Hello. I'm 33 years old and have been having recent tongue issues. I notice that when I eat balsamic vinigarette salad dressing my tongue hurts. I've always thought this was normal until a couple of years ago I mentioned it to a friend and they looked at me like I was crazy. Ever since then I've had stronger issues where it feels as if my tongue swells and then has sores (like cracks almost) on the sides of my tongue. It will hurt for a few days, turn white, then rub off as if its dead skin. During christmas time my front tastebuds also became enlarged and sore and I could not taste with them along with the sides of my tongue. It healed up and felt fine for a couple of weeks, and now my tongue is sore with enlarged tastebuds on the back of my tongue. It makes swallowing hard and also food taste terribly bitter. It has been like this for 3 days now. My gums feel fine and so do my teeth. It is just hard to swallow (feels like hair stuck on the back of my tongue that scratches). I originally thought it was a minor vinegar allergy but it seems EVERYTHING has vinegar in it and its never caused this bad of a problem before. Thanks.