Hello,
This may seem a minor issue all things considered, but I wanted to post up in case anyone has some advice. I've had treatment for tonsillar carcinoma with metastases to my right lymph node in my neck. My treatment was radiation (33 sessions) with 3 rounds of chemo (Cisplatin) only. My treatments ended about two months ago. I've had no surgery.

As a result of the radiation, my salivary glands have been inhibited and my mouth is dry; this is a common side effect of this treatment.

In my case, my tongue is dramatically coated, I believe as a result of the dry mouth. I've tried brushing it, scraping it, and (based on a web search) coating it in salt. These approaches have sort of helped, but the coating comes back.

Has anyone else dealt with this particular set of circumstances? Does anyone have a suggestion for dealing with a heavily coated tongue in a dry, post-radiation mouth?

Thank you,
-Seth

47 yr old male non-smoker, social drinker, fit. Jan'10, Stg3 rt tonsil+rt neck SCC, HPV+, rad+chmo Vancouver Cda. 2yr clear Apr'12 London UK. Apr'13 mets recur to lymph btw left lung & aorta, 3x Cisplatin+5FUchemo+20 rad, was all clear but 6-mo PET-CT shows mets to pleura around left lung, participating in St 1 trial of GDC-0980. GDC lost effect and ended July'14, bad atrial fibrillation requiring hospitalisation, start more standard chemo 10 Sep 2014.
Sadly has passed away, notified Jan 2015.