Tongue Paralysis: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Tongue Paralysis can occur due to nerve, muscle, or brain disorders making it difficult to control the movement of the tongue, mouth, or laryngeal muscles. This condition is also known as Dysarthria. These muscles could become completely paralyzed or weak temporarily, depending on what is causing it.

If the underlying cause is treatable, tongue paralysis can be cured completely with proper medication, and speech therapy.

What is Tongue Paralysis?

Tongue Paralysis is when throat, tongue, or laryngeal muscles become weak or paralyzed due to various neuromotor, nervous system, or brain conditions. The damage can make it difficult to control your voice or tongue, leading to slurred speech.

Few medicines may also cause dysarthria.

Extremely rarely, hypoglossal nerve palsy may also cause tongue paralysis, often due to neck trauma, brain tumours, degenerative spine diseases, stroke, infection, vascular dissection, etc. 

Dysarthria can happen of two types:

1. Developmental dysarthria occurs in infants due to damage to their brain during birth or in the womb, commonly due to cerebral palsy.
2. Acquired dysarthria occurs in adults due to various brain or neuromotor conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain tumour, etc.

People with tongue paralysis can understand speech but have minor to severe trouble in speaking.

Initial Signs of Tongue Paralysis

Based on the underlying cause, tongue paralysis may occur suddenly or develop over time. The main signs and symptoms are as follows:

• Trouble moving your tongue, lips, or jaw to produce speech
• Numbness, tingling, or pain in the laryngeal muscles
• Slurred or slow speech, mumbling, whispering
• Hoarse, strained, or breathy speech
• Difficulty chewing/swallowing (dysphagia) due to lack of muscle control
• Vocal tremors
• Involuntary twitches or spasms of the lip, tongue, or jaw
• Oversensitive or under-sensitive gag reflex
• Drooling

Possible Causes of Tongue Paralysis

It may occur due to several neuromotor, brain, or central nervous system disorders, either inborn or acquired. These conditions can be grouped as follows:

• Trauma: Neck trauma, brain injury, skull fracture, neurosurgical or postoperative trauma, chronic encephalopathy
• Infection: Poliomyelitis, Lyme disease, Central Nervous System Tuberculosis, COVID-19, herpes zoster, AIDS, infectious encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, etc.
• Degenerative Diseases: Multiple system atrophy, Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, Cerebellar degeneration, Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy), Friedreich’s ataxia, corticobasal degeneration, etc.
• Congenital: Cerebral palsy, congenital suprabulbar palsy, syringobulbia, syringomyelia, Chiari malformation, etc.
• Inflammatory conditions: Multiple Sclerosis, autoimmune syndromes, Guillain-Barre, encephalitis, meningitis, etc.
• Vascular diseases: Stroke, arteriovenous malformations, anoxic/hypoxic encephalopathy, Moyamoya disease
• Neoplastic diseases: Brainstem/cerebral/cerebellar tumours, central and peripheral nervous system tumours, paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration
• Neurological diseases: Seizures, Tourette syndrome, Meige syndrome, radiation necrosis, myoclonic epilepsy, hydrocephalus, neuroacanthocytosis, sarcoidosis, etc.
• Metabolic/toxic diseases: Heavy metal toxicity, lithium toxicity, carbon monoxide poisoning, botulism, Wilson’s disease, hypothyroidism, hepatocerebral degeneration, central pontine myelinolysis, hypoxic encephalopathy, etc.
• Neuromuscular diseases: Bell’s Palsy, ALS/Lou Gehrig disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Myasthenia Gravis, etc.

How to Diagnose Tongue Paralysis?

Your doctor will study your medical history and evaluate your signs and symptoms. Depending upon how severe your condition is, they will examine your speech, movement of the tongue, and voice control. Further tests such as CT/MRI scans, EEG, EMG, etc. may be required to diagnose tongue paralysis.

Tongue Paralysis Treatment 

Homeopathy takes a holistic approach to tongue paralysis treatment by preventing further worsening of the condition and controlling the symptoms. Early diagnosis certainly helps with complete or partial loss of muscle movement, when paired with speech therapy to improve speech and swallowing.

Homeopathy medication, rehabilitation, and occupational therapy are often effective in tongue paralysis treatment. The medicines help regulate blood flow, heal damaged areas, and regain muscle strength. Also, homeopathic treatment is completely safe with generally no side effects, making it suitable for patients of all ages.

Can you Prevent Tongue Paralysis?

Since various reasons can cause tongue paralysis, you cannot always prevent it. However, you can take measures to reduce risk factors such as stroke or trauma.

These measures include:

• A healthy diet
• Regular exercise
• Stress management
• Meditation
• A good sleep cycle
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Avoiding smoking
• Avoiding second-hand smoke
• Not taking drugs unless prescribed by doctors, etc.
• No alcohol

Can you Completely Reverse Tongue Paralysis?

Depending on the causes, if it is caused due to medication side effects or toxicity, it can be reversed. However, if it is due to a chronic condition such as stroke or trauma, it may not go away completely. Still, your speech may improve with speech therapy and consistent homeopathy medication.

When to see a doctor?

If it gets difficult to swallow, chew, or speak, seek immediate medical attention. See a doctor if you have unexplained or sudden weakness or numbness in your tongue.

Complications

• Depression: As it is difficult to speak with tongue paralysis, feeling isolated or distant from your family and friends may cause depression.
• Social anxiety: Communication issues may affect your social relationships and make you feel anxious when in public.

Conclusion

Tongue Paralysis is a serious condition that can occur due to damage to the muscles that control your tongue or voice box. Since you cannot understand what is causing the problem, it is wise to consult an expert healthcare provider who can properly examine your case, learn your symptoms, and make a diagnosis.

If you witness any of the symptoms listed above, you can book an Online Consultation with our Expert Homeopathic doctor via Call or Video Call for further assistance.