My boyfriend has epilepsy, but it is controlled due to medication. When he has had really bad seizures in the past (grand mal, for long periods), he said the tongue thing was never an issue, and that no one ever advised him to bite down on anything, lest he bite off his tongue. But then I heard that people CAN bite off their tongues. What is the deal with this?
2007-02-14 11:44:13 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
Every person is different, so it certainly is not a "old wives tale." The seizure can cause the mouth to close too quickly and yes, the tongue can be bitten off.
2007-02-14 11:48:11 · answer #1 · answered by Rachel 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm in my 40's and have had epilepsy since I was a teenager. When I experience a grand mal seizure a few times I've bitten my tongue, but there's no chance anyone experiencing a seizure would ever bite it off.
2007-02-14 11:51:21 · answer #2 · answered by Patience 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have Epilepsy and although I have never gotten close to actually biting the tongue off I have dammaged it enough to leave some scars. It hurt for a very long time after the seizure when i did that. Regardless if you don't know what your doing it can be more harmful to put something into a persons mouth that is seizuring than to try to protect their tougue.
2007-02-14 12:15:21 · answer #3 · answered by teeger671 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used to be an EMT and yes, this is a possibility though unlikely he would bite his entire tongue off. Might bite it but not off. We had plastic tongue depressors if there was a seizure to use to keep the teeth from biting down.
2007-02-16 07:48:15 · answer #4 · answered by laineyette 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that it would be possible but I have never heard of this happening. I have heard of putting a tongue blade or spoon in the mouth--maybe that is to prevent such happenings. Don't know.
2007-02-14 12:24:44 · answer #5 · answered by old_woman_84 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Old wives tale. My Mom still has her tongue -- not an issue.
2007-02-14 11:46:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it can happen, but have told to not try and put anything in their mouth for they can bite you.
2007-02-14 11:51:54 · answer #7 · answered by heavy_cow 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's rar but it can happ[en during grand mal seizures . but it's not as common as people think.
2007-02-14 11:51:29 · answer #8 · answered by Talyn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its true, they can
2007-02-14 11:46:40 · answer #9 · answered by SARcasm,RN 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋