What is the nature of this sensation?

Sounds like a cold sore.

Thanks, but it’s not the sore that I’m asking about (it’s just some little scrape). I’m asking about the sensation that my tongue registers when it touches the little scrape.

@thorninmud ahh. I’m not sure, that really is a unique thing, and I can’t really stick my toungue in your mouth to check lol

Yeah, “boundaries” and stuff, right?

Aphthous ulcer. Often associated with a metallic taste.

I’m not sure why this is, but cell membrane permeability may be impaired in areas of infection, causing higher ionic currents than usual to flow at the contact point where tongue touches mouth, over-stimulating certain taste buds?

@XOIIO

“ahh. I’m not sure, that really is a unique thing, and I can’t really stick my toungue in your mouth to check lol”

Thanks for that, lol. ;-p

It seems like a peripheral neural anomaly.

As a related example, if I touched this one area of my body, not only would I feel the sensation of my finger touching that area, but the mere contact would also cause a short series of involuntary muscular contractions.

I guess some neural pathways can have extraneous interconnections.

@gasman It definitely hasn’t done the ulcer thing yet (I’m all too familiar with those little devils), though it may eventually. Right now it’s just abraded.

“Metallic” doesn’t quite get at it. It really isn’t a taste.

You may be on track, though, with the ionic currents. The one thing I can kind of relate this sensation to is the sensation of touching the tongue across battery terminals.

@Brian1946 Hmm. Hard to say. This same thing happens with fresh pizza burns, etc. Whenever the surface of the mucous membrane is disrupted, there it is (I think the current wound was inflicted by an errant Dorito).

@thorninmud

I’ve also had chip wounds.
Now that you mention it, I guess that would be an advantage to eating a round one.

@thorninmud …the sensation of touching the tongue across battery terminals…
I’m pretty sure that’s what “metallic taste” is, though usually weaker voltages. Unlike AA & AAA cells, It’s easy to bridge the terminals of a 9-volt battery with the tongue & the effect is quite strong. Button-shaped batteries can also be tongue-shorted, but they’re typically at 1–3 volts and “taste” weaker.

One of my earliest childhood memories is tasting the top of a whisk broom where wire is wound around the handle. Probably also some kind of galvanic effect. Current will flow between dissimilar metals, such as areas where thin plating wears off.

Some medications (notably intravenous local anesthetics) also produce dysgeusia.

I know exactly what you mean and have wondered the same thing. Thanks for asking.

I know this sensation, too. I’ve never thought about it much, but I can totally relate to that battery/tongue feeling. All I can say is… bodies are weird. :p

It is part of your sense of touch. The tongue has millions of pressure receptors as well as millions involved in taste and of course pain.