The right side of the tongue is sometimes numb. Why the tongue becomes numb: causes of numbness and possible problems

Sometimes numbness of the tongue and lips can be a short-term phenomenon that passes very quickly and does not cause any problems. But still, in some cases, this condition may indicate the presence of serious disorders in the body. The reasons for this condition can be very diverse.

How does tongue numbness happen?

Numbness of the tongue (paresthesia) manifests itself in different ways. Sometimes there is a slight and imperceptible tingling, which causes almost no discomfort. In some cases, there is a strong tingling, “goosebumps”, such a symptom as loss of sensitivity progresses. It often happens that in parallel with the numbness of the tongue, numbness of the lips also occurs.

In any case, it will not be possible to find out the reasons for the occurrence of such a state on your own. Only with a thorough examination by specialists can you find the source of this pathology and get proper treatment.

Causes of paresthesia

The main causes of numbness of the tongue:

• This condition can be caused by various spinal problems often this applies to the cervical region. In addition, frequent, discomfort in the neck, numbness of the fingers, and decreased vision may indicate cervical osteochondrosis. It is also necessary to trace in what position the numbness occurs, as this can help to find out the exact causes of the disease.
• Thyroid dysfunction often provoke a similar symptom. To find out, you need to be examined by an endocrinologist.
• Often excessive taking antibiotics causes numbness of the tongue
• A disease such as diabetes leads to dryness of the oral mucosa and becomes the reason for the development of such a pathological condition. Patients often observe, in addition to a violation of the sensitivity of the tongue and numbness of the lips, especially the upper one. The reasons for this are low blood glucose or improper use of the insulin preparation.
• Vascular diseases,stroke and heart attack may also affect the development of paresthesia of the tongue. Therefore, do not forget that numbness can be associated with serious ailments.
• When removing or treating teeth, the dentist can touch the nerve, which sometimes disturbs the sensitivity of the tongue. In this case, you should not worry, these symptoms quickly pass.
• Strong stress and regular worries often become a reason for the development of the above phenomenon
• Vitamin B 12 deficiency causes various disorders and malfunctions in the body, including numbness of the tongue
• In addition to these factors, affect the numbness of the tongue and lips maybe toothpaste, which includes low-quality substances or chewing gum. In this case, it is necessary to abandon the use of paste and chewing gum.

Numbness of the tip of the tongue and lips

Often numbness affects the tip of the tongue and lips, causing discomfort, the reasons for this:

• Side effect of certain medications in particular antibiotics. By damaging the nerve endings, they can cause numbness of both the entire tongue and its tip and lips.
• Some oral diseases and speech. Often such a disease is glossalgia. It often occurs in women after 40 years of age, causes illness, problems with the digestive system, endocrine disorders, etc.
• Age features. For the most part, this applies to women during menopause. This period in the fairer sex is associated with various failures and restructuring in the body, the mucous membrane is disturbed and this often affects the sensitivity of the tip of the tongue, and sometimes the lips.
• Various allergic reactions. It is known that it is characterized by edema, impaired sensitivity, shortness of breath, numbness of the lips and tongue is often observed.
• Often, numbness of the lips is associated with various mental disorders. In parallel, a rapid heartbeat, lack of air, reddening of the face, and a sense of anxiety develop.
• Severe numbness of the lips can also lead to high blood pressure, there may also be loss of sensation in the lower extremities. In this case, you need to take medications that affect the pressure reduction or, in more complex cases, call a medical team.
• Side effects during pregnancy associated with increased pressure and swelling.
• Poisoning, alcohol and tobacco abuse, exposure.

In addition, numbness of the tip of the tongue and lips can also be observed in some diseases:

• Stroke
• Diabetes
• hyperthyroidism
• Neuritis
• Syphilis
• Multiple sclerosis
• brain tumors
• Malignant tumors of the spinal cord
• Bell's palsy
• Separate types of migraine.

In addition to the listed diseases, this phenomenon is diagnosed with tumors of the nasopharynx, multiple sclerosis, herpes zoster on the face, with some viral infections, etc.

Diagnosis of these pathologies is possible only in medical centers; it is by no means possible to treat such diseases on your own.

Particular attention should be paid to vascular problems, as they become the main cause of death in the world. In addition to impaired coordination and speech, in a patient with a stroke attack, numbness of the lips and tongue is almost always determined, sometimes paralysis of one part of the face. If any of the above symptoms are observed, you should immediately call an ambulance.. Before her arrival, lay the patient on a high pillow, provide air access, and do not use any drugs on her own.

Treatment

If numbness of the lips and tongue is observed with cervical osteochondrosis, its treatment is carried out with the help of medications, and also include massage and physiotherapy exercises. With regards to this condition with neuritis, the therapeutic course includes: glucocorticoids, vasodilators, vitamins. When such a phenomenon is observed in viral diseases, the treatment of the underlying pathology is mandatory.

Multiple sclerosis, which causes numbness of the lips and tongue, is treated with hormone therapy, immunomodulators, and some other drugs. Such therapy allows you to cope with this disease and remove numbness.

Allergies can also cause the above condition. In this case, the allergen is determined, for the most part, foods, some drugs can cause an allergic reaction. In parallel with this, antihistamines are prescribed.

It must be remembered that almost always numbness of the lips and tongue appears against the background of any ailments, therefore, it is initially necessary to treat the underlying disease.

Numbness of the tongue and lips at first glance seems to be a frivolous problem. But, having learned why this can happen, and if it concerns certain diseases, you should seek medical help, where they will help you make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment.

Have you ever wondered why the tongue goes numb? This happens very rarely, but it does happen. In fact, numbness of the tongue is a really rare form of paresthesia. In essence, paresthesia is a loss of sensation in one or another part of the body, accompanied by a sensation of tingling or crawling. Do not ignore this small, at first glance, trouble. In some cases, it can turn into serious problems.

Numb language: causes

If your tongue goes numb, of course, you are interested in the causes of this trouble. Let's start considering the reasons with the most obvious and harmless. It is she who causes numbness of the tongue most often.

So, the main reason for paresthesia of the tongue is a visit to the dentist. Usually, during the treatment or extraction of teeth, the dentist gives the patient an anesthetic injection. After that, the oral cavity completely loses sensitivity. A few hours after the dental procedures, the effect of anesthesia wears off, but the tongue is still numb, what does this mean? The fact is that the tooth root and the nerve of the tongue are “neighbors”. It is not surprising if during a dental procedure, the doctor accidentally presses or damages the nerve of the tongue. There is no need to panic. Over time, the nerve is easy to recover. Very soon, the sensitivity will begin to return to the tongue. After clamping the nerve, the tongue will fully recover in one to two weeks, after damage - in a month.

Another very common cause of numbness of the tongue is the effect of certain medications. Very often antibiotics affect the sensitivity of the tongue. In this case, you also do not need to be afraid, the sensitivity will return very soon. However, if you continue to continue treatment with the drug, you should never endure numbness. Contact your doctor and he will change your drug to another one.

The following reasons are not so likely, but they also cannot be discounted:

Diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Diabetes.

Syphilis.

Lack of iron or vitamin B12 in the body.

Smoking and addiction to alcoholic beverages.

Poisoning and exposure.

Numbness of the tongue is a rather rare phenomenon associated with a loss of sensation in response to damage or irritation of nerve endings. In medicine, this pathology is called paresthesia and is associated with beriberi, mechanical, infectious or tumor tissue lesions. Before proceeding with the treatment of the tongue, it is necessary to accurately establish the source that entailed such consequences, and direct efforts to get rid of the underlying disease.

Signs of tongue paresthesia

There are three following degrees of paresthesia:

• first: the patient has a slight tingling sensation on the tongue;
• second: there is a partial loss of sensitivity of the tongue and a rather noticeable tingling;
• third: complete petrification from the root to.

Regardless of how much the tongue becomes numb, it is recommended to establish the causes of the pathology that has arisen without fail.

Why is the tongue numb

Paresthesia is usually divided into two varieties: passing and chronic. The first form is most often a consequence of excitation of nerve endings or mechanical effects on the tongue (traumatic blows or pressure). Chronic numbness of the tongue is considered to be provoked by a violation of the activity of the central nervous system and its departments, which control the work of all human organs.

Among the main reasons why the tongue goes numb are the following:

• Medications. A common factor in paresthesia is the side effect of certain medications that affect the nerve endings of the tongue. These drugs include some groups of antibiotics.
• Glossalgia. A dysfunction of the oral mucosa, known as glossalgia, is characterized by stiffness and a slight tingling of the tongue that occurs for no apparent reason.
• Allergy. Sometimes the problem lies in allergic reactions provoked by food, toothpaste or dental materials.
• Micronutrient deficiency. Lack of iron in the body leads to general anemia, in which the tongue often becomes numb.
• Stress. Stress and depression can also cause paresthesia (very rarely), since the lack of healthy sleep, irritability and mood swings are negative changes in the human nervous system.
• Injuries. Mechanical damage can lead to tongue leakage. Most often this occurs with fractures and surgery on the jaw, injuries of the face and head.

If a person has numbness of the tongue, what else can this pathological condition be a sign of? Sometimes the problem is associated with thyroid disease or is the body's response to increased blood pressure. Heart attack, stroke, diabetes, spinal cord disease, migraine, syphilis, sclerosis are also possible sources of paresthesia. We should not forget about the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs, which are considered the most common causes of numbness of nerve endings.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the language itself cannot become dumb. Pathology manifests itself only when one of the listed ailments or phenomena is detected. In fact, it acts as a kind of signal for a person who warns him about the seriousness of the problem. To get rid of paresthesia, it is recommended to undergo a complete medical examination of the whole body, determine the true cause and proceed with effective treatment.

Diagnostics

A patient with numbness of the tongue should not self-medicate, guided by medical reference books. It will be more appropriate to contact a doctor, and preferably in the near future. A specialist, knowing about the seriousness of this problem, usually prescribes a comprehensive diagnosis of the body, which allows you to accurately determine why a person’s tongue goes numb.

Initially, a primary examination and questioning of the patient is carried out. In the history of the disease, the date of the first symptoms of numbness and a list of past diseases are recorded. Then the specialist directs the patient to take tests for diabetes and to check the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Based on the results of the examinations, the patient is recommended to supplement the overall picture with some more procedures and is sent for professional advice to narrow specialists (dentist, endocrinologist). Only after all these stages, the patient is given an accurate diagnosis and the first therapeutic appointments are made.

Recommendations for solving such a problem cannot be found in medical books or on the Internet. With numbness of the tongue, the causes can be hidden in a variety of diseases, so the treatment of numbness will be directly related to the elimination of a specific pathology. Usually, the therapeutic complex includes vitamins, drugs to improve the functioning of blood vessels and nerve cells, and physiological manipulations.

Any unpleasant symptom with a constant appearance should not be ignored. After all, many serious diseases at the beginning often make themselves felt only by minor disturbances in well-being. So one of the symptoms of the alarming type is numbness of the tongue. Sometimes its appearance is explained by completely harmless factors, and does not require any special correction. But this is not always the case. Let's talk on www.site about the features of such a phenomenon as numbness of the tongue, treatment, causes, and also discuss the symptoms.

Why does numbness of the tongue occur, what causes it?

Doctors classify numbness of the tongue as a violation of sensitivity or as paresthesia. A temporary violation of this type can be explained by a small injury to the cranial or spinal nerves, their sensitive branches pass directly in the region of the tongue. A similar condition can occur after the removal of a wisdom tooth.

Temporary numbness of the tongue can be triggered by the consumption of certain medications, including the cough remedy libexin or the pain reliever bellastezin, it is often prescribed if it is necessary to eliminate pain and spasms in the gastrointestinal tract (stomach or intestines).

Chronic numbness of the tongue can be observed with ailments of the nervous system, which are associated with impaired activity of the nerves that ensure its full innervation. So, for example, with neuritis of the glossopharyngeal nerve, there is a lesion of its sensitivity in the region of the posterior part of the tongue, and problems with the lingual nerve cause changes in sensitivity in the posterior or lateral parts of this organ.

In some cases, numbness of the tongue can be due to compression of the nerve by a tumor lesion or swelling, which is associated with an inflammatory lesion or allergic reactions.

Another possible cause of numbness of the tongue includes degenerative processes provoked by circulatory disorders or failures of metabolic processes in this organ. A similar problem can be explained by chronic intoxication with alcohol and other toxic elements. Still numbness of the tongue can be observed with diabetes mellitus or with a deficiency of certain vitamins, for example, nicotinic acid.

Violation of the sensitivity of the tongue can occur with malocclusion, hormonal problems, functional or organic lesions of the nervous system (both autonomic and central).

How exactly does numbness of the tongue manifest itself, what are its symptoms?

If the numbness is not accompanied by a change in the appearance of the tongue, doctors talk about the development of glossalgia. This pathological condition develops gradually. Initially, the phenomena of violation of sensitivity are of a short-term nature. But over time, seizures may recur, and their duration and intensity may increase. Most often, the patient's condition is disturbed in the late afternoon, especially after physical or psychological stress.

Over time, swelling and a slight increase in the papillae of the tongue can join the pathological processes. Directly on the lower surface of this organ, the veins expand, and a decrease in salivation is also observed.

Sometimes numbness of the tongue is accompanied by burning, tingling, itching and other unpleasant symptoms.

Treatment of tongue numbness

Successful correction of numbness of the tongue is possible only with the correct determination of the causes of such a violation. First of all, doctors eliminate all factors that can irritate the tongue. At the same time, improper taste is treated, incorrectly placed prostheses are replaced, dental plaque is removed, the sharp edges of crowns or fillings are smoothed out, metal fillings or prostheses with dissimilar metals are changed, etc.

Patients with such disorders are shown dietary nutrition; all food that can irritate the tongue should be excluded from the diet.

As for drug treatment, doctors often use sedatives, drugs that improve blood circulation. Also, vitamin-mineral complexes and other compounds that optimize metabolism often become the drugs of choice. As you know, a violation of the sensitivity of the tongue is often associated with problems in the functioning of the nervous system, so the therapy of such a symptom can continue for a long time.

In the event that the violation of the sensitivity of the tongue is caused by tumor lesions, the patient is shown to undergo surgery. If the disease is malignant, appropriate treatment is carried out - chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

If the numbness is provoked by an allergy, then antihistamine medications can help the patient. In addition, in this case, it is extremely important to determine which substance caused the development of allergies and exclude contact with it.

If the loss of sensitivity of the tongue has developed against the background of psychogenic disorders, patients are shown a change in lifestyle, as well as taking antidepressants and antipsychotics. An excellent effect is also given by conducting courses of psychotherapy.

With the systematic appearance of numbness of the tongue, it is necessary to consult a doctor. You will need to consult a dentist, neurologist and endocrinologist. In most cases, such an unpleasant symptom can be successfully treated.

In order to diagnose any primary signs of the disease, it is not at all necessary to undergo a complete examination in the clinic. All you have to do is start listening to your body. Sometimes it gives us danger signals that we need to be able to decipher. By paying due attention to your body, you can avoid more serious consequences and consult a doctor before the disease enters its full force, and the treatment becomes more complicated and expensive.

One of these alarming signals is the numbness of the tongue. The reasons leading to partial or even complete loss of sensitivity can be very different. If you experience the appearance of such a symptom from time to time or regularly, then you need to consider this case more specifically.

Quite often, temporary numbness of the tongue occurs when taking certain medications. This is not so scary, since some drugs, whose task is to get rid of spasms, contain substances that cause temporary loss of sensitivity. In this case, the discomfort in the tongue passes quite quickly.

One of the more serious causes is head trauma as well as nerve damage to the spinal cord. This is due to the fact that the nerve processes penetrate into the oral region too. Damage to the nerve located directly in the tongue itself can also be the root cause of numbness. In this case, often numbness of the lips. Therefore, if one day you suddenly felt a similar symptom in your mouth, then it would be best to go to an appointment with a neurologist.

Numbness of the tongue very often occurs with an allergic reaction. In this case, the likelihood of developing a tumor of the larynx and oral cavity and the tongue itself is high. Then the edema puts pressure on the lingual nerves, which is why the sensitivity decreases up to its complete loss. By the way, the inflammatory process in the mouth also refers to the causes of numbness.

It should be noted that in case of violation of blood flow and saturation of the tissues of the oral cavity with oxygen, the sensitivity also sharply decreases. Reduced metabolism, coupled with a violation of the blood circulation of the tongue, can lead to such unpleasant sensations.

If a person regularly consume alcohol and alcohol-containing drinks in large quantities, then the numbness of the tongue will become his constant companion in life. This is especially true for those who suffer from chronic alcoholism, which is accompanied by prolonged binges. And in general, poisoning the body with toxins of a different nature, as well as their excess in the blood, quite often manifests itself as numbness of the tongue. The causes of poisoning can be very different, up to the symptoms of such a serious illness as diabetes mellitus.

If you have an incorrect position of the teeth when the jaw is closed, that is, an incorrect bite, then in this case you can also feel numbness of the tongue with a certain frequency. The reasons for the loss of sensitivity in this case lie in the mechanical action. The nerves located inside the tongue can simply be pinched, which contributes to a sharp decrease in taste abilities. A number of procedures that will correct the bite will subsequently relieve you of discomfort and discomfort.

A person may also feel numbness of the tongue due to a seasonal lack of vitamins. A substance such as nicotinic acid maintains the sensitivity of nerve endings. That is why its deficiency in the body begins to manifest itself so noticeably.

Summing up, I would like to say that it is necessary to visit specialists and conduct a series of tests if you feel numbness of the tongue. The reasons for this can be not only temporary ailments, but also serious diseases.