Rare consequence of taking antibiotics Patient grow black hair on the tongue

After an accident, black hair grows on the patient's tongue

After a 55-year-old woman was involved in a serious car accident and was recovering in a hospital, the patient began to complain of nausea and a bad taste in her mouth. The subsequent examination of the mouth showed that the patient's tongue had turned black. But it got worse, the tongue was covered with hair-like structures.

In a woman, hair-like structures developed on the tongue after a car accident. Such a rare case of a hairy black tongue is due to a disease known as Lingua villosa nigra. The physicians now published the case report of this unusual disease in the English language journal "New England Journal of Medicine".

Although antibiotics are now helping many early life-threatening infections, sometimes severe side effects are at risk. A woman now developed black hair on her tongue by taking antibiotics.

How was the woman treated after her accident??

After a severe injury, which crushed both legs of the patient, the affected woman had to be hospitalized. During recovery, one of her injuries developed an infection. The medical team put her on antibiotic therapy with meropenem, which she received intravenously, and minocycline, which was administered orally.

Treatment led to peculiar disease of the tongue

A week later, the patient's tongue began to take on a brownish-black hue. She complained of nausea and reported a bad taste in her mouth. The physicians diagnosed that she had a black hairy tongue, with a response to minocycline being a possible cause, explains the author of the report, Professor David Warren of the Washington University School of Medicine. Such a hairy tongue is a benign and surprisingly common condition, but most of the time it appears yellowish, not black, as in this particular case.

Why does the disease occur??

In the US alone, about one percent of the population is affected by such a condition, and in some parts of the world, up to 10 percent of people have this condition. The disease occurs when the bumps on the top of the tongue, the so-called filiform papillae, become unusually long. These little pimples usually have a length of 1 mm to 18 mm. From a biological point of view, not really black hair grows on the tongue. If you look closely at the surface of the tongue, you can see that it looks like sandpaper. The filiform papillae form the rough surface. Normally, this outer layer of the papillae is continuously abraded while eating. In a hairy tongue, however, this layer grows faster for various reasons and the papillae are getting longer and longer despite the abrasion.

Changes in the types of bacteria that normally live in the mouth can cause the symptoms to develop. Antibiotics and medications have also been mentioned as possible triggers. Smoking, poor oral hygiene, consumption of black tea, consumption of coffee and head and neck radiation can also have an effect on the development. Thankfully, a black hairy tongue is reversible and has no long-term health effects.

How is the disease treated??

A hairy black tongue can be very disturbing but is generally benign, explain the experts. Some people with hairy black tongue report irritation in the mouth, bad taste in the mouth, bad-tasting food or bad breath. Treatment of the hairy tongue involves avoiding certain foods and beverages in the diet that are known to cause the disease. In addition, sufferers should give up smoking and pay attention to better oral hygiene. Gentle brushing of the tip of the tongue with a soft toothbrush can also help. If these steps do not work, sufferers should see their doctor, so the recommendation of the doctors. In the current case, the minocycline was discontinued in the woman and replaced by another group of antibiotics. The sufferer was also advised to pay attention to better oral hygiene. Four weeks after minocycline withdrawal, her tongue was back to normal. (As)