Black hair on your tongue? Here is what it could be

"This was the case of the typical school" of a condition known as the black hairy tongue, said Hamad, an assistant professor in the department of medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of New York. Washington University in St. Louis. Hamad published the case Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Despite its name, the black hairy tongue is not a hair at all. They are tiny nubbins on the tongue, called taste buds, which grew up and became black. According to a study last year, these bumps, generally less than one millimeter, can reach between 12 and 18 millimeters.

Patient Hamad, a 55-year-old woman, had received an antibiotic called minocycline to treat a wound infection after a car accident, according to her report. Within a week, her tongue became black, she started to feel nauseous and there was an unpleasant taste in her mouth.

"As scary as it sounds, the good part is actually reversible," Hamad said. Four weeks after the doctors changed their treatment, the patient's tongue returned to normal color.

It's hard to say how rare it is, said Hamad, but it's the first case he's seen in 10 years of practice.

If your tongue starts to look strangely black and hairy, he adds, do not panic and consult your doctor because other conditions may look like this.

"Many things you can diagnose just by looking at your mouth," said Hamad, with a message to fellow doctors. "That's the lesson: do not miss that part of the body when you examine the patient."