What causes a geographical tongue? Doctors I have talked to have no explanation (and say there is no cure); internet results say allergy, specifically gluten and casein. Anyone know what causes it and how to cure it?
Hi, and welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board!
I think the lack of response so far to your question may have something to do with the fact that we all looked up “geographic tongue” using our search engines, got TONS of hits, and decided that if it was so easy, maybe it’s time you learned to do it yourself.
Here’s a link http://www.google.com/
Happy hunting! 
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
h_thur,
This is (for my family) a familial disease or disorder or pain in the neck. I’ve never seen any treatment for it except avoiding the foods that seem to cause it. I think I hear my family complain mostly about spicy foods and have heard a few refuse to have this or that because of the reaction they will get - geographic tongue.
My sibs used to enjoy telling everyone to look at their special contribution to family meals but I never remember hearing anyone complain of discomfort until one of the cousins brought up the subject, so I guess some find it more uncomfortable than others.
While not a doctor, pediatrician, dentist has offered treatment for it, someone might put something soothing on their tongue - a drop of two of Maalox? Things may have changed over the past couple of years so you might try asking your dentist for the latest news.
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
Notthemama, obviously h_thur (h_thur?) did do a search. Anyway, while a search is typically the easiest way to go, a lot of times people ask for information here because they can also get additional information that they didn’t even think to ask for from the replies and because you can ask additional questions in the same thread and generally get a reply as opposed to another website where your only recourse is to mail the site owner and pray for a reply. Asking a question like “Where is such and such band’s homepage at?” is a “Use a search engine” type question. Requests for in depth information is welcome here.
“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
My Defense:
There’s evidently a band called Geographical Tongue. My search engine brought them up first, for some reason, so I assumed that this was yet another rock band trivia question–“yeah, dude, like, where’d the name come from?”
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/28/geographical_tongue.html
Not meaning to sound rude, just tired of people asking about rock bands. :rolleyes:
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen
OK, could someone enlighten those among us who have no idea what it is in the first place? Id est, what actually happens when you get an outbreak of geographic tongue?
All I wanna do is to thank you, even though I don’t know who you are…
Thanks, Jophiel, for your defense of my post. I did search the internet, AND asked my doctors, and was wondering if there was a wise someone who could give me more information.
Thanks Jois, for your reply. Maybe I should switch dentists. My last dentist thought it was interesting and pointed it out to her dental assistants, but had no idea how to get rid of it.
What is geographical tongue? At least in my mouth it is UGLY! The prettiest geographical tongues just have tiny white spots on them that seem to form patterns that tend to change over the course of the day, hence the name. In addition to the white “patterns” on the tongue, an afflicted tongue may also have deep fissures and cracks. (It is not pretty, let me tell you.) In some people, the tongue is sensitive to certain foods - especially spicy foods, and for me any kind of citrus fruit burns like hell and causes my tongue to swell.
I have had a geographical tongue since I was about a year old. So I don’t know what exactly caused it to appear. The information I found that claimed a gluten-free casein-free diet cured geographical tongue didn’t have any studies to back it up.
Wise Someone (or Almighty Cecil) - please post information on geographical tongues (not the rock band) - if you are out there.
h_thur the tongue lasher