The Treatment Of Cryotherapy For Oral Diseases

Oral problems are bound to arise if high level of chemotherapy is applied on an individual. However, they can be treated easily with the help of cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy is the treatment for pain that uses a method of localised freezing temperatures to make an irritated nerve insensitive. Cryotherapy is also used as a method of treating some cancers, such as prostate cancer and to treat abnormal skin cells by dermatologists.

In cryotherapy, a probe is inserted into the tissue next to the affected nerve. The temperature of the probe drops effectively to freeze the nerve. The freezing inactivates the nerve and as a result, painful nerve irritation is relieved. Cryotherapy is a relatively safe and effective means of treating localised nerve irritation.

What are the conditions that can be treated with cryotherapy?

As earlier said, cryotherapy can be used to treat conditions that involve irritation of an isolated nerve. Such conditions include benign nerve growths (neuromas) and pinched nerves (nerve entrapments). The process also poses as a major treatment for most dentists in Sydney. It is also used to treat severe nerve irritation between the ribs (intercostal neuralgia), ilioinguinal neuroma, cluneal nerve entrapment, lateral femoral cutaneous nerve entrapment, hypogastric neuromas and interdigital neuromas. Many forms of oral nerve entrapment can often be treated with cryotherapy.

Treating oral mucosistis

Before we go further, you must know what oral mucositis is. It is a common side effect of high-dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy to the neck and head, affecting 75 percent of patients. This causes pain, interfering with the person’s ability to eat and drink. It is often known as mouth ulcers which provide an entry point for bacteria, leading to sepsis and death in immunocompromised patients.

Such conditions can be easily treated with the help of oral cryotherapy, which is already used by most dentists.

Why does cooling the mouth helps?

Oral cryotherapy reduces blood flow to the mouth by narrowing the blood vessels, which further limits the amount of fluorouracil-based and high-dose melphalan-based chemotherapy drugs delivered to the tissues. Given this mechanism, it helps a lot to those who had, or are receiving radiotherapy.

Treatment modalities using cryotherapy

Various methods have been devised in the use of cryotherapy. Some of them include the spray freeze technique, the cryoprobe method, the applicator technique and the thermo-coupler method. Liquid nitrogen is the best and universal freezing source because of its low boiling point and its ease of use.

Cryotherapy is one of the best solutions for oral treatments,. With the ease of insensitiveness, dentists can treat the affected area quite easily.