Here is a review
of the signs and symptoms of oral cancer:
- Mouth
ulcers that do not heal in two weeks.
- Swellings
lumps or bumps that do not go away after a couple of
weeks.
- Hardening
of the edges of any mouth ulcer or sore.
- Wart like
growths of tissue in the mouth.
- The soft
tissue in the mouth seems to stick to the underlying bone.
- Difficulty
in swallowing.
- A denture
that just does not seem to fit comfortably.
- Slow or non
healing wound or extraction socket. Loose teeth without an
explanation.
- Numbness or
pain without an apparent cause.
- Have
problems swallowing.
- White areas
in the mouth (leukoplakia).
- Red areas
in the mouth (erythroplakia).
- Difficulty
swallowing, difficulty breathing through the nose,
cervical adenpoathy, unilateral trigeminal neuralgia, and
deafness.
For
information on a special disclosing solution that may be of
help in oral cancer screening see the Smile Shop.
How to do an oral cancer self-examination:
- Wash your
hands! Get some gauze squares or clean wash cloth. Get a
flashlight. You can also get wooden dongue blades or
disposable dental mirror from drug store.
- Check your
head and neck areas for lumps or bumps both feeling and
looking in a mirror.
- Stick your
tongue out grab it with the clean cloth and pull it out to
one side and then the other while looking along the
borders.
- Say ahh!
And exhale through your mouth slowly. Look in the throat
area. You may need the flashlight or have a significant
other hold the light for you.
- Feel
(palpate) along the floor of the mouth by pressing thumb
against the chin and finger finger in the mouth. Feel
along the cheeks. You are feeling for lumps or bumps.
- Wash your
hands.
What are you
going to find? Well look at the list on top. You will
probably look great. In our practice the most common
unhealthy finding is hairy tongue. Which is not cancer of
course. It is due most of the time to needing a better
cleaning, or tobacco products. Rarely it is due to
antibiotic therapy. The cure is getting a tongue scraper and
spending time cleaning the tongue. And if you smoke you know
what to do by now. Become a social smoker, meaning just one
or two a day. "All things in moderation." Of course main
stream thought is to quit entirely. |
