Tongue

Looks like

A muscular slab anchored to the floor of the mouth, its top covered in tiny bumps.

What it does

Moves food, shapes speech and carries taste.

Keeping it well

Clean it when brushing, stop smoking; an ulcer or white patch lasting three weeks needs checking.

Its parts

• Taste buds
• Genioglossus
• Hyoglossus

Related conditions

• Bad breath (halitosis)
• Botulism
• Burning mouth syndrome
• Candida & fungal infection
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hand, foot and mouth disease
• Head and neck cancer
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Lichen planus
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Mouth ulcers (aphthous stomatitis)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Pemphigus vulgaris
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Scarlet fever
• Stevens–Johnson syndrome / toxic epidermal necrolysis
• Tetanus
• Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia)