There are possibly
a half score of cases recorded, but this anomaly is very rare,
and Major is possibly the only one who has to a certainty
demonstrated the fact by a laryngoscopic examination. By the
laryngoscope he was enabled to observe a paroxysm in a woman, in
which the tongue retracted and impinged on the epiglottis, but
quickly recovered its position. Pettit mentions suffocation from
"tongue swallowing," both with and without section of the frenum.
Schobinger cites a similar instance, due to loosening of the
frenum.
Analogous to the foregoing phenomenon is the habit of "tongue
sucking." Morris mentions a young lady of fifteen who
spontaneously dislocated her jaw, owing indirectly to this habit.
Morris says that from infancy the patient was addicted to this
habit, which was so audible as to be heard in all parts of the
room. The continued action of the pterygoid muscles had so
preternaturally loosened the ligaments and muscular structures
supporting the joint as to render them unable to resist the
violent action of "tongue sucking" even during sleep.
Injuries to the Tongue.--Hobbs describes a man of twenty-three
who, while working, had a habit of protruding his tongue. One day
he was hit under the chin by the chain of a crane on a pier, his
upper teeth inflicting a wound two inches deep, three inches from
the tip, and dividing the entire structure of the tongue except
the arteries.
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