Sore tongue

There are lots of reasons for a sore tongue.  Have a look through the ones below, and see if any of them fit.

Tips

Stress

A sore, red tip of the tongue may be caused by stress.  Be kind to yourself, and check out some mindfulness techniques to try to de-stress.  Some simple exercises are here.

Mouth ulcer

If your sore tongue is caused by a small, sore lump, you might have a mouth ulcer.  Anbesol is the best product I’ve ever found for mouth ulcers.  It clears them up in a couple of hours, although it does taste disgusting.

To prevent mouth ulcers, keep your mouth as clean as possible, and eat lots of fruit and vegetables.  Avoid spicy, salty and acidic foods.

Important note: Do see your GP if your mouth ulcer lasts for more than 3 months, if it keeps coming back, or if it gets more painful and red.

Vitamins

You might develop a sore tongue may be because you are low in iron or vitamin B6.  Think about adding more vitamin B6 rich foods like baked beans, marmite and dark chocolate to your diet.

Foods high in iron include red meat and green leafy vegetables, sourdough bread, breakfast cereals fortified with iron and pulses like peas, beans and lentils.  Remember that it can be hard to absorb the iron in many foods, so try these ideas:

• Try eating or drinking something high in vitamin C at the same time as you eat food high in iron, as the vitamin C helps your body to absorb the iron.  How about drinking some orange juice with your morning cereal?
• Probiotics also help absorb iron, so adding a probiotic yoghurt to your breakfast may be another idea.
• Also, avoid caffeine when eating foods high in iron.  So wait for at least 30 minutes after your morning cereal before you have a cup of coffee.
• Eating raw green leafy vegetables is better than cooked ones, as they lose vitamin C whilst being cooked.  So choose coleslaw or other raw cabbage salads.
• The exception to this is spinach, where the iron is better absorbed when cooked, so try spinach curry for tea.

Click here for recipe ideas.

Allergy

If you have started getting a sore tongue after eating, you may have developed a mild oral allergy to a food stuff.  Try to identify a food that you have eaten more than usual recently.  Cut it out of your diet for a few days and see if your sore tongue goes away.  You should be able to start eating it again in small quantities once your reaction has died down, but gorging on it again may bring the sore tongue back.