The tongue is more sensitive than any other part of our body. This is the most perfect organ in terms of mobility, taking the main part in the creation of articulate speech. It consists of muscles and four active extrinsic muscles that allow you to move the tongue in different directions, changing its density and shape. The supporting point of the tongue is the hyoid bone, which is moved by six muscles.
Tongue cramp causes
The tongue is involved in many actions:
- support of taste functions;
- chewing;
- swallowing;
- sucking;
- formation of noise and sound.
Lingual cramps are damage to the hypoglossal nerve. They differ in etiology and mechanisms of origin. They can be tonic, clonic or mixed. Since the tongue is in a closed cavity, its spasms are not as noticeable as, for example, facial ones. The only exception is when it comes out of the mouth and throws out saliva. You can trace the spasm if you watch carefully and know the mechanism of pronouncing letters.
The cause of seizures may be inflammatory processes in the oral cavity or as a result of neurological manifestations of the lingual nerve, as in hysteria, epilepsy or chorea.
Tongue muscle spasm - glossospasm
With glossospasm, equal tension is observed on both halves of the tongue. Hysteria is characterized by the manifestation of a half spasm, which is called hemiglossospasm. The spasm may manifest itself as a tic, like sticking out the tongue when trying to remove non-existent lumps of food from the gums. The symptom of the eye and tongue with chorea is that a person cannot for a long time keep your tongue out eyes closed. After some time, violent movements of the tongue occur, and the eyes open.
The prognosis for such diseases is not always favorable.
Tongue cramp - stuttering
Stuttering is convulsive movements of the laryngeal and articulatory muscles that occur at the beginning or middle of speech. A person is forced to linger on some sound or group of sounds. Symptoms are similar to tonic and clonic seizures. In the first case, the patient cannot move from the sound stop to articulate the next sound. In the second case, a person who stutters repeatedly forms words, syllables and sounds. The disease has four stages, ranging from rare attacks to serious personality problems.
Stuttering of neurotic origin can appear in healthy person as a result of neurosis or stress. It often occurs in children with hereditary or acquired diseases. nervous system. The causes of the disease are provoking and predisposing.
Provoking factors include:
- sudden fear or fright;
- imitation;
- accelerated speech;
- multilingual families
Predisposing reasons:
- heredity;
- birth and intrauterine injuries;
- infectious diseases due to fatigue and nervous exhaustion
Conditions that contribute to the appearance of speech disorders include:
- insufficient emotional development;
- violation of the sense of rhythm;
- increased reactivity in relationships with others;
- hidden mental disorders
When stuttering, the breathing process is disrupted. Consumed a large number of air during inhalation and exhalation. The closure in the glottis prevents the pronunciation of sounds, while the larynx moves sharply and quickly down, up and forward. A curvature of the nasal septum and hypertrophy of the conchae are often observed. During an attack, a person may throw his head back, clench his fists, close his eyes, or stomp his feet. Stuttering, to one degree or another, leads to mental disorders, fear to pronounce difficult sounds. In some cases this leads to muteness. The child avoids speech situations, which narrows his social circle and affects his general development. He becomes cautious, suspicious, begins to feel big difference between themselves and their peers and considers themselves flawed and inferior. This in turn worsens the symptoms of the disease.
For diagnostics speech disorder the following signs are required:
- speech rhythm disturbance;
- hesitation;
- an attempt to replace words with grimaces and tics
The success of treatment largely depends on correct and timely diagnosis. Correction of speech disorders is carried out in classes with a speech therapist. Stuttering of neurotic origin in young children is successfully treated in speech therapy groups using play psychotherapy and rhythmics. Great importance There is also family therapy, when they use distraction, suggestion and relaxation. The child is taught to speak in rhythm with the movements of his fingers and in a chant. Since the disease occurs due to organic lesions of the brain, as drug treatment use antispasmodics and tranquilizers in minimal doses. Additionally, treatment includes massage and physiotherapy. In seventy percent of cases in the treatment of stuttering in children, the prognosis is favorable.
Preventive measures can be divided into two groups. One is aimed at maintaining and strengthening children's health, the second for activities to organize speech development. For this it is important good nutrition, adherence to the daily routine, absence of overexertion and stress. Speech development should be aimed at broadening one’s horizons about the surrounding world, objects and phenomena. It is necessary to teach the child to speak slowly and smoothly, to consistently express his thoughts. New information Children need to be informed in doses and gradually.
Tongue cramps: types
When we breathe calmly through our nose with our mouth closed, our tongue is at the bottom oral cavity. Its tip touches the hard palate, the upper teeth, and is raised, forming a closure. It is also located during sucking.
Convulsive elevation of the tip of the tongue
Lingual cramps with elevation of the tip of the tongue are the most common and common symptom of stuttering. During a strong convulsion, the tongue rests against the roof of the mouth with great force, and the speech channel is closed. It's like temporary muteness. If the spasm is weak, then air passes between the tongue and the palate, which leads to the repetition of certain sounds. This condition can be determined by feeling the area under the jaw. The floor of the oral cavity is dense and tense due to contraction of the genioglossus muscle.
Convulsive elevation of the root of the tongue
Convulsive lifting of the root of the tongue is a common symptom of stuttering. To the very characteristic feature This condition refers to the sudden raising of the root of the tongue back and upward. This leads to a tight circuit. The tongue is attached to the palate for the duration of the entire spasm and is compressed into a lump. The convulsive movements involve the sublingual muscles and hyoid bones. Sometimes this condition causes pain, which indicates the strength of tense muscles. It is practically impossible to make a whistling or blowing sound. Severe attacks often occur due to the fact that the nasal passage is closed and the air outlet is blocked. The breathing mechanism continues to work and blood stagnation occurs.
Expelling tongue spasm
An expelling tongue spasm is the rarest of the lingual spasms. It is expressed in the fact that the tongue stretches horizontally and freezes, going beyond the edges of the teeth. This is similar to tonic tension and often the tongue twitches, leaving the mouth and returning back. In some cases, the tongue rests on the lower teeth or lower jaw. The patient feels prolonged and sometimes painful muscle tension.
Sublingual cramp
This cramp often occurs in conjunction with others. But sometimes it can be observed as an independent one. With strong convulsive tension in the muscles of the tongue, weak contractions of the lingual muscles appear. At this time, the stuttering person’s voice becomes low, his head is tilted, and his chin touches his chest. Sometimes a sublingual spasm is associated with spasms of the vocal muscles. It happens that in this state the lower jaw drops and the mouth opens.
Tongue numbness or tingling, which patients most often describe as “stings, pins, or needles in the tongue,” is not unusual phenomenon. This symptom is medically called paresthesia of the tongue and is usually accompanied by a slight burning sensation or pain. Numbness of the tongue may occur along with muscle weakness, cramps, pain or twitching of facial tissues, and blurred vision. With complete numbness of the tongue or partial numbness (only the tip of the tongue may become numb), its sensitivity and ability to sense taste are lost.
Causes of tongue numbness
There are many reasons why the tongue goes numb. A fairly common cause of tongue numbness is nerve damage from botched dental procedures (wisdom tooth removal or root canals), oral surgery, brain damage, or trauma. A stroke is an example of brain damage and can result in a numb tongue. Blunt head trauma or a broken jaw can cause nerve damage, which can also lead to numbness of all or part of the tongue.
Allergies are another common reason why the tip of the tongue goes numb. Food allergies often cause the tongue to become swollen or numb. Numbness of the tongue may be side effect effects of antibiotics, if they occur, you should urgently consult with your doctor.
Numbness of the tongue can also occur during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester as a side symptom high blood pressure(hypertension) and edema (late gestosis).
Sometimes the cause of tongue numbness can be a number of diseases, the symptom of which is tingling of the tongue:
- multiple sclerosis- a neurological disorder that can cause numbness in many parts of the body, including the tongue;
- hypothyroidism - dysfunction of the thyroid gland;
- migraine;
- transient ischemic attack - a temporary sequence of symptoms that may be a warning of an impending stroke;
- Lyme disease is a disease caused by a tick bite;
- cerebral aneurysm;
- spinal cord cancer;
- a brain tumor;
- syphilis;
- Bell's palsy is a disease directly related to facial numbness.
The risk of tongue paresthesia increases due to excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, deficiency or excess of minerals in the body (calcium, sodium, potassium), vitamin B12 deficiency, radiation and radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer, heavy metal poisoning.
What should I do?
If your tongue goes numb, regardless of whether there are other symptoms of disease (weakness, sudden headache, loss of vision or its deterioration, speech defects), immediately consult a doctor to rule out more serious disorders in your body or to treat them in a timely manner. Before visiting a doctor, to better diagnose your condition, determine the answers to next questions:
- When did you first notice tongue numbness?
- Have you ever had a head injury?
- Have you had maxillofacial surgery in Lately?
- Do you have other symptoms associated with tongue numbness?
- At what time of day does the tongue become more numb, and at what time less?
- What medications are you taking?
We hope our article helped you answer the question of why your tongue goes numb and what you need to do in this situation.
In medical practice, situations often arise when a patient complains of throat problems. It could be a tickle sharp pain, hoarseness, feeling of a lump or numbness. Each of the symptoms is the cause of various diseases and deviations in the normal functioning of the human body. For example, if your throat becomes numb, this may be a sign of both viral infections and serious pathologies of the nervous system. Therefore, it is correct and effective treatment can be prescribed only after identifying the cause of the disease and consulting with the appropriate specialist.
Causes
Numbness of the throat or tongue occurs most often against a background of general malaise, and may be a symptom that appears due to:
- injuries;
- viral or bacterial infections;
- problems with the spine, especially the cervical spine;
- neurological disorders;
- eating spicy food;
- allergies;
- problems with the cardiovascular system;
- stroke;
- cancer of the larynx;
- lack of iron and vitamin B12 in the body.
If there is numbness in the throat, the reasons for this sensation may be different. This symptom may occur as one of the indicators of angina - infectious disease, which affects the throat and is most often caused by bacteria. That is why, when your throat hurts, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Important! According to statistics, most often numbness in the mouth and throat is caused by various types injuries or appears against the background of colds.
A cold primarily affects the organs of the nasopharynx, causing a feeling of numbness in the throat. If you bite any area of the tongue, it will not only hurt, but may also lose sensitivity and become numb for a short period of time. A similar thing happens in the case of various throat diseases. The symptom that arises in this case does not require special treatment, and therapy should be aimed at eliminating the causes of the pathology.
Neurological disorders, stress, and lack of sleep can also contribute to numbness in the throat. In this case, an unpleasant symptom may appear periodically, coinciding with increased mental stress, or be present constantly. In this case, you should drink some warm water and do a light massage of the cervical vertebra. If these methods do not allow you to quickly solve the problem, you need to contact a neurologist.
After a strong emotional shock, even in the absence inflammatory processes Maybe
a sensation of coma, as well as numbness, may occur.
If numbness in the throat occurs periodically, the causes may be allergic in nature. In this case, symptoms occur unexpectedly and are often accompanied by a rash on the body, itching, and redness.
Important! Often individual intolerance to various food products, additives, medications causes allergies, the symptom of which is numbness of the tongue and throat.
Among the more serious pathologies, when the throat hurts and the larynx becomes numb, one can identify chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, stroke, and cancerous tumors. The diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia is also often made to patients who go to doctors with complaints that their throat is a little sore or numb. The cause of the disease can be identified based on the accompanying symptoms. So, with a stroke, numbness will be accompanied by fainting, headaches, nausea, and problems with heart rhythm. A tumor in the throat causes not only numbness, but also a feeling of constriction in the throat, during which the throat can become very sore, making it difficult to swallow food.
Anemia (lack of iron), as well as a lack of vitamin B12, most often causes numbness in the throat and tongue in pregnant women after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. In this case, it is necessary to check the functioning of the thyroid gland by passing the appropriate tests, as well as adjusting the diet. It would be a good idea to start taking the appropriate vitamins.
Treatment
Numbness in the throat may occur due to various reasons. Depending on what caused the unpleasant symptom, appropriate treatment will be prescribed. In this case, as when eliminating any accompanying symptom, treatment should first of all be aimed at the root cause of the disease.
At the first signs of numbness in the throat, when the cause is not yet clear, first aid can be provided to the patient. To alleviate the symptom and reduce its intensity, you must:
- remain calm, do not panic;
- drink warm water or herbal decoction, for example, brew mint, St. John's wort, motherwort;
- gargle with a concentrated soda solution (2-4 teaspoons of soda per glass of water), especially if your throat hurts due to numbness.
If numbness does not go away several hours after its onset, and the above procedures do not improve the patient’s condition, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor to determine the cause of the disease and prescribe effective treatment.
Glossalgia causes numbness of the tongue (paresthesia) or a certain part of it. At the same time, no visual changes in the structure of the tissues of the muscular organ are observed. Pathology is not an independent disease, but acts as a symptom of a concomitant disease, damage to nerve endings.
Numbness can occur not only in the organ itself, but also affect the lips, chin, and upper palate. Sometimes paresthesia affects all mucous membranes of the oral cavity. Most often, glossalgia affects women over 40 years of age; the pathology is rarely diagnosed in men.
Causes of paresthesia
Why does a person’s tongue go numb, tingling, the main causes of the pathology:
Loss of sensitivity in the mouth can affect only the tip of the tongue, its side, sometimes the entire organ and palate go numb, taste sensations are lost, the degree of damage depends on what causes the pathology.
Signs of paresthesia
Main symptoms of the disease:
- numbness of the tongue, partial or complete;
- a feeling of tingling, burning, goosebumps in a muscle organ;
- discomfort while talking and eating;
- dry mouth;
- wandering pains;
- sometimes a bacterial plaque forms on the mucous membrane;
- most often patients suffer from nervous disorders;
- there may be growths, lumps or tumors on the surface of the mucosa.
Why does the tip, side or entire surface of the tongue go numb? Often, numbness of the tongue is caused by patients’ pathological fear of upcoming treatment from a dentist or other doctor. During farrowing, patients experience sleep disturbances, increased excitability, or, on the contrary, these people suffer from prolonged depression.
Why does the tip of the tongue, lips, cheek go numb, what are the causes of the pathology? This happens after unsuccessful treatment of pulpitis or tooth extraction. Due to the fault of the doctor, the nerve endings are injured, the tip of the tongue becomes numb, and the surrounding mucous membranes may lose sensitivity. Usually this condition goes away on its own within 1–3 months. If paresthesia persists for a longer period of time, it is necessary to undergo treatment by a neurologist.
Methods for diagnosing paresthesia
With various injuries, traces of tissue damage are visually noticeable, the pain is localized in one place. With the development of glossalgia, sensitivity when exposed to an organ decreases, the structure of the mucous membranes is not changed.
If numbness of the tongue is caused by neuralgia, the pain is short-term in nature and spreads along the nerve ending. With glossalgia, the pain syndrome does not have a clear localization; this is due to damage to the vagus nerve.
What are the causes of numbness of the tongue on one side? With neuritis, unilateral numbness of the tongue occurs. In this area, sensitivity completely disappears, and during eating, the sensations, on the contrary, intensify.
In case of nervous system disorders, consultation and examination by a neurologist and brain tomography are necessary.
Treatment of paresthesia
If the tip of the tongue or another part of it is numb or has lost sensitivity, you need to seek help from a doctor to identify the cause of the disease. You may need to be examined by a dentist, therapist, gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, or psychotherapist.
Oral cavity therapy is aimed at eliminating numbness of the tip of the tongue, potential causes of pathology, reducing pain, and normalizing taste sensations.
Prescribe sedatives, lingual nerve blockade, injections of B vitamins and iron. Applications with painkillers and antiseptic rinses are also used. Treating the mucous membranes with vitamin A helps to increase salivation and eliminate dryness and plaque. If the tip of the tongue becomes numb, physiotherapeutic procedures are prescribed.
If there are growths or lumps that cause numbness of the tongue, consultation with an oncologist is necessary. Pathological neoplasms are excised surgically. If the disease is caused by disorders of the nervous system, sometimes talking with a doctor and prescribing sedatives is enough.
Paresthesia can be a symptom of a serious illness, so if the sensitivity of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity decreases, you should seek help from a doctor.
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