Red flat lesion on left of tongue since recovering from pneumonia. Cause?
Patient: Good Morning! I am a 40 year old mother of three children. Over the past year I contracted pneumonia and noticed that ever since I have recovered I have developed a red flat lesion on the left side my tongue . The lesion tends to correspond to how much exercise I m doing (believe it or not). However when I take at least 5 days off from exercise the lesion begins to grow. Please advise on what s going on? Is this related to the health of my lungs? I look forward to your response. Doctor: Hello there ,  Thanks for writing your query,  Pneumonia is inflammation of lungs and it can be bacterial or viral .   Tongue lesions can be a secondary oral signs of pneumonia.other reasons include stress ulcers which are long standing and painful, apthous ulcers, traumatic ulcers especially seen on sides on tongue.   Red flat lesion on tongue in the elderly group people usually associated with smoking can be Erythroplakia.   such lesions often show malignancy. do no panic but consult your doctor as soon as possible as such lesions should not be ignored.   mean time maintain good oral hygiene.rinse your mouth with lukewarm salt water, apply topical numbing agents over the lesion  i hope this helps ,   take care.