Of the many peculiar COVID infection symptoms, one is COVID tongue.
Since its emergence in late 2019 till date, coronavirus has affected a major part of the globe. A range of symptoms which varies from person to person, a phase of long COVID or after COVID and many other severities are associated with the viral infection.
The occurrence of the varied symptoms and the emergence of new variants of the virus are a serious threat to mankind.
Of the many peculiar COVID infection symptoms, is COVID tongue.
What is COVID tongue? What does it look like?
Bumps, swellings on the surface of the tongue lead to what is called as COVID tongue. A COVID tongue looks white and patchy and swollen. Some people might also have ulcers on the tongue.
Due to the swelling many people experience pain while eating.
A 2021 study has found that COVID-19 also manifests in the oral cavity and the most common manifestations are transient U-shaped lingual papillitis, glossitis with patchy depapillation, and burning mouth syndrome.
In January 2021, Tim Spector, ZOE COVID Study app had tweeted that, "....Seeing increasing numbers of Covid tongues and strange mouth ulcers . If you have a strange symptom or even just a headache and fatigue stay at home !"
What causes COVID tongue?
Experts have said that oral thrush can be a reason behind COVID tongue. They say oral thrush is a fungus that can be either caused by the coronavirus or else by some of the medications used to treat COVID.
They have also said that the swelling in COVID tongue can be due to the Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE) receptors on the tongue. The ACE receptors are the proteins with the help of which the coronavirus enters the body.
Another reason for COVID tongue is dry mouth. Due to COVID-19, the salivary glands of the mouth secrete less saliva which leads to dryness in mouth. Dry mouth is a breeding ground for a number of oral diseases.
COVID tongue and Omicron
During the third wave of the COVID, for which the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was responsible, cases of COVID tongue were reported.
In addition to the COVID symptoms which were seen in its ancestors, the Omicron variant induced infection showed symptoms like common cold and COVID tongue along with few other signs like muscle pain, diarrhea and skin rashes.
Why COVID tongue not being talked about?
May be because of the need of the hour and also may be because of other symptoms of COVID which are more common than COVID tongue.
The need of the hour is to maintain distance from each other to stop the spread of the virus. Medical care facilities have undergone a massive physical change to fit as per the COVID safety guidelines. Doctors focus on common symptoms like fever and cough and check the heart, lungs, abdomen in serious conditions. In addition to this, presence of more common COVID symptoms do not generate the need to look for other symptoms.
Since everyone is wearing a mask doctors do not ask the patients to remove it as it would increase the risk of infection for the patient.
"Patients are usually wearing a mask and I don't ask them to take their mask off," Dr. Richard Watkins, MD, an infectious disease physician and professor of internal medicine at the Northeast Ohio Medical University tells Health.
"Many physicians focus on the heart, lungs, and abdomen and, in the age of COVID-19, they pass on examining the mouth even more because it can increase their risk of getting infected," Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York also told the journal. "This has probably been missed in a lot of individuals."