In February of 2011 I had a weird sensation of something on the very back of my tongue, left side. It feels as if something is rubbing or attached to my tongue in that general back left area. There is no pain or visible lump/lesion. My circumvillate papillae look enlarged on the left side of my tongue compared to my right. I also have two whitehead looking bumps a bit farther back just beyond the circumvillae papillae. They look like a whitehead pimple more or less..have not changed in size since February.

In April I saw an Oral Surgeon and he did a once over, saw no visible lesions or lumps and thought everything looked ok. I had a repeat visit with him two weeks ago as a follow-up. Same issues I am having, but he did (endoscopy) perform a scope down through my nasal canal down into my throat. He said everything looked OK with the scope and viewing of my mouth/tongue. The Dr ordered an MRI of face/neck for my piece of mind (MRI took plan July 20). The MRI results show all normal with the exception of "minimal asymmetry" of a lymph node down the back of my tongue. He thought this is probably the cause of my annoying symptom, but stated he was not overly concerned about it either. The Radiologist did not make much light of anything either.

The Oral Surgeon has referred me to an ENT DR for more follow-up (July 28) to get his two cents. The ENT Doctor thought the MRI looked clean with nothing standing out. He performed a visual exam and used an endoscopy scope to get a good look in and around my throat. He was quite confident nothing sinister was there. When I asked the ENT Doctor if I should take comfort in the MRI, he replied "you should take comfort in my physical exam". He was quite confident.

So I've had two Doctors, one an Oral Surgeon/DDS and an ENT Doctor tell me they see nothing to be concerned about. An MRI showed nothing exceptional and two scopes put down my nasal passage and throat came back with clear results. The caveat is I still have the same feeling of something on my tongue. What I consider enlarged circumvillae pappillae and those two whiteheads. Symptoms of the "feeling" on my tongue are not always consistent. Neither Dr had a real good answer for my symptoms on the flip side.

Does anyone have any good advice or experience with this? Should I just deal with the annoying feelings? They are not necessarily painful. I can live with the weird sensations on my tongue as long as I know I'm not leaving something sinister in the wind.


I should mention I'm 35 and a non-smoker and non-tobacco user. I also suffer acid reflux and am taking medication for it.

quote:

It feels as if something is rubbing or attached to my tongue in that general back left area. There is no pain or visible lump/lesion. My circumvillate papillae look enlarged on the left side of my tongue compared to my right. I also have two whitehead looking bumps a bit farther back just beyond the circumvillae papillae. They look like a whitehead pimple more or less..have not changed in size since February.

Hello Stuart

Not all sensations in the mouth have a textbook explanation. The slightly enlarged left side circumvallate papillae might just be a part of the natural asymmetry the body has. Let's hope the sensation goes away by itself but as always, be vigilant.

Best wishes
Vinod

"Let's hope the sensation goes away by itself but as always, be vigilant."

Thanks for the advice/comment, which is the same I'd received from both the ENT Doctor and Oral Surgeon at Mayo Clinic. They had advised to look for changes or any new symptom.

Both Doctors had stated if they took biopsies it would be of the blind sort, not really having something to pinpoint on as a biopsy subject.

Regardless of my fairly persistent symptoms, should I take comfort in the clean MRI and physical exam by the two doctors? I do realize there are anomalies that can't always be explained.