I was wondering if anyone has had radiation to the tongue? What are side effects?

At least half of the patients here have had some radiation to the tongue. The biggest side effect is mucocitis. Go to the dental section of the main web site, and look under complications related to treatment. There is lots of information there about this and other things you might run into during treatment.

Hi Mel
Had IMRT radiation to tongue following removal of about one third of the left half of my tongue as follow up. First side affect to hit was of course the dry mouth, lost some sense of taste, but was able to deal with it. Bottle of water was a constant companion, went through about 2 to 3 litres a day. As Brian said, mucocitis was a problem, mostly in the last couple of weeks and for a few weeks afterward.

Because of the IMRT the rad burns were concentrated in just a couple of areas, and each person will vary on how they cope with that. For myself the last couple of weeks I was just on liquid and that was not pleasant because of the rad burns on the tongue. But, they pretty much healed up after a couple of weeks of ending the Rad treatments.

Basically, from what I've seen everyone varies, each situation is different. You will find that some on this board had to have PEG tubes, and have lost all sense of taste, have dry mouth, etc, others aren't doing too bad. Finished the rad and chemo end of Nov, now I'm eating pretty much normal, taste is close to normal except for real spicy and real sweet. The water bottle is still a constant companion, but the amount of saliva has improved that eating isn't too bad. Learn to like steaks medium instead of well done.

Hope this helps.
Bob

If they didn't pull your teeth, tell them you want a teeth shield (you can also use cotton rolls). Since I got mine I have no more rad burns on the inside of my cheeks or tongue (caused by sidescatter off of crowns)