Manage Mouth Ulcers after Chemotherapy/Mucositis and tips:

Managing mouth Ulcers after Chemotherapy is very important, Chemotherapy drugs damage oral mucosa which results in oral ulcers or mouth sores. Ulcers are very painful and affect the patient’s oral intake. Some times so severe that even the patient becomes unable to take even a sip of water. Ulcers begin after 5-7 days after starting chemotherapy and last for 12-15 days. Also, it gets worse when the patient goes into the neutropenic phase.

Care Of Patient to Manage Mouth Ulcers after Chemotherapy:

Following are some tips for managing mouth Ulcers after Chemotherapy.

• Avoid spicy and very hot food.
• Use mouth washes regularly prefer any mouthwash containing antifungal in it.
• Avoid drinking milk, which can coat the ulcer and delay healing. Avoid cold drinks containing more acids.
• Try to take a liquid diet and juices to maintain good nutrition.
• Can take prescribed painkillers for pain relief if needed.
• Use plum (phat kadi in Hindi) water to rinse your mouth twice or thrice daily. Make 0.5 Litre of plum water by putting at least 1/3 teaspoon of plum in ordinary drinking water.
• Avoid mouthwash containing alcohol.
• Try to eat food that is easy to swallow such as blended food, ice creams etc
• Use lip moisturizers to protect lips from cracking down due to dryness.
• applying honey in the mouth 3-4 times a day. Do not use honey with warm water it can cause diarrhea.

Prevention of Mucositis :

Mucositis is prevented with a therapy called cryotherapy or cold therapy in which patients’ oral mucosa is kept cold during chemotherapy treatment. It can be done by offering ice chips or ice cream to the patient. This causes blood vessels in the mouth to be narrowed causing decreased blood flow to the oral mucosa, resulting in a decreased formation of oral sores.

How mouthsores effects patient health?

mouth ulcers have a greater impact on patients intake.patient become unable to eat properly with ulcers.it effects directly on patients weight loss.secondly their is a greater risk of dehydration.So,it is recommended that total parental nutrition should be started if patient is having level 3 and 4 grades mucositis.

what are the stages or grades of ulcers/mucositis?

Mucositis is graded on the basis of severity of oral mucosa involved and signs and symptoms patients depict such as unable to drink liquids or drooling of saliva .following are the grading of mouth ulcers.

Grade 1

grade II

Grade III

Grade IV

However, Mucositis is a common complication of chemotherapy. By applying the above-mentioned tips and guidelines patients’ oral mucosa can be protected and alleviate patient suffering and can keep patients comfortable. The above tips can be more effective and beneficial if done in the initial time of developing ulcers or before developing ulcers by practicing tips like cryotherapy(chewing ice cubes or ice cream).