Green hairy tongue: a rare phenomenon caused by antibiotics

Doctors from the Wright-Patterson Medical Center found a rare condition in a man from the United States - a green hairy tongue. This unusual case was published in the prestigious journal The New England Journal of Medicine, attracting the attention of the medical community and the general public.

A 64-year-old man sought help at the clinic after noticing changes in his language a few weeks before. On examination, doctors found elongated filamentous papillae on his tongue, colored green. This condition, known as a green hairy tongue, is caused by the accumulation of dead skin cells on the tongue, which leads to elongation of the papillae covering its surface. Food particles, bacteria and yeast can settle on these papillae, which leads to a change in their color to black, brown, yellow or green.

One of the possible reasons for the appearance of a green hairy tongue is taking antibiotics. Studies have shown that these drugs can disrupt the normal microflora of the oral cavity, which in turn leads to the proliferation of bacteria and yeast, causing a change in the color and condition of the tongue. In addition, poor oral hygiene, smoking and eating soft foods that are unable to remove dead skin from the tongue may also be factors contributing to the development of this rare condition.

In the case of a man from the USA, most likely, the green hairy tongue was caused by taking antibiotics. Doctors advised him to clean his tongue carefully with a toothbrush and quit smoking. Despite the fact that the patient continued to smoke, his tongue returned to its normal state.

This case of a green hairy tongue is rare, but interesting to the medical community. Researchers continue to study this topic in order to better understand the causes and mechanisms of the development of this condition. Perhaps in the future new methods of treatment and prevention of green hairy tongue will be developed.