required. At times, the pain and patches starts reducing but gets aggregated in just 3-4days again.I don't eat properly also and its painful to talk. Now for past 2 days I see the pipallae have grown at the extreme end tongue surface which ofcourse is quite difficult to see and they are perhaps going down the tongue in throat region as well, this is creating me bit of burning feeling or kind of some irritation or light pain feeling in that region as well. Pls help me. What is this?

Answered by Dr. Sriram Nathan (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer: get a biopsy Detailed Answer: hello and welcome to health care magic, I am Dr Sriram Nathan, an ENT surgeon who has done more than a thousand biopsy of the tongue With this experience let me advice you to sincerely consider biopsy which is a simple procedure done under local and in expert hands has no complications to speak of. All the other treatment and measures are just shooting in the dark since your treating doctors do not have a definitive diagnosis. A biopsy will definitely confirm the type of lesion and give valuable insights on the treatment strategy. This will also confirm whether there is any ominous cause to the problem. In any case you can continue the medications which you already have and also do not have any spicy or oily food. You should of course reduce your stress and have lots of healthy food stuff like green leafy vegetables which will help you tremendously In addition you must also get a dental consultation to rule out any problems of the teeth and the gums. Hope this helps and you can get back to me with the biopsy report If you have any more doubts about the biopsy you can get back to me regards Dr Sriram Nathan

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sriram Nathan (59 minutes later)

Please find the attached images.

Answered by Dr. Sriram Nathan (4 minutes later)

Brief Answer: still need biopsy Detailed Answer: hello again, I have seen your images and although they look quite benign and more like a condition called geographic tongue. In any case though a biopsy is definitely recommended to confirm this. You must understand that even if I could personally and physically examine the lesion I would still advice you to take a biopsy for confirmation Thus my advice is to get it done as soon as possible hope this helps regards Dr Sriram Nathan

Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar