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The importance of the tongue in diagnosis

 By looking at your tongue, a trained acupuncturist can tell quite a lot about your state of health!  The things to notice are the colour, shape, size, coating, cracks, and the different areas of the tongue.  Some aspects of the tongue can change quite quickly.  For example, if you have a cold, you may notice a thick white or yellow coat on your tongue.  This will often disappear in a day or two, when your cold gets better.  Some chronic or long-term underlying conditions can take a lot longer to get better, in which case the tongue may change only slowly.  The tongue in the picture is a somewhat swollen, pale tongue with a white coat.  All these aspects are significant in diagnosing the patient.

Eating or drinking something hot or strongly coloured can change the colour of the tongue or its coating, so it is best not to eat or drink (except for water) for an hour before your appointment, if possible.