A. This is a healthy tongue (both photos are from Google, not patients). Notice there is no obvious tongue coating.
B. This is a severe example of purple and gives us a glimpse of the poor blood flow systemically caused from spike damage. We saw a lot of this color 2020-2022 but most covid tongues in 2023 are less purple (but still purple). Notice this tongue has a thick coating which is not covid but rather a transient flora infection of the GI tract. The peeled spots show damage to the mucosal lining that is likely occurring throughout the GI tract (think ulcer or soon to be ulcer).