Tongue diagnosis: A guide to your overall health

People often give a confused look when they are asked to stick out their tongues, and so they either do it wrongly and even those who do it right, still wonder how their tongue can be a guide to their overall health and wellbeing.

Tongue diagnosis is an essential tool in figuring out what goes on in the human body, as the shape, colour, and other factors reflects the state of internal organs and blood circulation. Two of the most essential diagnostic tool in Chinese medicine are tongue and pulse diagnosis, as they are used in deriving a plan for your treatment.

There are factors to look out for in a tongue, the colour, coating, cracking, and shape. Each of these unique features could indicate an imbalance within the related organ. Find below a simplified guide that tells you what your tongue says about your health.

Colour of tongue

Tongue colour differs from persons to persons, and it changes with the state of your health. A pink tongue with no cracks and a thin white coating is considered normal.

• Pale: A pale tongue indicates the presence of cold, a deficiency of Qi, and blood.
• Red: This indicates heat in the body, the redder it gets the excess amount of heat.
• Purple: A purple tongue indicates stagnation of either Qi/blood somewhere in the body.

For instance, as a result of the current active lifestyle imbibed, certain people come down with stress and anxiety. Hence, it is common to see a red tip tongue amongst individuals, this could indicate a heart imbalance and symptoms can vary from restlessness, heat sensations in the chest, palpitations, frequent nightmares and the likes.

ALSO READ: VITAL ENERGY EXPLAINED: WHAT IS QI

Coating of tongue

The coating on the tongue gives additional information about your health and serves as a good indicator for the state of the stomach and spleen.  The coating also varies in colour and tells about the condition of fluids in the body, a normal tongue has a thin and white coating.

• Thin yellow coat: heat.
• The thick white coat: Dampness
• Thick yellow coat: Dampness and heat.
• Absence of a coat or peeled: a deficiency.

Please note, certain foods can alter appearance of the coating, such as orange juices, coffee, etc.

Shape and size of the tongue

The status of fluids in the body is mostly reflected in the shape and size of the tongue. Take for example, an abnormal or large tongue might indicate that fluids are not properly metabolized in the body, also a very small tongue could indicate a deficiency of fluids or energy or deficiency in general.

It is important to note that acupuncturists do not rely only on tongue diagnosis, but it can be used as a guide to understanding the state of a person’s health. To get the most out of what your tongue reflects you can inspect it before breakfast, avoid sticking it out longer than 15 seconds. Compare with tongues of others around you and see that they differ.