Yellow Tongue

[dumball]

I have noticed there are some well versed posters in the field of medicine , conditions , cures etc on TV , I have a problem/symptom of something you hopefully will be able to advise me on .

My tongue has a lumpy yellow coating on it , i scrub it with my tooth brush but it just comes and goes with no real change in colour except sometimes my tongue does revert to a healthy pink . I do not suffer with either bad breath or a bad taste in my mouth , my taste buds also seem to function normally, what sort of health problem am i experiencing and what do i need to do to eliminate or at least keep this problem under control ? I do eat what is considered to be a healthy diet , i am 75 years of age and show no external signs of degeneration , in fact , people compliment me on my skin etc .

Thanking you in anticipation for what-ever you can offer or suggest .

[kiakaha]

either oral thrush or coated tongue.

[Sheryl]

Could be thrush, although this is normally white rather than yellow, also question would then by why do you have thrush....

Are you a smoker? This might cause what would otherwuse be a white coating to turn yellow. If not a smoker now, were you ever? (cigarettes, cigar, pipe?) (risk factors for oral cancers)

When did this problem start? Did it begin after having taken a course of antibiotics?

Are your urine and stools of normal color?

Does it seem to be worse first thing in the morning? (Could be due to breathing through your mouth while asleep)

And have you had a dental checkup recently?

If it is thrush, nystatin oral solution (swish in your mouth and then spit it out) would work. So would painting the tongue with gentian violet, although of course that will leave a purple stain for a while. Both of these treatments are pretty free of side effects so little to lose by trying.

Also be sure to have adequate fluid intake.

If despite these measures it persists you had better see a doctor. What appears to be a coated tongue can sometimes reflect early stage of oral cancers (altho more oten the appearance is white). Especially important if you are or have ever been a smoker.

[Beacher]

I'm honestly not being critical here, dumball, but when it comes to issues of your health, why would you trust the opinions of total strangers who likely have no medical career background ? I could understand doing some research first then asking people what they think of the information you found -- does it coincide with their own experiences, etc.?

I typed "yellow tongue" in Google and the first site shown at the top of the page is from the Mayo Clinic, which is a very well respected medical facility. For the little amount of time it takes to get information on the web from reliable sources, wouldn't it make more sense to ask the pros before asking a pool of total strangers?

As I say, I'm not picking on you. This type of thing happens all the time, and it confuses me as why people choose to seek medical opinions from people they don't know (and know nothing about how qualified those people are). Your post just happened to raise this old question.