There are many causes of tongue retraction in the elderly, such as tongue muscle atrophy, nutritional disorders and mirror tongue. 1. Tongue muscle atrophy: due to infectious inflammation, such as brainstem encephalitis, acute gray myelitis and other diseases, it can cause tongue atrophy, retraction, difficulty in swallowing, etc., or because of hereditary or congenital defects, resulting in tongue retraction. 2. Malnutrition: Due to malnutrition, the volume of muscle is smaller than normal, and the volume of skeletal muscle is reduced, resulting in thinning or disappearance of muscle fibers, which leads to retraction of the tongue. 3. Mirror tongue: Due to fever, hyperthyroidism, tuberculosis, etc., the oxidative metabolism of the tongue epithelial cells is impaired, resulting in a large number of cell deaths, and the extracellular epithelium of the tongue mucous membrane is detached, which leads to the retraction of the tongue and the formation of mirror tongue. If the symptoms are not relieved and aggravated, it is recommended to go to the hospital for examination in time.