Man's tongue turns BLACK and 'HAIRY' after a stroke

Photo: Dermnetz.org

Man’s tongue turns BLACK and ‘HAIRY’ after a stroke

Doctors found long, black, hair-like fibres covering the surface of a man’s tongue after he had a stroke and was put on a pureed diet.

Man's tongue turns BLACK and 'HAIRY' after a stroke

Photo: Dermnetz.org

Yuck! You can say that again! A man’s tongue turned black and ‘hairy’ after he was put on a pureed diet following a stroke.

IT REALLY DID HAPPEN! 

The 50-year-old man developed a thick carpet of dead skin and bacteria on his tongue within two months of eating blended meals and soups.

According to a report by the Jama Dermatology the man suffered a stroke three months earlier, which paralysed his whole left side, including his face, and made it difficult to chew.

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“Three months prior, he had experienced a cerebrovascular incident with dense hemiplegia, and his caregivers first noticed the black pigmentation over the dorsum of the tongue 15 days before presentation.

“He was being fed a diet of pureed food and liquids and was taking oral antiplatelets and antihypertensives,” the report stated. 

“On examination, he did not have a fever and was conscious and oriented, with left-sided motor weakness. The dorsal aspect of his tongue showed a thick black coating that was yellowish toward the medial and proximal parts.” 

Doctors diagnosed the man with lingua villosa nigra after taking mucus samples from his tongue. 

WHAT IS A HAIRY TONGUE OR LINGUA VILLOSA NIGRA? 

A hairy tongue is an unusual, harmless condition characterised by a ‘hairy’ enlargement and discolouration of the filiform papillae. The filiform papillae are tiny conical bumps found on the surface of the front two-thirds of the tongue that do not carry taste buds.

It is also known as black hairy tongue and lingua villosa nigra.

WHO GETS A HAIRY TONGUE? 

Hairy tongue most often occurs in adults over 40 years of age and is rare in infants [1].

A range of medications has been linked to a hairy tongue, including penicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, doxycycline, lansoprazole, olanzapine, bismuth [1], erlotinib [2], linezolid [3].

Other factors that may cause and/or aggravate hairy tongue include:

  • Poor oral hygiene
  • Smoking or chewing tobacco
  • Drinking alcohol
  • Cocaine
  • Chlorhexidine or peroxidase-containing mouthwash
  • Coloured beverages, including coffee
  • Dehydration
  • Hyposalivation (dry mouth)
  • Radiation therapy [3].

Writing in the Jama Dermatology journal, the doctors said: ‘The patient and caregivers were given advice regarding proper cleansing measures, and the discoloration resolved after 20 days.’

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