Thank you for inviting Wu Yibo, a member of the Chinese Popular Science Writers Association, to answer your questions.

Simply put, a normal person has tongue coating, but it can show up as a light red color on the surface of the tongue or a thin, white and moist layer of tongue coating. In normal people, tongue coating is generally thin and evenly spread on the tongue surface, slightly thicker in the middle and root of the tongue surface. Generally speaking, a thin, white and moist tongue coating is normal.

Tongue is a term used in Chinese medicine in the theory ofBecause tongue coating is produced by stomach qiThe five viscera and six bowels are all endowed with qi in the stomach, so theChanges in tongue coating can reflect the cold, heat, deficiency and solidity of the internal organs, the nature of the disease and the depth of the disease siteThe tongue is also often used in Chinese medicine to diagnose and treat patients. TCM practitioners also often diagnose and treat patients through tongue diagnosis.

A few common tongue manifestations include white moss, yellow moss, gray moss, and black moss.

In general.Thin, white and moist tongue coating is normal for a human being；

If the tongueThin yellow and dryoryellow, dry and spiny moss (TCM)expressedThe heat in the li is high and the fluid is damaged. Tongueyellowish and greasymostlyPhlegm-heat, food accumulation or damp-heat internalization. Tongueyellowish smooth and moistbehaviordeficiency of the yang energyPerformance;

ifhenbane (Hyoscyamus niger)TongueGray thin and lubricatedmostlyinternal obstruction by cold and dampness (TCM). The moss is gray and dry, for heat illness or yin deficiency and fire.

with regards tomossFor the most part, itsTransformation from yellow or gray mossThe presence of black moss often indicatesmore serious illness. Dark and dry moss, for heat and fluid deficiency. Black and dry moss on the tip of the tongue, for heart fire. Black and lubricated moss, for extreme yang deficiency and yin cold. In addition to the severity of the condition, theIf black moss is present, it may also be caused by overuse of antibiotics or poor oral hygiene.You can apply the decoction of 10 grams of Rhizoma Coptidis to the black moss several times a day.If the black moss becomes shorter and softer, and the color becomes lighter or disappears, it means that this black moss is caused by poor oral hygiene.Otherwise the cause should be identified.

A number of professionals said that indicatedTongue moss is a thin layer of dirt that covers the surface of the tongueIt is an important part of tongue diagnosis in Chinese medicine. By observing the texture and color of the tongue moss, doctors are able to deduce the strength or weakness of the patient's internal organs, identify the strength or weakness of the digestive function, and reflect the depth and nature of the disease or evil.

A normal person's tongue should have thin white moss, and if there is a problem in the body, the thickness of the tongue will change.For example, if the tongue coating changes from thin to thick, it means that the disease has gone from the surface to the inside and the condition has worsened.It may be accompanied by indigestion, epigastric distension, nausea, etc.. If the tongue is greasy and rotting, it may be phlegm-dampness or food stagnation in the body. In addition, the tongue becomes thick, greasy, may also be because of illness after the loss of appetite, often eat soft food, fluid, making the tongue's mechanical friction to reduce the role of the tongue, or due to fever and dehydration, saliva secretion is reduced, the cleaning effect is reduced, affecting the tongue self-cleaning effect, so that the tongue surface of the accumulation of exudate caused by.

Therefore, once the tongue becomes thick and greasy, or the color is black and tasteful, you must not scrape off the abnormal tongue coating by yourself just to save face, but first go to the hospital for examination in order to prevent affecting the doctor's diagnosis.

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Sure.If we want to clean the tongue in our life, we can do it in some simple ways, such as brushing the tongue with a special soft-bristled brush, or gargling with salt water or water, but we must not use sharp or hard objects to scrape the tongue. Do not often scrape the tongue surface, because that may damage the tongue papillae causing loss of appetite, etc., which is harmful to human health.

Question Answered by: Pan Yue, School of Pharmacy, Shandong University Reviewed by: Wu Yibo

Tongue diagnosis is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis, patients in the medical doctor will often let the patient stick out the tongue to observe the tongue, tongue, tongue, tongue and tongue is not completely separate, should be combined with the look. Healthy people's tongue, generally slightly red and moist, not fat, not thin, free movement, thin white tongue, not thick, not greasy, not slippery, not dry.

The generation of tongue coating can be divided into three aspects: one is generated by the stomach qi; the second is generated by the rise of evil turbidity, and the third is generated by the stagnation of food and drink, so the tongue coating can be seen to understand the depth of the disease and the changes in cold, heat, dampness and dryness, as well as the changes in the digestive function. Normal tongue moss generated by the stomach gas, its shape thin white and net, dry and wet moderate, not slippery and not dry, or now thin yellow moss. In summer, tongue coating or slightly thicker, but not full of tongue, not stagnant are normal tongue coating.

The color of the tongue shows the progress and changes of the disease and is very important. It can be generally divided into four types: white, yellow, gray and black.

White moss is the most common type of tongue moss, and it is mostly associated with wind, cold and dampness, and is the main symptom of surface syndrome. However, due to the dryness and wetness of the tongue moss, the redness and lightness of the tongue and the different syndromes, there is a difference between cold and heat. White thin slippery moss tongue as usual is mostly externally wind-cold, tongue red is mostly externally wind-heat or internal heat hostage feeling, tongue light red is mostly internal cold. White thick slippery moss is mostly external cold with internal drinks, or cold drinks, cold phlegm storage. White sticky and greasy moss is mostly dampness in the qi, or dampness and heat, dampness is heavier than heat. Thin white dry moss is mostly due to lung and stomach fluid injury. Thick white dry moss is mostly due to the presence of dampness and heat, heat injures the fluid and dampness is not transformed. In the case of summer heat and dampness, it is common for the tongue to be as white as powder.

Yellow moss is the main evidence, most often seen in yangming heat, heat in the middle jiao qi. Yellow thin slippery moss is mostly seen in the external sense of heat into the inside, has not yet injured the Jin, if the moss is yellowish, tongue fat and tender, JinRun and slippery, is the spleen deficiency has wet. Yellow thick slippery moss is mostly dampness and heat in the spleen and stomach. Yellow sticky and greasy moss is mostly dampness and heat is heavy and sticky not to melt. Thin yellow dry moss indicates heat in the interior injuring the fluid, mostly seen in dry stools, short and red urine. Thick yellow dry moss is mostly due to the dryness of the stomach and intestines.

Gray moss is mostly transformed from white or yellow moss. Gray and dry moss with deep red tongue is mostly due to prolonged detention of evil heat and burning of heat and fluid. Gray slippery moss is the evidence of excessive yin and cold.

Black moss is mostly transformed from gray moss or yellow moss. Generally speaking, black moss and dryness is Jin withered fire, moss black and smooth and dull tongue is Yang deficiency and cold or phlegm and drink within the ambush.

Changes in the color of the tongue coating reflect changes in the disease at any time. For example, the change of tongue coating from white to yellow is the tendency of evil heat to develop inwardly. After the yellow moss back to white moss, is the phenomenon of disease improvement. Tongue color morphology changes is a reflection of the function of the internal organs, some people usually like to look in the mirror to see the tongue, so that the body will be found in a timely manner abnormal changes, but some people in the tongue when the tongue is abnormal to use the brush approach, both undesirable, the disease also does not work.

When observing the tongue color one should note that due to different body types, the plain tongue is different. It is also important to note whether the patient has contaminated the tongue by consuming colored foods.

Tongue moss is produced by stomach qi. It is thin white moss that grows on the surface of the tongue because the tongue body is red, therefore, the color of healthy tongue moss is white and red, and the tongue moss is not thick, not greasy, not dry, not dry, without cracks and shedding.

LifeWay Public Health believes that tongue diagnosis is one of the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, known as Tongue Watching, which has a long history.

Tongue diagnosis is one of the most important methods used to diagnose and understand diseases by observing the changes in the tongue and understanding the physiological functions and pathological changes of the body. Tongue diagnosis according to the "tip of the tongue - tongue center - root of the tongue - side of the tongue" order of observation. First look at the tongue body and then look at the tongue coating, about 30 seconds. Generally, we should look at the color of the tongue, the shape of the tongue (old and young, fat and thin, etc.), the tongue (whether there is any tremor, strong, etc.), and the sublingual veins and so on.

If you can't make a clear judgment by looking at the tongue at one time, you can ask the patient to take a rest for 3~5 minutes and then observe again.

The main features of a normal tongue are: soft and flexible tongue, light red and moist tongue color, thin white and even tongue coating, and moderate dryness and moisture of the coating. It is referred to as "light red tongue, thin white moss". See Figure (image from the network) Normal tongue indicates that the stomach is strong, blood and fluid full of qi, viscera and internal organs function normally.

If the sublingual collaterals are short and thin, the surrounding small collaterals are not obvious, and the color of the tongue is pale, it is mostly due to insufficient qi and blood, and the collaterals are not full. If the veins under the tongue are thick and swollen, or if they are greenish-purple, reddish-red, reddish-purple, purple-black, or if the veins under the tongue are varicose like purple bead-like nodules of varying sizes, they are all signs of blood stasis.

This requires long-term observation and practice, and sometimes light red tongue, thin white moss is also seen in the early stage of external symptoms, internal injuries, when the disease is light and shallow.

A pale red tongue with thin white moss is normal.

Thick moss for food accumulation, phlegm-dampness, little moss without moss for yin injury; white mossFor cold, moss yellow is heat; dry moss is dryness, greasy and slippery moss is dampness.

The most important point: what you see are the fruits, the etiology may be much more complex and must be extrapolated in detail.

"Cold is hot, hot is cold" is a relatively elementary stage.

Thin: the texture of the tongue can be faintly seen through the tongue coating;

Thick: not seen. A tongue with moderate moisture is moist and normal;

Excessive moisture and stretching of the tongue is slippery moss;

Excessive moisture and a dry tongue are dry moss.

Thin white moss is normal;

Pure white is white moss, yellow is yellow moss, yellow moss can be divided into slightly yellow, deep yellow, burnt yellow by the different color shades.

The tongue coating changes from white to yellow, or yellow and white, mostly due to the entry of external evils into the interior, and the combination of the exterior and interior.

As long as the person is healthy, the tongue is naturally healthy. It is not the tongue that determines health, but rather the physical health issues that determine the color of the tongue. If you don't like the color of your tongue, ask your doctor.

pink (color)

Pale red tongue with thin white moss!

Pale pink tongue coating is the most normal, too white or too red is not right

reddish-white