A man in India developed a black, hairy tongue after suffering a stroke.
The man, who is in his 50s, had weakness on his left side from a stroke three months earlier. As a result of this pain, doctors put him on a puréed diet. A thick, black coating then developed on his tongue two weeks after.
The doctors diagnosed the condition as black hairy tongue, or lingua villosa nigra. The condition is harmless and occurs in about 13% of the population.
The Indian dermatologists explain that the man’s black hairy tongue likely occurred because of the pureed diet. The lack of abrasion or stimulation to the top of the tongue lead to a buildup of a protein called keratin.
As a result, conical projections covering the tongue, called filiform papillae, get long and form a hairlike appearance on the top of the tongue.
According to the National Institutes of Health, black hairy tongue can occur at any age but happens more frequently in older people.
