While the tongue is an important organ in your mouth, there are instances accidentally when one can get a bruise or bite. Find out more on the causes and treatment. How do you deal with a bruise under tongue? Also get to know in details on how to deal with bruised tongue from biting.
If your tongue is bruised or sore it can be really hard to ignore. It may at times bother when you speak or eat. You may get worried if it is really something serious. The good news is most causes of a bruised tongue aren’t a reason for concern. Here are some of the possible causes:
- Trauma
- Inflammation
- Mouth ulcers
- Food allergy or sensitivity
- Smoking
- Vitamin deficiency and anemia
- Burning mouth syndrome
Here is the deal, if you notice any changes in your tongue that bothers you, call your doctor or dentist. Other than a minor bruise, you see symptoms such as change in color of the tongue, sores and pains that could last up to two weeks or longer and visible lumps.
Can You Bruise Your tongue?
Is it possible to bruise your tongue?
A bruise is a form of internal bleeding in which trauma subjected to the organ is not strong enough to break the surface and cause bleeding. An injury or trauma to the tongue makes it difficult for the tongue to do simple duties such as eating food or talking.
Your tongue is made up of muscles and its upper surface has taste buds lining it. It helps in undertaking activities such as chewing, swallowing, talking and tasting.
It is possible to have a bruised tongue. This could occur as a result of accidentally biting the tongue. It is possible for this to happen when we are eating. Another possible cause would be when biting at hard things. This happens a lot and could leave bruises on the tongue.
Having an impacted tooth, the moment the tongue rubs against an edge that is sharp enough and with enough force a bruise will occur.
Having a bruised tongue is a nuisance. It usually also painful. Although it is not serious as such to warrant a visit to a doctor, you should look out for other symptoms just to be sure. The discomfort caused by a bruised tongue should be gone within no time.
Try this quick fixes to relieve pain and swelling if your tongue is bruised or sore. Gaggling some salt water could go a long way in helping healing. Applying ice pack on the bruised tongue could help ease pain and swelling.
Possible Causes of Bruised Tongue
There are a number of possible causes for tongue bruising or sores. They include:
Trauma
A bruise or sore on the tongue could appear as a purplish lesion. This could occurs when there is some activity inflicting trauma on the tongue. A minor trauma or injury usually go away within two weeks. You do not necessary require to see a dentist.
Oral Piercing
If you are into piercing then you may have experienced bruising. Oral piercing is one cause of bruising on the tongue. People with recent piercings may have some swelling. The process could also earn them a bruise. Inserting a metallic stud is likely to cause a bruise.
During Sleep
Tongue biting during sleep could also cause a bruise or sore on your tongue. When biting on things and even while sleeping, it is possible to bite the tongue. This could happen unaware especially when you dream and sleep talk.
Injury caused when brushing the teeth.
This can happen accidentally especially when you brush your tooth either when you do it rough or just normal.
Food allergy or sensitivity
Some people are allergic or sensitive to certain food. This could trigger sores or bruises on the tongue.
In other cases, the cause of bruising is consumption of hot foods and drinks. In matters to do with food, a deficiency in vitamin K could lead to easy bruising. Some medication can also be blamed for one getting bruised easily.
Bruised Tongue from Biting
A bruise can occur from a variety of causes, some of which we have discussed above in the post. If you for whatever reason bite your tongue, there will be bleeding beneath the skin. In most cases, this is caused by trauma. The trauma though is usually not strong enough to break the skin and cause bleeding.
A bite on the tongue is one of the cause of bruising. In most cases, such a bruise is harmless. Another way through which one could get bruised on the tongue is by biting or chewing hard things. These kind of bruising do not require any treatment. But you may apply simple home remedies to help relieve the pain and speed healing.
Try the following simple home remedies:
- Ice packs
- Gaggling warm salty water
This will help in relieving the pain, discoloration and swelling.
Bruise under Tongue
Although a bruise under tongue is rare, it could still happen either accidentally or from one of the mentioned cause. For instance, a tongue piercing not correctly done could cause sore or bruise under your tongue.
Obviously, you could end up with a painful or swollen part of the tongue. This however, shouldn’t cause any health concern. The bruise or swelling could go on its own after a couple of days or weeks. Still, do the simple remedies to get relief.
Treatment
How you treat a sore or bruise on the tongue depends entirely on the severity and the underlying cause. As discussed in the post, bruises or sores on the tongue are not usually a health concern.
There are quite a number of remedies. Here’s how to treat:
Ice packs
Applying ice packs on bruised tongue can help relief the sores. This will help in lessening swelling, reducing the burning sensation and alleviating pain. Maybe you should also Applying lemon balm extracts could also help in healing the bruised tongue.
Petroleum jelly and glycerin
You should probably applying these before going to bed in helping to relief burning. Taking a little butter and leaving it to dissolve slowly in your mouth could also help. Let the bruised part of the tongue remain covered with the butter for a few minutes before you can swallow it. To reduce swelling and pain on a bruised tongue,
Apply Yoghurt
To relieve the symptoms such as swelling you could as well use unflavored yoghurt.
Egyptian thorns
The Egyptian thorn is a beneficial herb that is also used as a cure for bruised tongue. To speed up the healing process, one could also increase their intake of foods containing vitamin C which helps in generation of connective tissues.
Gaggling warm salty water
You should probably try this treatment method. It will go a long way in helping avoid infection as it helps to maintain salinity. It also helps to ease pain. Mouth wash contains antiseptic. One could make us of this to heal a bruised tongue. Also ensure you maintain good oral hygiene to prevent the bruising from getting infected.
Apply Toothpaste
Toothpaste can be applied on the bruised tongue as it helps to relieve pain and burning sensation on the bruised tongue.
Sources:
- https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-and-oral-health/sore-tongue#sjgren-syndrome
- https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/tongue-problem-basics-sore-or-discolored-tongue-and-tongue-bumps#1
- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/2466920