Q:
My friend has been smoking for nearly ten years and is only 24. He has these large bumps on the back of his tongue that looked like grossly over grown taste buds or a flat plataeu-like pimple. He's had them for a long time. I looked down his throat and it looks like some of the tissue in front of his tonsils (you know, by the dangly thing?) is deteriorating. The bumps don't hurt or anything, but I think it's something that should be checked out. His new health insurance doesn't start until the first of the year so he can't see a doctor right now. Does this sound like cancer? I was thinking the bumps on the back of his tongue could be benign tumors....
A:
I know we've answered this question for you before, but maybe you missed the answer.
Bumps on the back of the tongue are normal structures and can be enlarged in smokers due to irritation. Any tissue that is irregular, whitish colored, asymmetrical, or bleeding needs to be evaluated. If you friend is not a student, then he can go to the local Interfaith clinic at a sliding fee scale to have his mouth examined.
And it goes without saying that he needs help to quit smoking!
~The Doc
