What is Oral Lichen Planus?
Oral Lichen planus is a skin disease affecting any lining mucosa. Although it can affect any one, it is mostly women over 50 years of age who are majorly affected. Oral Lichen Planus, as the name itself suggests, targets mainly the oral cavity. It is also known to affect the oesophageal, vaginal mucosa and the overall skin.
What Causes Oral Lichen Planus?
After we got a basic understanding of the disease, let us now find out what is the cause behind oral lichen planus. The exact cause has still not been determined but it is known to be caused due to a combination of genetics and immunity. Studies have shown that oral lichen planus is caused by the body’s reaction to antigen present on the skin surface or mucosa. While some researchers believe that the disease is an autoimmune disorder where-in the oral skin cells are under attack from the white blood cells. Some other doctors are of the opinion that lichen planus is a cell-initiated immune response and does not react to any particular antigen. So, they are not ready to classify it as an autoimmune disorder as of now.
What are the symptoms of Oral Lichen Planus?
The main symptoms of oral lichen planus are lesions on the mucous membranes of the mouth. These lesions can be of different shapes and sizes like lacy, white, raised patches of tissues, red, swollen, tender patches of tissues and open sores. These lesions can occur anywhere in the mouth like the inside part of cheeks, gums, tongue, inner tissues of lips and palate. All these symptoms can cause difficulty while talking, eating spicy food and cause extreme discomfort.
How to treat Oral Lichen Planus?
There are many forms of treatment available for lichen planus of the oral cavity. These include allopathy as well as homeopathy. In most cases, the oral lichen planus does not need continuous treatment expect periodic observation. If you are experiencing pain or any form of discomfort then you should consider treatment.
Allopathy treatment consists of symptomatic treatment like topical numbing agents to provide temporary relief from the pain. Doctors also prescribe corticosteroids to bring down any inflammation or swelling developed around the lesions. These can be topical, oral or in the form of injections. A big negative of the allopathy form of treatment is that there can be side-effects.
How Can Homeopathy help treat Oral Lichen Planus?
If a person suffering from oral lichen planus is not getting the desired results from allopathy or Ayurveda, then he/she can go for homeopathy treatment as it is fast emerging as an alternative to treat oral lichen planus.
One of the main reasons for choosing homeopathy treatment is because it is one of the safest forms of treatment and as oral lichen planus involves sensitive areas like the mouth, it always helps to be careful.
Read more: Homeopathy Treatment for Oral Lichen Planus
Homeopathic treatment is best suited for skin diseases as it removes the disease from the roots and tries to find a proper cure. The problem with other forms of treatment is that they only reduce the symptoms but do not offer any concrete solution. This is exactly the reason as to why homeopathic treatment is considered to offer a much better cure as compared to other forms of medicines.