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Introduction: Do you pay attention to your tongue coating when brushing your teeth every morning? The tongue coating acts like a “health barometer” for the body, especially when it becomes thick and yellow, which may indicate that the body is sending warning signals. Today, we will discuss the secrets behind a thick tongue coating and teach you how to respond scientifically!
1. Is Your Tongue Coating Thick? 3 Steps to Quickly Self-Check
1. Check the Timing: Observing right after waking up and before brushing your teeth is the most accurate (to avoid interference from food or toothpaste).
2. Check the Color and Thickness:
✅ Normal Tongue Coating: Light red tongue body + thin white coating, resembling a semi-transparent “veil.”
❌ Abnormal Tongue Coating: White coating piled up like “snow,” or yellow, gray, or even cracked.
3. Scrape a Little (Optional): Use the back of a clean spoon to gently scrape the tongue surface:
– Normal: A small amount of white thin coating is easily scraped off, with no residual feeling.
– Abnormal: Thick coating is difficult to scrape off, and the tongue surface still feels sticky after scraping.
2. Five Common Causes of Thick Tongue Coating
1. Digestive System “Strikes”
Overeating, constipation, or diarrhea can cause food to remain in the intestines and ferment, leading to a thick and sticky tongue coating (possibly accompanied by bad breath).
2. Dampness “Trapping” the Body
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that a thick and greasy tongue coating is often due to “dampness and turbidity accumulating internally,” commonly seen in people who enjoy cold drinks, sit for long periods in air conditioning, or stay up late.
3. Imbalance in Oral Environment
Neglecting to clean the tongue coating while brushing, long-term smoking, or dry mouth (such as breathing through the mouth) can lead to bacterial accumulation.
4. Medication/Food Staining
Drinking coffee, consuming Chinese herbal medicine, or taking antibiotics may temporarily cause the tongue coating to appear yellow or black.
5. Disease Signals ⚠️
A long-term thick coating accompanied by throat pain and fatigue may indicate fungal infections (such as candidiasis) or chronic gastritis and other diseases.
3. Warning Signs! Four Common Mistakes in Handling
1. Aggressive Tongue Scraping
❌ Using a hard-bristled toothbrush aggressively may damage taste buds, leading to tongue pain and sensitivity.
2. Excessive Use of Mouthwash to “Kill Bacteria”
❌ Overusing alcohol-containing mouthwash can disrupt the balance of oral flora, worsening bad breath.
3. Self-Medicating with “Fire-Removing Tea”
❌ A thick tongue coating does not equal “excess heat!” Blindly drinking cooling tea may harm the spleen and stomach, leading to further deficiency.
4. Ignoring the Issue
❌ If the thick coating persists for more than two weeks, it may be a disease signal, and delaying treatment could lead to complications.
4. Scientific Regulation: From Lifestyle Habits to Symptomatic Treatment
🌱 Basic Regulation Method (suitable for occasional thick tongue coating)
1️⃣ Dietary Adjustments:
– Eat less greasy and sweet foods, have dinner at 70% fullness, and avoid late-night snacks.
– Recommended foods include millet porridge, yam, and white radish (to aid digestion), and dried tangerine peel water (to dispel dampness).
2️⃣ Oral Hygiene:
– Use a soft-bristled toothbrush or tongue scraper to gently brush the tongue surface (scraping from the back of the tongue to the tip in one direction), once a day.
– Rinse with warm salt water (250ml warm water + 3g salt), once in the morning and once at night.
🌿Advanced Treatment (must-read for long-term thick coating)
1️⃣ TCM Pattern Differentiation and Regulation:
White thick greasy coating + heavy body: Job’s tears and red bean soup (for damp-heat);
Yellow thick coating + bitter mouth: Dandelion tea (under medical guidance).
2️⃣ Medical Attention Signals ⚠️:
Abnormal tongue coating with abdominal pain or acid reflux → Gastroenterology;
Thick coating resembling tofu dregs → Oral medicine for infection screening;
Long-term thick coating + fatigue and weight loss → Systemic disease screening.
5. Key Reminder: Tongue Coating Can “Lie”!
🔸 Normal Fluctuations: Tongue coating may be slightly thicker in summer than in winter, and older adults may have thicker coating than younger individuals, so there is no need for excessive anxiety.
🔸 Dynamic Observation: Continuously recording tongue coating changes for three days is more accurate than a single assessment.
Conclusion:
The tongue coating is the body’s “silent alarm,” but there is no need to panic every day. Mastering scientific methods and timely adjustments to lifestyle habits can help restore the tongue to a “fresh” state! If you have unique experiences in regulating tongue coating, feel free to share in the comments!
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