{"id":2012051,"date":"2025-09-10T17:43:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2012051"},"modified":"2025-09-10T17:43:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:43:57","slug":"what-is-geographic-tongue-all-about-snl-star-kate-mckinnons-gross-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/what-is-geographic-tongue-all-about-snl-star-kate-mckinnons-gross-condition\/","title":{"rendered":"What is &#8216;geographic tongue&#8217;? All about &#8216;SNL&#8217; star Kate McKinnon&#8217;s &#8216;gross&#8217; condition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F09%2F111096648.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Map got your tongue?<\/p>\n<p>In what appeared to be a slip of the tongue, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d alumna Kate McKinnon <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/09\/07\/entertainment\/snl-alum-kate-mckinnon-reveals-geographic-tongue-diagnosis\/\">recently revealed to People<\/a> that she has an odd but harmless medical condition called \u201cgeographic tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour tongue sheds in patches and looks like an atlas, hence the name \u2018geographic tongue,\u2019 \u201d McKinnon, 41, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/snl-alum-kate-mckinnon-reveals-she-was-diagnosed-with-geographic-tongue-11804157\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained to the mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Kate McKinnon has an odd but harmless medical condition called \u201cgeographic tongue.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Johns PKI \/ SplashNews.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s gross,\u201d she added. \u201cMaybe I shouldn\u2019t be saying this in a magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/21177-geographic-tongue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Cleveland Clinic estimates<\/a> that 3% of people worldwide have the condition, known scientifically as\u00a0benign migratory glossitis. That approximation may be an undercount, the clinic noted, because patients don\u2019t always seek medical care.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look at this unusual carto-tongue-graphy.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is \u2018geographic tongue\u2019?<\/h2>\n<p>Small bumps called papillae cover the tongue \u2014 they help grip food for chewing and swallowing and house the taste buds.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sadie Robertson, of \u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d fame, confessed she has \u201cgeographic tongue.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Instagram\/legitsadierob<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Normal filiform papillae are the most common type of papillae.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>These thread-like or cone-shaped structures are on the front two-thirds of the tongue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeographic tongue\u201d is the loss of normal filiform papillae, resulting in irregular, smooth and red so-called \u201cislands\u201d surrounded by white or grey borders.<\/p>\n<p>These patches can change shape and size, disappear and reappear at any time and place on the tongue.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the risk factors for \u2018geographic tongue\u2019?<\/h2>\n<p>The exact cause of geographic tongue is not known, though it\u2019s considered an <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/14\/health\/beware-cruel-mystery-disease-that-can-permanently-damage-organs\/\">inflammatory condition<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It tends to run in families.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A girl with a serious sore throat shows her \u201cgeographic tongue.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">patrisyu \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s also more common in women, young adults and those suffering from allergies, eczema, psoriasis, Type 1 diabetes, stress and nutritional deficiencies, particularly vitamin B.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not contagious.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the symptoms?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cGeographic tongue\u201d is typically symptomless, though patients may experience soreness, burning or pain when eating spicy, acidic, hot or very salty foods.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Here\u2019s a look at conditions that can afflict the tongue. <span class=\"credit\">designua \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Experts recommend seeing a dentist or doctor if symptoms are severe or persist for more than 10 days.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the treatment?<\/h2>\n<p>Patients should brush their teeth and tongue twice a day and avoid the food and stress triggers that cause discomfort.<\/p>\n<p>Over-the-counter pain relievers, anesthetic and antihistamine mouth rinses, topical anesthetic gels and anti-inflammatory medications can help manage pain.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other celebrities who have \u2018geographic tongue\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>McKinnon\u2019s revelation surfaced when she shared with People the last picture she had taken.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took a photo of my tongue and sent it to an actor friend of mine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe brag about how geographic we are on any given day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"gmail-mntl-sc-block_8-0\">McKinnon didn\u2019t publicly name her friend, but other stars have come forward to disclose their tongue-in-chic condition.<\/p>\n<p id=\"gmail-mntl-sc-block_8-0\">\u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d\u2018s\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CA05txpnSvg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sadie Robertson<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eonline.com\/news\/1422229\/kate-mckinnons-geographic-tongue-diagnosis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">singer<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Maura Nava<\/a> have confirmed diagnoses.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Map got your tongue? In what appeared to be a slip of the tongue, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d alumna Kate McKinnon recently revealed to People that she has an odd but harmless medical condition called \u201cgeographic tongue.\u201d \u201cYour tongue sheds in patches and looks like an atlas, hence the name \u2018geographic tongue,\u2019 \u201d McKinnon, 41, explained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2012052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[21751,368162,355609,368163,22271,356143,368164,368165,356930,368166,356927],"class_list":["post-2012051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-celebrities","tag-diabetes","tag-fashion-beauty","tag-genetics","tag-health","tag-kate-mckinnon","tag-medical-disorders","tag-sadie-robertson","tag-stress","tag-vitamins","tag-weird-but-true"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/What-is-geographic-tongue-All-about-SNL-star-Kate-McKinnons.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2012052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}