15 Tips For Successfully Managing & Living with Chronic Oral Lichen Planus

Oral Lichen Planus is an inflammatory autoimmune disorder in which your immune system starts attacking the lining of your mouth. It affects the lining of your mouth at the inner side of the cheeks, and it may also affect your gums, tongue, or other parts of the oral cavity. Most often, the lesions are whitish or grey in color, and they usually look like some sort of linear, lace-like, or circular type of patches. And yet another presentation can be the one where the gums can look very raw and eroded, bright red, and inflamed. Oral Lichen planus can be really uncomfortable and its lesions can be very irritating, with burning, pain, and itching sensation.

At Life Force, Dr. Shah has treated more than 3000 cases of oral lichen planus with persistent recovery. The homeopathic medicines help reduce the symptoms of burning and pain, substantially, while eating chilly and spicy food and help to heal the oral lichen planus lesions. Homeopathy medicines act curatively and not just symptomatically.

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Before we dive into the topic of how to manage oral lichen planus effectively, it is important to have thorough insights into your past medical history. If along with lichen planus, you have any of the chronic associated disorders like thyroid issues, it is important to address the concern. Research has shown links between oral lichen planus and thyroid issues in terms of autoimmunity affections.

So, if you have associated thyroid problems along with oral lichen planus, it is important to take homeopathy medicine for the thyroid too to control both auto-immune conditions effectively. Taking homeopathy medicine for hypothyroidism along with oral lichen planus can help in managing immunity effectively.

Along with proper Homeopathic medicines for oral lichen planus, here are some tips which help in faster recovery in the cases of Oral Lichen planus and can alleviate the painful symptoms.

Oral Cavity Hygiene: Maintaining oral hygiene is very important as the need for dental treatment. The amalgam fillings or dental materials in the dental treatment may act as an allergen contributing to the development of oral lichen planus and can worsen the condition. Stick to your usual toothpaste, if you can, which is very mild and non-irritating, most specifically a fluoride toothpaste. The cinnamon flavored toothpaste can trigger oral lichen planus. Don’t brush your teeth more than 2 times daily.
Visit Dentist: Get yourself checked on a regular basis by a dentist so that your teeth and gums get checked. If there are any changes in the lining of your mouth, they can easily be spotted.
Avoid Certain Medicines: Avoid having non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, (NSAIDS) or any strong painkillers, as it may act as a maintaining cause hampering the recovery and may also worsen the lichen planus lesions. Some common drugs which may induce oral lichen planus are Beta blockers, antimalarial, and certain angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.
Food Restrictions: Avoid strong spicy foods, chilies, citrus fruits, oranges, limes, strawberries, raw tomatoes, and acidic fruit juices. Spicy foods and acidic foods may worsen the discomfort. Avoid cinnamon, red wine, mints, and teeth whitening products as they may trigger oral lichen planus. Stop eating hot foods and hot drinks and follow a proper diet to treat lichen planus.
Stop Smoking: Smoking increases lichen planus lesions and may also act as a triggering factor converting the lesions into cancerous condition. The erosive forms of oral lichen planus may be at higher risk of malignant transformation after chronic smoking. It is hypothesized that the heat and irritation of smoking may aggravate symptoms of oral lichen planus lesions.
Do Not Fall Into A Vicious Cycle: Avoid using steroid mouth gels as it may help temporarily but they are suppressive and lesions of oral lichen planus may recur with more intensity once the effect of the steroid is over. It makes your disease more difficult to heal. One can apply the anesthetic gel for pain relief.
Stress Management: Ease stress and do activities that can soothe your mind and your spirit. For instance, guided meditation and yoga can all be incorporated into your daily routine.
Have Natural Vitamin D: Early morning exposure to the sunlight without sunscreen for 15 minutes every day can give you the required adequate amount of vitamin D for your body, speed up the healing, and provide relief.
Folate Supplement: Most of the patients of Oral Lichen planus are folate deficient. So, it is recommended to take folate supplement daily and include folate-rich foods, such as foods from the legumes family including beans, lentils, avocados, and others, in your diet.

Oil Pulling: Oil having anti-inflammatory properties helps to remove bacteria and promote oral hygiene. Oil pulling is an effective remedy to improve gum health and reduce inflammation.

How to do oil pulling: Take 1 tsp of coconut oil or sesame oil or olive oil and swish it around in your mouth for 15 minutes but be careful that you won’t swallow it. Spit the oil and rinse the mouth.

Sharp Foods: Avoid taking crispy foods, such as crusty bread, toast, crisps cookies, or crackers, which may irritate the lesions.
Avoid Alcohol & Soft Drinks: Avoid drinking soft drinks and alcohol in particular, as it causes increased tissue irritation.
During active flare-up when lesions are painful, try sticking to fairly bland foods, such as porridge, mashed potatoes, and similar others.
Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Use A Turmeric Ointment: A turmeric ointment can help to control the inflammation and reduce your pain. Also, it can be useful in changing the appearance and discomfort due to oral lichen planus.

Also Read: – Signs You May Have Oral Lichen Planus

So, if any time you happen to suffer from oral lichen planus, make sure you follow these helpful tips to obtain relief from it.

Written by Dr. Mithila K, Associate doctor to Dr. Rajesh Shah