What are you looking at?
At each acupuncture session I ask to see the patient's tongue. You may be wondering why. Let me tell you.
The tongue is the only muscle in your body that is not covered in fat or flesh so it is a great tool in diagnosis. I remember when I was first interning back in 1999, I thought that every tongue looked the same. After about 500 or so inspections, I became significantly more educated, enlightened and fascinated.
I hope this helps. Please DO NOT use this short list as a method of self-diagnosis. I'd be happy to answer more specific questions if you have them.
Here is a VERY generalized list of things we look at:
Tongue body/shape: big and swollen could mean dampness/water retention, long tongue could mean excess internal heat, short tongue could mean excess internal cold;
Tongue color: Pale could mean blood deficiency (anemia), red could mean excess heat, slightly purple could mean blood stagnation (common in pre-menses);
Tongue coat: how your body is digesting nutrition, thick coat could mean slow/sluggish digestion, thin coat could mean just right, no coat could mean too much heat in GI tract;
Tongue moisture: the state of body fluids...dry tongue=dehydrated, wet tongue=kidneys not transforming water efficiently.
Tongue body/shape: big and swollen could mean dampness/water retention, long tongue could mean excess internal heat, short tongue could mean excess internal cold;
Tongue color: Pale could mean blood deficiency (anemia), red could mean excess heat, slightly purple could mean blood stagnation (common in pre-menses);
Tongue coat: how your body is digesting nutrition, thick coat could mean slow/sluggish digestion, thin coat could mean just right, no coat could mean too much heat in GI tract;
Tongue moisture: the state of body fluids...dry tongue=dehydrated, wet tongue=kidneys not transforming water efficiently.
I hope this helps. Please DO NOT use this short list as a method of self-diagnosis. I'd be happy to answer more specific questions if you have them.
Thank you for reading.
Tamara ZumMallen
This is an interesting view point about one's health. The tongue is very exposed and seems it would give some great insight into someone's health. It sounds very similar to how someone can read the eyes and be able to determine propensities to different health challenges.
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