Have you ever wondered why your acupuncturist asks to look at your tongue? Practicing Chinese Medicine in a Western culture can lend itself to some interesting moments, and this is typically one of them. Long before the advancements of modern medicine and its incredible diagnostic tools, practitioners of Eastern medicine were developing ways of tracking and diagnosing potential issues that involved palpation, interviewing about one’s health history, checking pulses and looking at the state of the tongue. It is using all of these approaches in tandem that helps us to better understand a patient’s constitution, as well as what may be at the core of the symptoms they are experiencing. I want to take a closer look at some of the basic characteristics of tongue diagnosis in hopes of demystifying this seemingly strange but helpful practice.
One of the benefits of incorporating tongue diagnosis into an assessment is how objective and clear it is. The principle aspects we check for are the color of the tongue body, it’s overall shape and the coating. Different areas of the tongue represent and reflect the state of various organ systems, so not only are we looking at the overall color and coating, we are also paying attention to what part of the tongue is showing characteristics that stand out. This not only gives us a road map to systems that may need support and attention, it also can show the beginning stages of a potential problem that has yet to become symptomatic. One of the benefits of learning to read the body in this way is that it allows us to be forward leaning about averting issues before they take a strong hold in the body. This is the basis of preventative medicine, and reading tongue health and taking pulses are both important tools in taking this proactive approach.
A normal, healthy tongue will have particular qualities that are pretty easy to track. The color of the body should be a pale red. There should also be a thin, white, even coating that doesn’t extend all the way to the tip or the sides. There should be some moisture without being overly wet, and the surface should be smooth and without cracks. These signs show positive indications for the strength of the digestive health, the state of the blood, the absence of strong pathological factors and a relatively balanced internal temperature.
So, what can go wrong and what does that indicate? Let’s start by looking at the color, which can range between pale, red, dark red, purple to even a bluish tint. The color primarily reflects the state of the blood throughout the body, whether there is a pathological temperature issue in one or many of the organ systems, or it can reflect a number of deficiencies. As mentioned above, it is important to look at what region of the tongue is reflecting a color differential as it can lead to a specific system that is in distress. To simplify what can quickly become complicated, more redness in the tongue indicates a heat issue, pale can be due to a variety of deficiencies or under functioning systems, purple shows a stasis of blood in the body and blue indicates excessive internal coldness. It often requires piecing this information together with the integrity of the tongue coating and the shape and size of the tongue body in order to understand the root of the disharmonies.
That leads us to tongue shape. Some of the more common clinical issues I see in shape include a particularly thin body, swelling in all or specific regions of the tongue, cracks on the surface, and the presence of tooth marks on the sides of an often times overly swollen tongue. The shape gives us information about how the body is processing fluids, whether there is ample blood in the system and if the organ systems are in a deficient or excess state. The tongue coating largely reflects the state of the stomach function and is a result of a natural digestive process. When it is uneven, patchy, colored or excessively thick there is reason to look a little deeper at what might be disrupting the body’s ability to properly produce this. It too can give information about internal heat or cold, digestive strength and the state of the deeper fluids and substances of the body.
Ultimately, it takes putting together all of these aspects in order to better understand the internal landscape that is leading to a particular tongue presentation. These qualities can change quickly from an acute sickness, a round of antibiotics or even a meal that didn’t agree with your system. The job of your acupuncturist is to see what the chronic and at times acute changes your tongue shows in order to better steer a treatment plan that will address any indications of imbalance within the system. Perhaps knowing how much information can be gleaned from this simple organ will cause you to look at your tongue a little differently from now on. Or at the very least, check in on it once in a while.
For further information or to schedule an appointment please contact Ramie Holmquist, L.Ac of Saint Sophia Acupuncture at Alison Palmer Physical Therapy and Wellness Center (#307-752-1799). We are located in the Cimarron Lodge at the bottom of lift 7. Wellness is the full integration of mind, body and spirit. We look forward to helping you towards a healthier life.