Leukoplakia can be a sign of pending tongue cancer and should be followed up if a sore or red tongue develops. It happened to my son, age 38, from the HPV virus. He was told it was not cancer and to get a mouth guard because he was likely grinding his teeth at night. Four years later he had a large tumor removed from his tongue, it had spread to his lymph nodes and he was stage 4 when finally diagnosed by the fourth doctor he saw. He had left side of tongue removed, floor of fourth and neck resection and now is having chemotherapy and radiation to hopefully save his life. Moral of story, don't get brushed off by a specialist because you are young. Demand a biopsy to find out for sure what is going on.

I have patches on the tongue and I feel a burning sensation when I eat.

I have small white patches on my tongue. They burn whenever I eat hot and spicy food.