Mouth Sores Post Treatment

Lady54

I have HPV-16 Tonsil Cancer, which is in my right tonsil (had a tonsillectomy to remove it), base of tongue on the right side, right neck muscle and right lymph nodes.  I had 35 radiation treatments and 2 rounds of Cisplatin.  I am now 6 weeks post-treatment and still suffer from mouth sores.  They were starting to get better but have gotten worse again over the last 3 weeks.  I'm using the baking soda + salt water rinse every hour, as well as the hospital-made Mucositis mouthwash 4 times a day.  Any advice you can provide as to how long approximately they may last and what else I can do to alleviate them would be greatly appreciated!

OKCnative

I was developing mouth sores

I was developing mouth sores during treatment and was advised to cut back on the soda/salt solution to 3x a day and to use an over the counter mouthsore mouthwash (alcohol free) by CVS. Seemed to work really well. Sores went away within a day or two and never came back. However, I am not yet post treatment. My last radiation is next Tuesday.

johnsonbl

Hang in there...

I didn't have chemotherapy with my treatment but my sores didn't start until about a week after my last treatment and they would randomly flare up for about 2 months.  Then one day I realized I hadn't had one in like a week...and that was that.

The baking soda salt rinse as often as you can is helpful.  My sores were little blisters...many of which I could actually reach with my tongue or a finger and "pop" them...once popped the pain immediately subsided.

Avoiding acidic or irritating foods was important for me...I realized that ketchup was one that would actually cause a flare up...so I had to avoid it for a while.

We're all different so who knows...but you've made it through the hard part!!!!  Good luck!

soonermom

Thrush

If you are in pain, I would ask your team to check to be sure you do not have thrush.  

Mavish

i experienced the same thing

I have tonsil cancer, my last treatment was in July 2016. After the treatment, my mouth started getting better, and then start getting worse as you describe.When I saw my Dr identified two conditions: late radiation ulcers and thrush. Thrush got better easily with antifungal medication, but ulcers healed very slowly on their own in time being.

If things getting worse, you may want to check with your doctor.

Lady54

Thank You

Thanks for your advice everyone. I will be seeing my doctor next week so will hopefully get some answers. I'm now 7 weeks post-treatment and in addition to the mouth sores, have developed an extremely sore throat, but basically just when I try to eat.  I'm back on just smoothies (I was previously able to eat custard, creamed spinach and egg salad) and even the smoothies hurt now.