food allergy tongue

The symptoms of tongue itching, swelling, numbness, blistering and other discomforts caused by food allergy are essentially caused by the immune system misjudging the food ingredients entering the mouth as harmful invaders and releasing histamine and other inflammatory mediators to trigger an acute stress reaction in the oral mucosa. It is a common manifestation of type I hypersensitivity reaction.； Mild symptoms can subside on their own within 1-3 days after stopping eating the allergen. Taking second-generation antihistamines can accelerate the relief. Once accompanied by difficulty in swallowing and shortness of breath, emergency treatment is required immediately - this is a precursor to laryngeal edema, which can cause suffocation in severe cases.

Last week, I was chatting with my junior fellow who was attending the allergy clinic. I met a sophomore girl from Communication University who rushed in with half a box of uneaten Tainong mangoes. She was talking gruntingly, her tongue was swollen twice as thick as usual, and there were several small red rashes the size of pinheads appeared on the tip of her tongue. She cried as soon as she walked in, saying that she thought her tongue was rotten after eating poisonous mangoes. A quick test showed that the IgE antibody concentration in mango was three times higher than the standard, which is a typical food allergy involving the oral mucosa. I was prescribed a tablet of loratadine. After sitting for half an hour, most of the swelling disappeared. Before leaving, I asked my junior brother on WeChat to tell him to consult before eating mangoes in the future, which made his face turn red.

Many people claim that they are allergic to pineapple when their tongue is numb after eating pineapple. In fact, it is most likely that the protease in pineapple has not been soaked in salt water and decomposes the mucosal protein on the surface of the tongue. You can just drink two sips of warm milk and it will be fine in half an hour. It has nothing to do with allergies. Tongue reactions caused by real food allergies usually occur within 10 minutes to half an hour after eating, and the reaction will occur as long as you touch a little allergen. It has nothing to do with how much you eat or how little you eat. Even if you put some mango juice on your lips, it may itch along with the tip of your tongue.

There are currently two schools of thought in academia regarding whether to completely avoid food after an allergic reaction to the tongue. The traditional view is that as long as a clear allergic reaction is triggered, regardless of the severity of the symptoms, the allergen must be strictly avoided to avoid repeated stimulation that may lead to more severe systemic allergies.； However, proponents of desensitization therapy that have emerged in recent years believe that if it is just a simple oral mucosal reaction without systemic symptoms such as rash, abdominal pain, or difficulty breathing, it is completely possible to perform small-dose progressive desensitization under the full supervision of a doctor, and there is no need to be insulated from your favorite food for the rest of your life.

I previously followed up on a 7-year-old boy who was mildly allergic to freshwater shrimp. His tongue swelled to the point where he couldn't close his mouth after taking one bite of shrimp. He followed a desensitization plan to eat a very small amount of shrimp protein extract every week for 14 months. Now he goes to a buffet with his parents on weekends and can eat four or five grilled shrimps without any problems. But I have to pour cold water on it. Desensitization is definitely not something you can try blindly at home. Last year, a girl who was allergic to peaches was admitted to the emergency department. After reading the desensitization guide on the Internet, she ate a peach every day. On the fifth day after eating, her throat became swollen. It took three days for the tube to be inserted to turn the situation around. It was too dangerous.

When many people have tongue allergies, their first reaction is to gargle salt water, or take anti-inflammatory drugs such as cephalosporin and artificial bezoar metronidazole, which are really useless. At most, salt water can wash away the remaining allergens in the mouth, but it has no effect on the histamine that has been released. Antibiotics are targeted at bacterial infections and have nothing to do with allergies. Eating indiscriminately may aggravate the disorder of the immune system. If it's just an itchy tongue, slight swelling, and no other discomfort, just take a tablet of loratadine or cetirizine. If it doesn't relieve after an hour or two, it's not too late to go to the hospital.

Speaking of which, the tongue is actually quite interesting. It can be regarded as the first warning for you about food allergies. It reacts first, which is better than you not feeling anything at all, and then it reaches the stomach and intestines and starts vomiting and diarrhea, or even goes into shock, right? Of course, don’t be too arrogant. A few days ago, a patient came for a checkup and said that his tongue was itchy after eating strawberries. After the checkup, nothing happened. It was just that the strawberries he bought were not washed every time, and the residual pesticides on them were irritating. If you are really unsure, go to the hospital to draw blood and check for food-specific IgE, which is much more reliable than guessing about symptoms online.