Q. I have an inflamed foliate papillae for more than three weeks. Is it tongue cancer?

Hello doctor,

I am a 26 year old female, who has an inflamed looking foliate papillae on right side of the tongue towards the back, it has been like this for more than three weeks now. It has not gotten better or worse, pretty much looks the same.

It creates this feeling of something stuck in the back of my throat, and this feeling gets worse after I eat food or talk a lot. When I wake up in the morning the feeling of something stuck in the throat is less obvious. But as the day progresses, the feeling is more obvious. I think it is because of the enlarged foliate papillae rubbing the back of the throat when I talk and chew.

There is an ulcer like a hole in the middle of the swollen foliate papillae as well, and I am not sure if it is because the papillae is swollen. I do not have pain at all, but sometimes there is this burning sensation. The area looks the same for the past three weeks, and it did not change in appearance or size.

Everywhere I read online says sores that do not heal within 2 to 3 weeks can indicate oral or tongue cancer, so I am terrified. I do not smoke or drink. But I had bad oral hygiene before which resulted in a tooth infection and abscess (on the right upper tooth) about six weeks ago, which has since gotten better but never completely healed. The dentist suggested root canal, but due to the expenses I am not able to get it done anytime soon, so I am just managing the tooth with antibiotics, salt water, and colloidal silver until I can get a root canal.

Hi doctor,

Thank you for replying. I stopped taking antibiotics since like 3 to 4 weeks ago, and now I am just doing the salt water and colloidal silver gargles. Do you think the salt water or colloidal silver might have irritated the area and prevent it from healing?

I take multivitamins daily. The area is not painful, with occasional burning sensation (mostly after eating). The area is not too hard to touch, but you can definitely feel the inflamed papillae sticking out. Based on your experience, does the area looks like some form of tongue cancer?