In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the tongue coating is one of the most important diagnostic indicators. It can reveal what is currently happening in the body, how strong the body's defences are, or whether there is an excess of dampness, heat, or weakness in the body.

In this video, Milan Schirlo will guide you through how TCM therapists evaluate the tongue coating and why monitoring it is so important.

You will learn:

• The 5 main parameters evaluated in a coating — colour, thickness, moisture, texture and uniformity
• Why a tongue without a coating may not be a sign of health, but sometimes a signal of deeper bodily weakness
• Why, during an acute illness, a thicker coating is paradoxically often a good sign
• What a coating only on the tip, sides or root of the tongue can mean
• How to recognise when it is a normal state and when the tongue may be warning of an imbalance in the body

Tongue diagnosis is one of the fastest and most effective tools in TCM for gaining insight into the body's current state. The coating often shows processes that may not yet be visible through other symptoms.

Previous episodes of the series:

Part 1 - What your tongue reveals (a healthy tongue and organ map)
Part 2 - The tongue in Spleen deficiency and dampness
Part 3 - The tongue in Liver issues and stress

Next episode:

Cracks, spots and formations on the tongue — what they can mean and when to be alert.