Hello, I used to be a smoker, and now I am very nervous about my oral cavity. I read that a possible symptom of oral cancer is thickening tissue. Could somebody explain what that means exactly?
My husband had a hard white area on his tongue that thankfully was deemed to be nothing other than some sort of scar tissue. He described as hard like a newly formed scar. I hope that helps.
Oral cancer is rare so don't worry yourself needlessly. Do watch any sores that may stick around in the oral cavity for more than 2 weeks or any lumps that pop up on either side of your neck. If that happens go see an ENT, otherwise forget about this site and have a wonderful life!
Hello Maiku....
I am no doctor, you may find the link below helpful, but the very site you are in now (OCF) provides a wealth of information to look through and become informed.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/screening/oral/Patient/page3 National Cancer Institute
In my opnion your best defense is regular checkups by a dentist who is very knowledgeable about Oral Cancer as well as your own personal exams if you should see changes in your mouth you do not understand or that last more than 2 weeks.
David,
I loved your reply!! and I checked out the link Tim provided. I came to this site about a month ago and I have all the risk factors and symptoms of upper throat cancer...but there is no 'mass to biopsy'. I've had horrible jaw/throat and neck pain for over 3 months. I had 2 'possibly broken' teeth removed. 4 rounds of Antibiotics/3 rounds of steriods, 6 dentists of varying specialties/a weekend in the ER/ENT and my oncologist (breast CA 2 yrs ago). Blood tests/2 CT scans and numerous xrays of my mouth and jaw. Does this sound like a Christmas song?
I continue to have a red sore throat, swollen tongue and ulcer after ulcer erupting in my tori. I've been told to just let it settle down, but I am nearing my wits end. Perhaps my tongue keeps that area inflammed, but I don't know what else to do. I have Magic Mouthwash and Anbesol and have been taking hydrocodene for 2 months so I can keep working. It hurts to talk, eat and swallow. I do salt water rinses 4x a day, that I hate. It burns my tongue. Thank you so much for listening. I am tired of not feeling good. Any avenues to pursue would be appreciated. My onc did order an additional blood test (?) of which the results are not in yet. I can get a PET scan, but it won't differentiate inflamed tissue vs a mass.