Tongue changes

Tonita
Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
in Head and Neck Cancer #1

For those of you who have had tongue surgery, have any of you noticed what appears to be "mold" in the creases of the altered tongue.  I think my tongue was folded at some point and there is a crease and it's sort of black.  Just wondering about this.

Comments

  • swopoe
    swopoe Member Posts: 492
    #2
    could it be stitches? I

    could it be stitches? I honestly don't Know. I don't recall my husband having anything like that after his tongue surgery. 

  • phrannie51
    phrannie51 Member Posts: 4,716
    #3
    Because it's crease...

    it could be simple bacteria build up....brush your tongue a couple times a day with a soft brush and see if it goes away.

    p

  • slk2015
    slk2015 Member Posts: 54
    #4
    tongue pain and pills

    CivilMatt, I hear you on the dry mouth!

     

     

    Tonita, my stitches were black and huge on the first run.  As my ENT said, they looked like spiders in my mouth.  They did look like black stuff in the creases, since the tongue swelled around them.  Both times, the tongue looked “moldy” and the mold was white to grayish.  It was actually scabbing, but in the mouth, scabs don’t dry out like they do elsewhere.  First time, I carefully peeled the white off and was promptly chastised by my ENT for doing so.  I left it alone the next time!  A tongue brush helps and for me was better than toothbrush because it didn’t cause a gag reflex when I got a long ways back.  

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    #5
    I don't think there are

    I don't think there are sutures there and the other sutures under the tongue are white.  I don't recall the black being there after the surgery, rather I noticed it some time after.  I wonder if it's because I smoked?  Never had that on my tongue before though.

    I do brush my tongue regularly.

  • CivilMatt
    CivilMatt Member Posts: 4,724 Member
    #6
    hairy black tongue, I've heard about

     

    Tonita,

    Yes, it is tongue crease black mold and is normal.

    ……………………

    …………………….

    April fools!  I don’t have a clue, but I can talk about dry mouth.

    Good luck,

    Matt

    P.S. Sometimes Pepto-Bismol can cause black tongue.

  • wmc
    wmc Member Posts: 1,804
    #7
    Did they do any grafting tissue?

    Did they do any grafting and rebuilt your tounge? Sounds crazy but they did on a man and the graft was from his arm. When they scoped him his daughter asked about some thin black lines she saw on his tounge. No joke, the doctor the skin graff was his forearm and the black lines are hair. They don't shave it and it will die and go away. So what did they use to rebuild yours? I would put a call in to your doctor and let them know what you are seeing. If you can get a photo that is best as they can see what you are seeing.

    Bill

     

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    #8
    wmc said:

    Did they do any grafting tissue?

    Did they do any grafting and rebuilt your tounge? Sounds crazy but they did on a man and the graft was from his arm. When they scoped him his daughter asked about some thin black lines she saw on his tounge. No joke, the doctor the skin graff was his forearm and the black lines are hair. They don't shave it and it will die and go away. So what did they use to rebuild yours? I would put a call in to your doctor and let them know what you are seeing. If you can get a photo that is best as they can see what you are seeing.

    Bill

     

    No, this is all my tongue. 

    No, this is all my tongue.  No reconstruction.

  • slk2015
    slk2015 Member Posts: 54
    #9
    Tongue change

    I thought that I would menttion if you have not talked to your doctor, it would probably be a good idea to do so.  After my glossectomy and neck dissection, done out-of-state, I had my local ENT remove the stitches.  There was a funny-looking black mark still on my neck, but I thought it was nothing to worry about since the stitches were out.  When I went back to the cancer ENT, it turned out the black was stitches and there was 6 inches or so of gauze packing still in my neck.  For over two weeks, my hubby had to pull out the gauze and then repack the hole until it healed from the inside to the outside.  It wasn't a really big deal (just kind of icky getting guaze pushed into a hole in my neck) but had I asked more questions when the stitches were taken out, I could have gotten the problem diagnosed three weeks earlier.  

  • Tonita
    Tonita Member Posts: 197 Member
    #10
    slk2015 said:

    Tongue change

    I thought that I would menttion if you have not talked to your doctor, it would probably be a good idea to do so.  After my glossectomy and neck dissection, done out-of-state, I had my local ENT remove the stitches.  There was a funny-looking black mark still on my neck, but I thought it was nothing to worry about since the stitches were out.  When I went back to the cancer ENT, it turned out the black was stitches and there was 6 inches or so of gauze packing still in my neck.  For over two weeks, my hubby had to pull out the gauze and then repack the hole until it healed from the inside to the outside.  It wasn't a really big deal (just kind of icky getting guaze pushed into a hole in my neck) but had I asked more questions when the stitches were taken out, I could have gotten the problem diagnosed three weeks earlier.  

    Goodness slk!  What I've been

    Goodness slk!  What I've been finding on the issue is that it's called "Black Hairy Tongue".  Not serious.  It's said that soft food diet can be a contributing factor.

  • slk2015
    slk2015 Member Posts: 54
    #11
    Tongue issues

    Sounds reasonable.  I know soft foods due contribute to build up of stuff on the tongue.  It's one reason I got a tongue brush.  My cancer ENT didn't seem to be bothered by the coating, but I was.  When I can eat foods that have more texture, the coating goes away.  

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