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Top Causes of Tongue Numbness

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Last updated January 23, 2024

Tongue numbness quiz

Take a quiz to find out what's causing your numbness.

A numb or tingling tongue can feel weird and be related to tongue swelling, itching, and weakness. Tongue numbness is most commonly caused by an allergic reaction from eating certain foods or chemicals, low calcium levels which is also known as hypocalcemia, a bacterial infection like Lymes disease, or a condition involving the nervous system. Read below for more causes and treatment options for a numb tongue.

Tongue numbness quiz

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Common tongue numbness symptoms

Numbness is a loss of sensation in a body part. Many people have experienced this sensation upon falling asleep for too long on a crooked arm or typing for too long on a keyboard. However, symptoms of tongue numbness are not as common an occurrence and can be very frightening. Furthermore, the numbness may be associated with other symptoms that may feel strange and disconcerting.

For example, symptoms you may also experience that accompany your tongue numbness include:

These symptoms may occur in the tongue or close to the tongue such as around the mouth. These tongue numbness symptoms are often temporary, but unlike being able to find quick relief for symptoms such as hand numbness, tongue numbness may be more difficult to resolve. As a result, it is important to follow up with your doctor and get appropriate care as soon as you notice tongue numbness symptoms.

Why does your tongue feel numb?

Numbness is generally the result of injury, compression or irritation of a nerve or a branch of one of the nerves in the body part effected. The tongue is composed of nerves and small blood vessels that begin higher up in the face and brain. The nerves and vessels branch off in various directions to give blood flow and sensation throughout the tongue.

Furthermore, the tongue is one of the first body parts that comes into contact with the outside world whether it is food, drink or other substances, the tongue is a gateway for protecting the body from harmful elements. As a result, the tongue is very sensitive, and a common defense mechanism it utilizes to protect the body includes numbness.

There are many causes that can affect the nerves and blood vessels in the tongue as well as causes that trigger a protective response from the tongue.

Inflammatory causes:

  • Allergic: If your tongue comes into contact with a food, chemical or substance that your immune systems recognizes as harmful, it may swell and become tingly and numb due to the reaction.
  • Autoimmune: Many inflammatory diseases or underlying illnesses that result in the body attacking itself can also affect the nerves in the tongue and cause injury that results in numbness. Conditions such as multiple sclerosis and lupus are examples of such autoimmune diseases.
  • Infectious: Bacterial infections such as Lyme disease and viral infections such as shingles can cause inflammation and nerve injury that results in numbness and paralysis of the face. This paralysis can spread to also include the tongue and around the mouth.
  • Cold sore: A viral sore caused by the herpes simplex virus.

Environmental causes:

  • Vitamin Imbalance: There are certain vitamins that are essential to healthy nerve function such as vitamins D and B12. Deficiencies in these vitamins over time can lead to nerve damage and injury. Conversely, exposure to too much Vitamin B6 can cause numbness.
  • Mineral Imbalance: There are certain minerals in the body such as calcium that are essential to the body's general functioning. Low calcium (hypocalcemia) can lead to tingling around the mouth that can feel very similar to tongue numbness.
  • Allergic reaction: Foods and medications can cause an allergic reaction that can cause your tongue to swell and feel numb.

Systemic disease causes:

  • Central Nervous System: Numbness of the tongue or around the month can often be the signaling symptom of central nervous system conditions such as imminent migraines or strokes.
  • Metabolic: Dysfunction in the processes that your body uses day-to-day, for example glucose regulation (hypoglycemia), can also affect the way your nerves function causing numbness and tingling in the tongue, the mouth and other body parts.
  • Vascular: Conditions that result in constriction of the blood vessels in the tongue can lead to tongue numbness because the tongue is not receiving the blood flow that it needs.
  • Stroke: Blood flow in the brain is blocked by a clot, may cause symptoms such as weakness, numbness, and paralysis on one side of the face and/or body. A mini stroke or or transient ischemic attack can cause similar symptoms.
  • Bell’s palsy can cause facial paralysis. This is usually sudden and worsens over the course of 48 hours. It’s caused by irritation or inflammation to the facial nerve, and usually improves over weeks to months.

Treating a numb, tingling tongue

Tongue numbness is a symptom that necessitates prompt follow-up with your doctor.

While you wait for you appointment, try these at home remedies in order to combat your tongue numbness symptoms:

  • Balanced diet rich in essential vitamins to keep the nerves healthy: Fruits, vegetables, grains and lean proteins can provide your body with the nutrition necessary to keep your nerves healthy.
  • Regular exercise: Maintaining an optimal weight with exercise as well as a balanced diet can prevent and also control metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes that can cause your tongue numbness symptoms.
  • Avoid foods that may trigger an allergic reaction: Take note of foods that seem related to your symptoms. Common foods that trigger allergies include nuts, fish and wheat. Some people are allergic to common fruits and vegetables such as melons or peaches.

Depending on the cause of your tongue numbness symptoms, your doctor may first suggest the following treatment options.

  • Supplementation: If your symptoms are due to vitamin or mineral imbalance, your doctor may prescribe supplements that you can take to help your body get back on track.
  • Medications to dilate blood vessels: Medications can widen narrowed blood vessels by dilating them.
  • Migraine medication: If your tongue numbness has been a signal for imminent migraines, your doctor can prescribe medication to give you relief from your headaches.

If you experience any symptoms of speech difficulty, facial drooping, or weakness to the point you cannot other body parts call 911 immediately. These could be signs of a stroke. The key signs can be remembered by the acronym FAST (facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911).

Furthermore, if you experience tongue numbness in addition to wheezing or trouble breathing, difficulty swallowing, throat tightness or hives also call 911 immediately. These could be signs of a serious allergic reaction.

Questions your doctor may ask about tongue numbness

  • Where in your mouth are you numb?
  • Does your throat feel itchy or irritated?
  • Do you have a rash?
  • Relax your face. Have someone else tap the corner of your mouth. Does your lip or face twitch with each tap? (This is known as Chvostek's sign.)

Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions.

Hear what 2 others are saying
Once your story receives approval from our editors, it will exist on Buoy as a helpful resource for others who may experience something similar.
The stories shared below are not written by Buoy employees. Buoy does not endorse any of the information in these stories. Whenever you have questions or concerns about a medical condition, you should always contact your doctor or a healthcare provider.
Carab kabuubyo madax kabuubyo ilaa daanka dhinaca bidixPosted January 13, 2024 by H.
Waxan ahay bukaan somali ah. Waxan ka cabanata xanuuun kabuubyo carabka ah iyi dhana bidix ee wajiga oo kabuubyoonaysa
Numb tonguePosted June 2, 2021 by S.
My tongue has gone numb several times in the past few years. It lasts approximately 60 to 90 seconds. It’s very scary and most definitely painful. When that isn’t happening I have canker sores on my tongue or something that feels like it’s very painful. I don’t know if this is related.
Dr. Rothschild has been a faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He currently practices as a hospitalist at Newton Wellesley Hospital. In 1978, Dr. Rothschild received his MD at the Medical College of Wisconsin and trained in internal medicine followed by a fellowship in critical care medicine. He also received an MP...
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References

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  5. Folk J, Folk M. Burning, Pins and Needles in Your Tongue Anxiety Symptom. anxietycentre.com. Updated November 20, 2018. anxietycentre.com Link.
  6. Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Glucose). American Diabetes Association. American Diabetes Association Link.
  7. Act F.A.S.T. to Identify a Stroke in Progress. SecondsCount. Published May 18, 2016. SecondsCount Link.