What Is Fissured Tongue?

By kevin

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The tongue plays a vital part in the daily operations of your body. Still, plenty of people don’t really understand how the tongue works. Considered a muscular organ, the average tongue contains somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 taste buds. While people often call it the “strongest muscle in the body,” this is not quite true. The tongue has incredible stamina and strength but it is actually a collection of roughly eight different muscles working together as a single unit. The tongue is utilized in everyday actions like talking, eating, drinking, and keeping your teeth free of food particles.

Unfortunately, as with any other part of the body, the tongue is susceptible to a number of conditions and ailments. A fissured tongue is one of the more common issues a person is likely to deal with. Look over these facts to learn more about this condition and how to treat it.

1. What Is Fissured Tongue and Is It Dangerous?

The first and most important point to understand about fissured tongue is that it is not a condition that threatens your life or overall health. Instead, it is a benign condition that typically makes itself known on the surface of the tongue. The average person’s tongue is about 3 inches long and is very flat. When someone’s tongue is fissured, it will appear to have a split in the center or a deep groove where the tongue is typically low and flat. This condition will also make the tongue appear wrinkled, with small fissures spread around the surface.

For the most part, a person with this condition will be born with it. Still, there are cases where a child develops a fissured tongue within the first few months or years of his or her life. Statistics state that about 5% of people living in the United States have this condition.