Tongue Disorders—Birth Defects

A birth defect is a problem that happens while a baby is developing in the mother’s body. Most birth defects happen during the first 3 months of pregnancy. One out of every 33 babies in the United States is born with a birth defect.

A birth defect may affect how the body looks, works or both. Some birth defects like cleft lip or neural tube defects are structural problems that can be easy to see. To find others, like heart defects, doctors use special tests. Birth defects can range from mild to severe. Causes can include

• Genetics
• Exposures to medicines or chemicals. For example, alcohol abuse can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.
• Infections during pregnancy
• Certain medicines. Before you get pregnant, talk to your health care provider about any medicines you take.
• Not getting enough of certain nutrients. For example, not getting enough folic acid before and during pregnancy is a key factor in causing neural tube defects.

For most birth defects, the cause is unknown.

Health care providers can diagnose certain birth defects during pregnancy, with prenatal tests. That’s why it important to get regular prenatal care. Other birth defects may not be found until after the baby is born. Sometimes the defect is obvious right away. Other times, the health care provider may not discover it until later in life.

Babies with birth defects often need special care and treatments. The treatments may include surgery, medicines, assistive devices, and therapies.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Intersex (Medical Encyclopedia)

Your tongue helps you taste, swallow, and chew. You also use it to speak. Your tongue is made up of many muscles. The upper surface contains your taste buds.

Problems with the tongue include

• Pain
• Swelling
• Changes in color or texture
• Abnormal movement or difficulty moving the tongue
• Taste problems

These problems can have many different causes. Treatment depends on the underlying problem.

• Geographic tongue (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Glossitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Leukoplakia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Macroglossia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tongue biopsy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tongue problems (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Tongue tie (Medical Encyclopedia)