I finished treatment 6 months ago for SCC under the tongue Stage III. The ENT doctor says there is no sign of cancer. I had the peg tube removed three weeks ago and am eating. Here is the problem. I have developed sores on the side of my tongue and an ulcer on the right side of my
jaw. It it so painful that I am taking two 10 mg. Percocet every four hours and this is not totally stopping the pain. Can anyone tell me if
they are having the same problem and any suggestions on what I can do to alleviate the pain especially when I eat. The ENT doctor is sending me to a pain specialist next week and I also want to know what to expect. Please let me
know what the pain specialist will do.

I get sores on my tongue from time to time still--2 years out from radiation. The tissue is just very sensitive and it rubs against my teeth at night when it is really dry and that alone does it sometimes. I usually take tylenol or aleve and it kills the pain and I try to eat things that sooth and coat my tongue (eg, stuff with milk in it) when it's a problem. I haven't been to a pain specialist so I can't say what they'll do to help you. I hope you get some pain relief from it!

Nelie

I had pain when I ate and found out it was from dry mouth which caused Thrush. Thrush is something we all need to watch out for. That will account for SOME of the sores on the tongue. It did for me.

The Medicine I use for it is liquid Nystatin. I thought I would not get thrush again after I was finished with treatment. Well I was wrong.

I hope this might be of some help to you. Ask your Dr. for help in this area.

Take care,
Diane

You do need to see the doctor as this could be thrush or it could be mouth sores (as Nelie noted) from rubbng your irritated toungue against rough spots on your teeth or from another cause (like biting the sides of your tongue as it -- the tongue-- could still be inflamed and a bit larger than normal).

If the former, the best treatment is an oral med, Diflucan, sometimes a Nystatin rinse is also needed. If the sores are caused by trauma, various preparations such as Ulcer-ease, GelClair (or the OTC form, Rincinol) or simple salt/soda rinses will help.

Sometimes ulcers resulting from radiation can be slow to heal due to tissue damage, and they may well need more proactive treatment -- your oncologist should be concerned about this as well.

Gail

I got mouth sores for about 8 months after.

My doc gave me Diflucan and it went away every time.

Have to admit it was getting pretyy bothersome though. I know what you are going through. You just want this to be over.

Talk soon

-robert

Hi,
I get ulcers ALL the time! I find mine are flared up if i eat anything too acidic, such as tomatoes/fruit etc. It's my own fault for pushing my luck as my mouth lining is still so sensitive!
And as others have said, my mouth also flares up with thrush persistantly. But i've found drinking a probiotic drink every day keeps it at bay for me!
Hope it feels better soon.
All the best,
Michelle

Michelle,

What is a probiotic drink?

Pro biotic drinks are little Yoghurty drinks that have live cultures in it.
Uk brands are Actimel, Yakult & Muller.
I know for a FACT they work for me as i ran out last week and within 3 days my thrush was back with avengence! & within 3 days of being back on them my thrush is finally subsiding again.
There's also a suppliment called Threelac that helps. But the drinks are far cheaper!
It's what works for you i guess!

Don't know if this is available in UK, but Dannon makes a yogurt called Activia that has probiotics in it. They recommend eating one a day for 14 days to get your stomach bacteria back to normal. Wish I had known about probiotics curing thrush. Besides Ensure Plus, yogurt was one of the few things I could eat when I had radiation and I had rampant thrush. Anyway, most flavors were good. I think peach was my least favorite.

Take care,
Eileen

Thanks to all for your responses. My mouth sores
are on the right side of my tongue near the very
bottom of my mouth. Can someone tell me if Diflucan is an over the counter medicine or if it
is a prescription drug. Is it an antibiotic?
Thanks in advance for your response.

Diflucan is a prescription drug. No it is not an antibiotic. It is something you need to take everytime you are put on an antibiotic because you will get thrush again if you don't take it.

Take care,
Eileen

You can get thrush easily just from dry mouth or altered pH.

The saliva creates a balance in the mouth of natural flora. So having a lack of saliva means the balance is disrupted. Also, thrush thrives on sugars and creamy things ie: Ensure, Fortisip, Custard etc. So all the things we eat to maintain our weight basicaly! Typical!

I too have mouth sores especially under my tongue on both side of my mouth. I have noticed that when I eat something especially sweet I feel like my tongue and lower lip swell. I went to my Ear eye and nose specialist, and he told me I would have to live with it and prescribed Maalox:Benadryl:Viscour Lidocaine. I took it one time and my entire mouth went numb including the back of my throat. If what I have is thrush how do you treat it? I would appreciate any suggestions.

Hey Hacklene, it's Minnie..........How are you?? I think of you often and miss talking to you online. Hope all is well with you and your family. Did you ever get to Norfolk this summer?

I also get sores under my tongue and on the sides, takes forever for them to heal. I often wonder if I have thrush but I don't see any visible signs of it.