by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: August 08, 2008

Most people at some point in their lives will experience having a bump or bumps on their tongue, most often they will also not know where it has come from either. The fact is that there are a whole multitude of things that can cause bumps to appear on the tongue, some of which are serious, but most of which are fairly harmless. Fortunately enough there are some ways to tell what the causes might have been in most cases, after which remedy can usually follow.

The most common cause of bumps on the tongue is in fact biting the tongue whilst sleeping. Most people do not even wake up when they have bitten themselves, but it is actually a very common cause, particularly if someone is drunk when they fall asleep. Aside from biting all kinds of trauma to the tongue can cause it to swell, and in a localised area this causes a bump. Bumps of this kind are usually sore, and may well have a white surface, where the skin is repairing the damage. This can even appear to look like scar tissue, or a growth, but usually is only a temporary condition.

Another common cause of bumps of the same type as this can be cuts or abrasions caused by certain types of food. Potato chips for example often have sharp edges and can cut the tongue if eater improperly. These in turn can cause a bump whilst the tongue repairs itself. This kind of bump however is usually noticed at the time of the injury, and of course heals itself after a few days.

Allergic reactions are another common cause of bumps appearing on the tongue, and can be caused by literally anything you might have come into contact with in the last few days. Often with allergic reactions the tongue is at least partially covered in bumps, rather then the development of a single one. Many people have many minor and sometimes even major allergies that they aren't aware of, and often it is only contact with their particular allergy that shows them this.

Swelling of the tongue is a more common allergic reaction than the development of bumps, although both can certainly occur. The difficulty of determining firstly whether an allergic reaction is the cause of bumps, and then secondly what the allergy is can be quite difficult. Food allergies are certainly the main culprit in these cases, however it can also be something inhaled, drank or even just touched. And the difficult part is that the reaction doesn't always occur instantaneously, but sometimes several hours or even days later. Also it isn't always a significant amount of any substance

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