What Is Hairy Tongue?
Reviewed: Dr. Gromatzky
6. White And Hairy Tongue
Some patients will have a tongue that appears to be white and hairy instead. This is often down to a condition known as hairy leukoplakia. The condition will usually appear in patches but it can sometimes spread to cover the entire tongue. Hairy leukoplakia is itself often caused by other conditions.
One such condition is HIV/AIDS and it is often one of the first signs that somebody has been infected with HIV. Another cause is an infection from the Epstein-Barr virus, which is the cause of the common disease commonly known as mono. The virus tends to remain dormant in the body, and patients can find that white hairy tongue sometimes returns.
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