Tongue

Your tongue is essential for chewing and swallowing food. It also helps you speak
and form words clearly. Changes in the appearance of your tongue could indicate an
underlying condition. If your symptoms last longer than a couple of weeks, schedule
a visit with your healthcare provider.

Overview
Your tongue is covered in tiny papillae (bumps) and thousands of taste buds.

What is the tongue?

Your tongue is a muscular organ in your mouth that aids in chewing, speaking and
breathing.

Function
What does the tongue do?

A digestive organ, your tongue moves food around your mouth to help you chew and
swallow. It also helps you make different sounds so you can speak and form words
clearly. Your tongue helps keep your airway open so you can breathe properly, too.

Anatomy
Where is the tongue located?

Your tongue runs from your hyoid bone (located in the middle of your neck) to the
floor of your mouth.
What is the tongue made of?

Your tongue is mostly made of muscles. It’s anchored inside of your mouth by webs
of strong tissue and it’s covered by mucosa (a moist, pink lining that covers certain
organs and body cavities). Your tongue is also covered with different types of
papillae (bumps) and taste buds. You have four different types of taste buds,
including:

● Filiform. Located on the front two-thirds of your tongue, filiform papillae are
thread-like in appearance. Unlike other types of papillae, filiform papillae don’t
contain taste buds.
● Fungiform. These papillae get their name from their mushroom-like shape.
Located mostly on the sides and tip of your tongue, fungiform papillae consist
of approximately 1,600 taste buds.
● Circumvallate. The small bumps on the back of your tongue are the
circumvallate papillae. They appear larger than the other types of papillae,
and they contain approximately 250 taste buds.
● Foliate. Located on each side of the back portion of your tongue, the foliate
papillae look like rough folds of tissue. Each person has about 20 foliate
papillae, which contain several hundred taste buds.

How do taste buds work?

Your taste buds are clusters of nerve cells that transmit sensory messages to your
brain. There are five basic tastes that stimulate your taste buds, including:

1. Sweet.
2. Salty.
3. Bitter.
4. Sour.
5. Umami (savory).

There’s a common misconception that different areas of the tongue taste different
things. In reality, all of your taste buds have the ability to detect all five flavors —
some regions of your tongue are just slightly more sensitive to certain tastes.

What color should a healthy tongue be?

A healthy tongue is typically pink, though the shades of light and dark can vary. If
your tongue is discolored, it could indicate a health problem.

Conditions and Disorders

What are some conditions or problems that affect the tongue?

Your tongue can tell you a lot about your overall health. Listed below are symptoms
that can affect your tongue and the underlying conditions they may represent.
Difficulty moving your tongue

In most cases, tongue movement issues are due to nerve damage. With nerve
damage, the muscles that control your tongue may be weak or paralyzed.

Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) can also make tongue movement difficult. With this
condition, your frenum (the band of tissue that connects your tongue to the floor of
your mouth) is too short. As a result, it’s difficult to move your tongue freely. In
babies, this can cause breastfeeding problems. Tongue-tie may also have a negative
impact on speech. Tongue-tie can be treated with a frenectomy.

Changes in taste

Dysgeusia (a change in taste) and ageusia (a total loss of taste) may be caused by
infections, nerve problems, certain medications or damage to your taste buds.

Numb tongue

Tongue numbness can be a symptom of many different conditions, including:

● An allergic reaction to certain foods or chemicals.

● Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus, scleroderma or multiple sclerosis (MS).
● Raynaud’s phenomenon, a condition in which your small blood vessels
constrict.
● Nerve damage, which may occur after dental work or a tongue piercing.
● A lack of certain vitamins or minerals, such as calcium, iron, zinc and
phosphorus.

Sometimes, tongue numbness or tingling is a symptom of stroke. If tongue

numbness develops in combination with facial droop, difficulty speaking, confusion,
dizziness, loss of vision or severe headache, call 911 or head to your nearest
emergency room.

Sore, bumpy tongue

Irritations or minor infections are the most common causes of tongue soreness.
Smoking, canker sores or ill-fitting dentures can also cause this type of discomfort. In
some cases, a sore tongue can be a symptom of oral cancer. (Keep in mind, though,
not all oral cancers cause pain.)

Burning tongue

If your mouth or tongue feels burnt or scalded, it could be a condition known as

burning mouth syndrome. This condition isn’t harmful, but it can be uncomfortable.
Burning mouth syndrome can affect anyone, but it’s most common in
postmenopausal people.

Enlarged tongue (macroglossia)

The average tongue is approximately 3 inches long and about 2.52 inches wide. An
enlarged tongue may be associated with trauma, inflammatory conditions or certain
health issues like primary amyloidosis (a rare disorder in which clumps of abnormal
proteins build up in your organs and tissues).

Bald tongue (atrophic glossitis)

With this condition, your tongue loses its bumpy texture and appears completely
smooth. Bald tongue may be a symptom of anemia or a vitamin B deficiency.

Cold sores

While cold sores most often develop on your lips, they can also appear on your
tongue. Cold sores are caused by the highly contagious herpes simplex virus.

Changes in color

If your tongue is discolored, it could be a sign of an underlying problem.

● White tongue: White patches on your tongue could indicate thrush, lichen
planus, leukoplakia or other conditions.
● Red or purple tongue: If your tongue is red or purple in color, it could be
related to harmless conditions like geographic tongue. But it could also be a
symptom of vitamin deficiencies, scarlet fever or Kawasaki disease.
● Black tongue: If your tongue is yellow, brown or black, it could be a condition
called black hairy tongue. Despite its strange name, people with black hairy
tongue don’t really have hair on their tongues. This condition happens when
bacteria, food and other debris build up on your tongue’s filiform papillae.
● Yellow tongue: A yellow tongue is usually the result of bacterial overgrowth,
eating certain foods or smoking. In some cases, yellow tongue may be a
symptom of an underlying condition, such
as psoriasis or, rarely, jaundice.
Overview
Your inner ear includes vestibular system organs (semicircular canals, utricle and
saccule) involved in balance and your cochlea, which helps you hear.

What is the inner ear?

What we think of as the “ear” is actually a three-part structure. The outer ear is the
part you see and your ear canal. The middle ear is a box-shaped area behind your
tympanic membrane (eardrum) that includes the three smallest bones in your body.
And the inner ear is just beyond the middle ear, in a small hole in the temporal bones
that help make up the sides of your skull.

Although the structures within your inner ear are tiny and tucked away, they play a
huge role in your outward experience of the world — both the sounds you hear and
feelings of equilibrium within your body.

Function
What does the inner ear do?

Your inner ear has two jobs:

● Making it possible for you to hear.

● Helping you keep your balance.

Your inner ear is the last stop that sound waves make in a carefully orchestrated
journey that starts from your outer ear. These waves travel from your outer ear
through your middle ear to your inner ear. Structures within your inner ear convert
the sound waves into electrical energy. Your hearing (auditory) nerve delivers the
energy to your brain as sound, making it possible for you to hear.

At the same time, your inner ear monitors your movements. It alerts your brain to
changes in your position, so your brain can let your body know what to do to stay
balanced.

Anatomy
What are the parts of the inner ear?

Your inner ear includes two parts: the cochlea (which supports your hearing) and the
vestibular system organs (which support your balance).

Parts for hearing

Your cochlea is a snail-shaped organ within your inner ear that helps you hear. It’s
filled with fluid that moves in response to sound waves and is split into three tubes by
two thin membranes. One of these membranes — the basilar membrane — is like an
elastic wall, on top of which sits the organ of Corti. The organ of Corti contains tiny
hair cells with stereocilia at the ends. Stereocilia are delicate, hair-like projections
that react to cochlea fluid movement.

Here’s how your cochlea turns sound waves into sounds:

1. Sound enters your outer ear and hits your eardrum, causing the tiny middle
ear bones (malleus, incus and stapes) to move.
2. The stapes is in the oval window (a small hole) in your cochlea. When the
stapes moves, it makes ripples in your cochlea’s fluid.
3. This ripple moves the stereocilia at the ends of your hair cells like an ocean
current moves plants on the seafloor.
4. This movement of the stereocilia sparks an electrical signal that your hearing
nerve carries to your brain. Your brain perceives the electrical signal as
sound.

Parts for balance

The structures inside your inner ear that help you balance are part of your vestibular
system. They include three fluid-filled semicircular canals and two otolith organs (the
saccule and utricle).

Here’s what the parts are and what they do:

● Semicircular canals: Semicircular canals are tubes coiled within your inner
ear. Like the cochlea, the canals are lined with hair cells. Instead of sound
waves, these tiny hairs react to body movements. They’re mostly responsible
for sensing rotary motion, or motion not in a straight line, like when you turn or
tilt your head.
● Otolith organs within the vestibule: Your saccule and utricle contain tiny hairs
and crystal-like structures called “otoconia.” They sense movement in your
body when the fluid within your inner ear shifts. The utricle and saccule are
mostly responsible for sensing when your body moves forward or backward,
or up or down.

Movement of hair cells triggers an electrical impulse that travels from your
vestibulocochlear nerve, or the 8th cranial nerve, to your brain. Your brain perceives
the electrical signal as information about your balance.

Conditions and Disorders

What common conditions and disorders affect the inner ear?

Your hearing and your sense of balance rely on a healthy inner ear. The most
common inner ear conditions and disorders that can get in the way of this include:
 ● Acoustic neuroma: A noncancerous tumor that can form on an important
nerve involved in balance.
● Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV): A vestibular (balance) disorder
that happens when small fragments of your inner ear (otoconia) get trapped in
your semicircular canal. This can make you feel like you’re moving when you
aren’t.
● Hearing loss: A common condition with many causes and types, including
age-related hearing loss (presbycusis), noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and
sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
● Inner ear infection (otitis interna): Any condition that causes inflammation in
your inner ear. The most common types are labyrinthitis and vestibular
neuritis. Infections can cause severe hearing loss and prolonged dizziness.
● Ménière’s disease: Chronic (long-lasting) inner ear condition that causes
fluctuating problems with both hearing and balance.
● Ototoxicity: Damage to your inner ear that’s a side effect of taking certain
medications.
● Tinnitus: Ringing in your ears that’s often related to hearing loss

Other conditions that can cause inner ear problems include:

● Autoimmune inner ear disease.

● Earwax blockage.
● Hyperacusis.
● Otosclerosis.
● Perilymphatic fistula.
● Superior canal dehiscence syndrome.
● Susac syndrome.

Common signs or symptoms of an inner ear problem

Signs of an inner ear problem include:

● Trouble understanding what people are saying.

● Unpleasant sensations in your ear, like pain, ringing or pressure.
● Headaches.
● Dizziness.
● Vertigo (feeling as if you or your surroundings are spinning).
● Perceiving objects as moving when they’re not (oscillopsia).

You may experience other symptoms depending on the specific inner ear condition.

How do healthcare providers diagnose inner ear problems?

Healthcare providers use several tests to check the inner ear and diagnose inner ear
problems, including:

● Hearing tests: Tests that check how the hearing system within your inner ear
is working include the otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test and the auditory
 brainstem response (ABR) test. The OAE test checks how the sensory hair
cells within your inner ear are working. The ABR test checks how well your
main hearing nerve is working.
● Vestibular tests: A vestibular test battery includes several tests that check how
well the vestibular (balance) part of your inner ear is working.

What are common treatments for inner ear problems?

Depending on your diagnosis, treatments may involve managing or curing your

condition. Common treatments include:

● Medications: Treatments include antibiotics or antivirals to treat infections,

water pills (diuretics) to help regulate inner ear fluid, steroids to reduce
inflammation and medications to manage symptoms.
● Hearing-assistive devices: Treatments include hearing aids and cochlear
implants.
● Rehabilitation: Treatments include vestibular rehabilitation therapy that
improves how all the parts of your vestibular system work together to maintain
balance.
● Surgery: Treatments include procedures that repair damaged parts of your
inner ear or remove growths.

Overview
The three layers of skin on
top of muscle tissue.

What is the skin?

The skin is the body’s

largest organ, made of
water, protein, fats and
minerals. Your skin
protects your body from
germs and regulates body
temperature. Nerves in the
skin help you feel
sensations like hot and
cold.

Your skin, along with your hair, nails, oil glands and sweat glands, is part of the
integumentary (in-TEG-you-MEINT-a-ree) system. “Integumentary” means a body’s
outer covering.

Anatomy
What are the layers of the skin?

Three layers of tissue make up the skin:

● Epidermis, the top layer.

● Dermis, the middle layer.
● Hypodermis, the bottom or fatty layer.

What does the epidermis (top layer of skin) do?

Your epidermis is the top layer of the skin that you can see and touch. Keratin, a
protein inside skin cells, makes up the skin cells and, along with other proteins,
sticks together to form this layer. The epidermis:

● Acts as a protective barrier: The epidermis keeps bacteria and germs from
entering your body and bloodstream and causing infections. It also protects
against rain, sun and other elements.
● Makes new skin: The epidermis continually makes new skin cells. These new
cells replace the approximately 40,000 old skin cells that your body sheds
every day. You have new skin every 30 days.
● Protects your body: Langerhans cells in the epidermis are part of the body’s
immune system. They help fight off germs and infections.
● Provides skin color: The epidermis contains melanin, the pigment that gives
skin its color. The amount of melanin you have determines the color of your
skin, hair and eyes. People who make more melanin have darker skin and
may tan more quickly.

What does the dermis (middle layer of skin) do?

The dermis makes up 90% of skin’s thickness. This middle layer of skin:

● Has collagen and elastin: Collagen is a protein that makes skin cells strong
and resilient. Another protein found in the dermis, elastin, keeps skin flexible.
It also helps stretched skin regain its shape.
● Grows hair: The roots of hair follicles attach to the dermis.
● Keeps you in touch: Nerves in the dermis tell you when something is too hot
to touch, itchy or super soft. These nerve receptors also help you feel pain.
● Makes oil: Oil glands in the dermis help keep the skin soft and smooth. Oil
also prevents your skin from absorbing too much water when you swim or get
caught in a rainstorm.
● Produces sweat: Sweat glands in the dermis release sweat through skin
pores. Sweat helps regulate your body temperature.
● Supplies blood: Blood vessels in the dermis provide nutrients to the
epidermis, keeping the skin layers healthy.

What does the hypodermis (bottom layer of skin) do?

The bottom layer of skin, or hypodermis, is the fatty layer. The hypodermis:

● Cushions muscles and bones: Fat in the hypodermis protects muscles and
bones from injuries when you fall or are in an accident.
● Has connective tissue: This tissue connects layers of skin to muscles and
bones.
● Helps the nerves and blood vessels: Nerves and blood vessels in the dermis
(middle layer) get larger in the hypodermis. These nerves and blood vessels
branch out to connect the hypodermis to the rest of the body.
● Regulates body temperature: Fat in the hypodermis keeps you from getting
too cold or hot.

Overview
Anatomy of the nose from front (top)
and side (bottom).

What is the nose?

Your nose, a structure that sticks out

from the middle of your face, is the
entrance to your respiratory system.
It warms, conditions and filters the
air you breathe. It also houses your
olfactory organs, which give you
your sense of smell.

Words that start with “naso-” (like

nasopharyngeal) or “rhino-” (like
rhinoplasty) usually refer to your
nose. And if you develop a health
condition that affects your nose,
you’ll likely visit an otolaryngologist
(ENT).

Function
What does your nose do?

The human nose has many

important jobs related to breathing
and your sense of smell.

Your nose:

● Allows air to enter and

oxygenate your body.
 ● Contributes to how you sound when you speak.
● Filters and cleans air to remove germs and allergens.
● Gives you a sense of smell.
● Warms and moistens air so it can move comfortably into your respiratory
system.

Anatomy
What are the parts of your nose?

The outside parts of your nose (the parts you can see) consist of bone, cartilage and
fatty tissue. They include your:

● Nasal root: The top part of your nose located between your eyebrows, where
your nose connects to your face.
● Nasal apex: The bottom part of your nose that houses your nostrils and tapers
off into a rounded tip.
● Nasal dorsum: The middle part of your nose, between your nasal root and
nasal apex.

The inside of your nose has several complex structures, too, including:

● Cilia: These tiny, hairlike structures trap dirt and particles. Then, they move
those particles toward your nostrils, and eventually out of your body. Cilia
differ from nose hairs. You have them throughout your respiratory tract.
● Nasal cavities: These are hollow spaces where air flows in and out. You have
two of them — one on each side. Mucus membranes line your nasal cavities.
● Nerve cells: These cells communicate with your brain and give you your
sense of smell.
● Nose hairs: The hairs inside your nose trap dirt and dust that would otherwise
end up in your nasal passages.
● Nostrils (nares): Your nostrils are holes that lead to your nasal cavities.
● Paranasal sinuses: These air-filled pockets connect to your nasal cavities.
They produce the mucus that keeps your nose moist.
● Septum: This is the bone and cartilage that separate your nasal cavities. The
lower part of your septum sits between your nostrils.
● Turbinates (conchae): These folds warm and moisten air after you breathe it
in. They also aid in nasal drainage. You have three pairs of turbinates along
each of your nasal cavities.

What do noses look like?

Noses are somewhat pyramid-shaped, and they come in all sizes. Your nasal bone
and cartilage play a major role in your nose shape, which is as unique as you are.
Overview
Your eye is made up of
many structures that work
together so you can see.

What are eyes?

Your eyes are the sensory

organs that allow you to
see. Your eyes capture
visible light from the world
around you and turn it into
a form your brain uses to
create your sense of vision.
Your brain doesn’t have
sensory abilities of its own.
It needs your eyes (and
other senses, like hearing
and touch) to gather
information about the world
around you.

Most people are born with

two eyes. Working together,
they give you a field of view
about 200 degrees wide
and 135 degrees tall. When
your eyes work together correctly, they give you depth perception and 3D vision.
They also give you color vision.

It’s also important to remember that sight and vision aren’t necessarily the same
thing, even though many people — including eye care specialists and healthcare
professionals — use those terms interchangeably. Sight is what your eyes do. Vision
is the entire process that starts with sight and ends with your brain processing what
your eyes see into a form your brain can use and understand.

Function
How do your eyes work?

Everything your eyes do starts with light from the outside world. Your eye structure
lets light enter and pass through a series of clear components and sections,
including the cornea, aqueous humor, lens and vitreous humor. Those structures
bend and focus light, adjusting how far the light beams travel before they come into
focus.
The focus needs to be precise. If it isn’t, what you’re looking at appears blurry. Your
eye has muscles that can make subtle changes to the shape of your eye, moving the
focus point so it lands correctly on the retina.

When light lands on the cells of your retinas, those cells send signals to your brain.
The signals are like coded messages describing everything they can about the light.
That includes the color, how intense it is and any other relevant details. Your brain
decodes and processes the signals and uses them to “build” the image you see.

Anatomy
How do eyes work?

Human eyes are complex, and it takes many parts working together correctly for you
to see.

Eye anatomy

The parts of your eye include the:

● Cornea. This protects the inside of your eye like a windshield. Your tear fluid
lubricates your corneas. The corneas also do part of the work bending light as
it enters your eyes.
● Sclera. This is the white part of your eye that forms the general shape and
structure of your eyeball.
● Conjunctiva. This clear, thin layer covers the sclera and lines the inside of
your eyelids.
● Aqueous humor. This is fluid that fills a space called the anterior chamber.
The pressure of the aqueous humor helps maintain your eye’s shape.
● Iris. This part contains the muscles that control the size of your pupil. It’s also
responsible for eye color. The iris can be brown, blue, green or hazel (a blend
of brown, yellow and green).
● Pupil. This is the black circle inside the iris. It’s like an adjustable window to
the inside of your eye. It widens and narrows to control how much light enters
your eye.
● Lens. This focuses light that enters your eye and directs it to the back of your
eye.
● Vitreous humor. This clear, gel-like fluid fills the space between the lens and
retina. It helps your eye hold its shape. It’s also sometimes known simply as
“the vitreous.”
● Retina. This thin layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of your eyes converts
light into electrical signals. It contains rods (which help you see in low light)
and cones (which help you see colors).
● Macula. This small area of your retina is key to your vision. It’s responsible for
the center of your visual field. It also helps you see color and fine details.
● Optic nerve. This connects your retinas to your brain. It’s like the data cable
that carries signals from your eyes, with connection points linking to multiple
brain areas.
● External muscles. These control your eye’s position, alignment and
movement. They also contribute to your eye’s shape, which is part of your
ability to switch your vision’s focus between near and far objects.