Kohl tongue is damaged or small, - about the size of the tongue in terms of medicine.
It is customary to speak of such a phenomenon as microglossy( glossoptosis) when the dimensions of the language do not correspond to a certain standard rate, that is, its dimensions are much smaller than usual.
Because the tongue is mostly a massive muscular structure, there are two cases of microglossia - with atrophy or organ hypotrophy:
- or congenital,
- or acquired.
This state of affairs can arise both for natural reasons, when a person is born and lives with an insufficiently developed language( due to the primary underdevelopment of the maxillofacial organs due to the genetic characteristics of the organism, in particular, Robin's disease), and to be conditioned by secondary causes that have arisen after birth(acquired microglossia).
In the photo a child with the Roben syndrome, which is characterized by the microglossia of the
language. The second group of causes is:
- consequences of diseases( collagenoses, tuberculosis and a similar pathology, causing scar tissue degeneration);
- result of medical intervention( surgery to remove a part of the language in the development of malignant lesions in it);
- the result of the damage that led to the loss of part of the body.
Microglossia primary and secondary: the features of the
clinic Given that the tongue participates not only in the digestive process, but also in the formation of taste sensations and speech sounds, the volume and mass of the existing defect or underdevelopment matters.
Speech disorder can be significant in both congenital and acquired pathology. In view of the shortage of the length of the tongue( not reaching the tip to the hard palate), both difficulties and the total impossibility of pronouncing certain sounds are possible. The combination of a small size of the tongue and a shortening of its frenum leads to the same results.
It is noted that the lack of articulation of speech in case of loss of a part of the language to adults is compensated more easily than the dysfunction that is present in children born with glossoptosis.
The lack of active participation of the tongue in turning food in the mouth while chewing it causes various degrees of severity of digestive disorders, and amputation of the zones responsible for the taste sensations results in the loss of possession of the entire palette of taste.
To dysfunction of language can lead not only true, but also a false microglossia. With this pathology, the deformation of the body with scarring and adhesions does not allow it to straighten out and function normally and creates the impression of a shortened tongue, although its volume and mass are preserved. This situation can be caused by the intrauterine development of the fetus( with the formation of adhesions), as well as traumas with an outcome in the scars.
The illusion of a small tongue can also be caused by an excessive increase in the size of the jaw arches, visually deepening the oral cavity.
In addition to the visual effect and changes in the shape and surface of the tongue, there are also disorders of salivation( hyper- or hyposalivation in the combined pathology of the salivary gland ducts or in the disorder of their innervation).
The treatment and consequences of
The measures taken in the case of a small language size depend on the etiology of the condition, the magnitude of the defect or underdevelopment of the organ, the age and physiological resources of the organism, as well as the characteristics of the patient's profession and his desire to restore the missing part of the oral apparatus.
If you take, for example, a 75-year-old man who has undergone amputation of a part of the tongue in connection with a malignant process in him, then his reluctance to survive another intervention is understandable. And the lack of physical reserves of the body is unlikely to be enough for a plastic surgery.
The performance of an organ-repairing operation is inadvisable when combining a microglossia with the mental retardation of a patient who does not leave the threshold of the house unaccompanied.
Another thing is the traumatic amputation of a part of the language in a young patient for whom the articulation of speech is a work. After the manufacture of plastic surgery and the course of treatment, a speech therapist can restore speech abilities.
In case of false microglossy( due to insufficient length of bridle, or presence of scars, tongue adhesions), their dissection( excision) is performed, which allows to completely restore all functions of the organ.
The only function that can not be restored when amputation of a part of the tongue in case of trauma is taste sensations due to the destruction of the reflex arcs providing this kind of sensitivity.
Slight degrees of glossoptosis do not require medical treatment at all, being a specialist speech therapist. Significantly the same severity of pathology left without treatment, can lead to significant defects in speech, and hence to the limitation in the choice of a profession( with all the ensuing psychological consequences) and to a decrease in the social significance of the individual.