The Secrets of Tongue Diagnosis
We are all fascinated with the thought of being able to tell the future, we are familiar with the magical mystical powers of the crystal ball or having our palms read. Weather we believe these methods reveal the truth or not, it at the very least peeks our curiosity. The tongue according to Chinese medicine gives us a glimpse of the state of our health in the same way that palmists can read our futures. The tongue, a muscle we use to speak, eat and sing can tell a lot about our circulation, our metabolism, digestive concerns and much much more.
Chinese medicine has used the tongue as a tool to assess an individual’s health for over 5000 years. It examines the size, shape, colour and coat of the tongue to help produce Chinese medical diagnoses. Have you ever brushed your teeth and noticed a thick coat on your tongue? Have you ever gotten a canker? Or a red spot on the tongue? Ever wonder what that means? Well Chinese medicine takes these observations to help determine the cause of health concerns and prevent future ones.
Take a look at your tongue and look at it with these perspectives:
Coat, do you have a thick coat? What colour is it? Where does it reside physically on the tongue?
Coat colour can range from clear, white, yellow or grey. Generally having an opaque or thicker coat present means that there is a higher tendency to retaining fluids we refer to this as dampness. Increased dampness can have many implications from poor digestion, increased weight, cough are just some of the symptoms.
Colour of tongue: Is your tongue red? pink, grey, lack of colour (pale), or purple?
The colour of your tongue can show circulation concerns if it shows purple, deficiency of energy or nutrients if it is pale, presence of heat if it shows red are some examples of what the colour of the tongue body tells practitioners about you.
Shape of your tongue: Is your tongue puffy, small or has teeth marks? Are there cracks present?
These are just some of the shape variations that can occur in your tongue all of which can mean an array of things, slow water metabolism, deficiency of nutrients or qi (energy).
The tongue in Chinese medicine is a microsystem of the entire body. The whole body is mapped out on your tongue (shown in the image below) shifts in colour, texture, coat or growths like ulcers can reflect health ailments of the body. The tongue gives us practitioners a glimpse of what is going on inside, it is an incredibly useful tool to help us treat current symptoms and prevent future ones. Take a look at yours today and see what you see.
Please note, a tongue diagnosis is just one part of a complete TCM diagnosis. A full assessment of signs and symptoms along with tongue and pulse diagnosis would be required to gain a full understanding of cause of disease.
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