What is a Child’s Geographic Language?
The child’s geographic language is an inflammatory mucosal disease of the tongue. It appears as follows: on the mucous membrane of the tongue there are sections of desquamation (flaky peeling) of the red epithelium, which are circled by a rim of exfoliating white epithelium. This disease among children is quite common.
Causes of the Geographic Language in a Child
Geographic language is the result of malnutrition of the tissues of the tongue. Today, among physicians there is no exact answer for what reasons this violation occurs. But there is a connection between the occurrence of the disease in question and gastrointestinal diseases:
- helminthic invasion,
- kidney disease,
- liver,
- pancreas,
- spleen.
When teething in babies, desquamative glossitis often appears. It often happens in adolescent girls when menstruation (or before it) occurs. This feature can accompany the child through life or pass later. The geographical language in children can be the result of anemia and vitamin deficiency. Also among the cause of this disease are acute infectious diseases, vegetative-endocrine changes, collagenoses. Heredity factors are also important.
Pathogenesis during Geographic Language in a Child
The epithelium of a geographical language can be sloughed for 2-3 days at least and 3-4 months at most. But in some cases, it slouches even longer. At the same time, the child may not feel anything, nothing bothers him. With an increase in desquamation of the epithelium, a sensation of tingling, burning or pinching on the tongue appears, which becomes stronger during meals.
The reaction of the tongue to spicy, spicy, hot is noted. Sometimes a child may have a taste disorder. Violations of taste disorders include dysgeusia. This term refers to the loss or perversion of the perception of certain taste stimuli. Among the disorders of taste sensations are called parageusia and taste asymmetry.
Parageusia is the occurrence of a certain taste in the mouth for no reason. For example, a child may taste citrus fruits, although he does not eat them at the moment. Under the taste of asymmetry understand the lack of taste. That is, when taking any dish, its taste is not felt. Among violations of taste disorders, including agevzia and hypogevzia are distinguished. The first is understood to mean the loss of taste sensitivity, and the second is its decrease. Violations of taste disorders in the geographical language of children is a rare phenomenon. In addition, these symptoms may indicate another disease or disorder.
The foci of desquamation on the tongue are not covered with normal mucosa, which deprives them of protection against infections. The geographical tongue is covered with cracks, which causes difficult swallowing. Then the submandibular lymph nodes increase.
Symptoms of a Child’s Geographic Language
The child’s geographic language is manifested by desquamation of the epithelium of the tongue, as noted above. One or more spots of a bright red hue appear. Their shape may be different, as well as size. They look smooth, surrounded by a light rim, which consists of a clouded epithelium. On the surface of the tongue unusual patterns resembling a geographical map are formed. From here comes the name of the disease.
The child does not experience pains in the tongue. In the area of the tongue there may be tingling and tingling. The tongue can grow and become softer than usual. Also, the child may have discomfort when talking.
Diagnosis of a Child’s Geographic Language
The reason for the geographical language to doctors and researchers is still not clear. Therefore, upon detection of the above-described symptoms, all possible diseases that the child has and which can provoke a geographical language are diagnosed.
Doctors must have a history. When teething in girls or boys or puberty in girls, diagnosis is not carried out.
As diagnostic methods, a general analysis of urine, feces, blood is used. If there is information about gastrointestinal diseases, doctors may prescribe additional examination methods.
Treatment of a Child’s Geographic Language
If the geographic language has become a manifestation of the changes in the body that are mentioned above, treatment is not prescribed, since it will pass by itself. If there are parallel diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, helminthic invasion, etc., then the goal of therapy should be treatment for the underlying disease.
After establishing the cause, it is necessary to carry out an absolute sanitation of the oral cavity. They treat caries by removing tartar, etc. If in a geographical language the child has a disturbing sensation, then doctors can prescribe painkillers. Trays from sterile sunflower oil also relieve pain. Make a bath for 15-20 minutes. To sterilize the oil, it must be boiled for 20 minutes in a water bath, allowed to cool.
Such food is excluded from the child’s diet (to avoid irritation of the tongue):
- hotter
- rough dishes
- salted
- with lots of seasoning
- ice
If an infection occurs on the background of a geographical language, antibiotic treatment may be necessary – as prescribed by the attending physician.
Prevention of Geographic Language in a Child
You should not be careless about caries in a child, even if it arose on milk teeth. It is important to treat or remove diseased teeth on time. If you notice a child’s caries or other obscure manifestations on the teeth, this is an occasion for a visit to the dentist. Teach your child about dental and tongue hygiene.
It’s better to brush your teeth with a paste, not a powder. Powders contain menthol or peppermint oil, which can negatively affect the condition of the tongue. Children are best served with special pastes for children. If you feel dry, you need to rinse your mouth, this must be done before going to bed and after eating. To rinse, you can apply decoctions of herbs. For these purposes, they buy St. John’s wort, chamomile, calendula, sage. Pharmacies have hygienic dental elixirs for rinsing your teeth.
If you feel dry on the tongue, you can apply gauze napkins moistened with peach or liquid paraffin. They are also moistened with unsalted butter or fish oil. The napkin is left on the tongue no longer than 5 minutes. Avoid eating too hot and too cold food. It is best for teenagers to get rid of bad habits – first of all, from smoking and drinking alcohol.