Can an enlarged tongue be reduced in size?
A swollen tongue can become smaller. First, it is important to understand the causes of tongue swelling. Most swollen tongues are genetic and have no impact on health, so no treatment is required. If there are tooth marks, it may be related to spleen and stomach weakness, and traditional Chinese medicine treatment should be considered. If the cause is venous malformation, sclerotherapy can be performed, and severe cases may require surgical correction.
Can a Swollen Tongue Become Smaller?
1. Traditional Chinese Medicine Conditioning: There are some diseases that are referred to as spleen and stomach weakness in traditional Chinese medicine, which can cause tongue swelling. When the tongue is extended, tooth marks can be seen at the edges of the tongue. Through traditional Chinese medicine conditioning, the tongue can return to its normal size, with the disappearance of tooth marks.
2. Sclerotherapy Closure: If the tongue has venous malformation, lymphatic malformation, or mixed malformation and cannot return to its normal size naturally, sclerotherapy closure can be performed. A sclerosing agent is injected into the cavity to cause shrinkage, allowing the tongue to become smaller.
3. Surgical Correction: Tongue enlargement can be reduced through surgical correction. The surgery is relatively simple, involving the severing of the frenulum under anesthesia. Early surgery has minimal impact on future speech. However, if surgery is performed later in life, language habits may form, and post-surgical voice correction may be difficult. Therefore, surgery should be performed as early as possible.
Tongue enlargement, also known as macroglossia in medicine, is a relatively common condition that typically manifests as an upward curling of the tongue when speaking. However, it generally has no significant impact on daily life.
