Lichen Planus

Hi Kim, I so sympathise with you. The itching is always so unbearable. I have unbearable itching on my back. Fortunately I have a back scratcher, which is pretty abrasive but I always have a good scratch before my shower. I cannot put any cream on my back - too awkward a place, so have to live with it.

I was interested in your comments about loo paper. I had a Japanese toilet installed downstairs and it is a real gem. It works as a bidet, so I can wash every time I go to the loo. However, I still have regular flare-ups and can never go more than a few days without having to use steroid cream. I wear loose trousers and keep out of the sun as much as possible - we are supposed to have 10 minutes sun per day for good health!!

Yesterday I noticed that a mark I have had for ages, which I thought was LS as it is hard and crusty has suddenly gone a very funny colour, so once again I will have to make another appointment with the dermo. It is costing me a fortune, as I have to go privately.

I have a dentist appointment next week, so will check up to see if I have LP in my mouth. I definitely have it elsewhere!!!

Tell me a little more about Cetraben, which seems to have worked wonders for you if you don't get regular flare-ups. I am desperately trying to find something that will keep LS and LP at bay.

Keep cheerful and welcome to the club!!

Hi All The Kings Horses, yes CETRABEN is my saviour!!! It is just a pure moisturiser. Boots or Lloyds sell it although you need to ask for it at the pharmacy counter. It's approx £10 for a 500g pump dispenser, my doc prescribes it on repeat prescription for me. I keep some in the bathroom and also a smaller container full in my handbag, many a time I'm out and about and then suddenly I can feel sore. Cetreben really is soothing, it can even be keep in the fridge.

In fact, if I need cream of any sort, maybe for thrush etc i always get it from the doctor. Apparently most over the counter creams contain perfume which I'm usually allergic to!!

Good luck, let me know if you try CETRABEN

Hi girls

Just back from hols hence not been on lately. I got some spots mainly from just under neck chest area and back - prickly heat or Lp who knows? LS not been too bad, but do still use dermovate twice a week or so. I am peri menopausal and my skin on my face and back has been really bad and is seemingly hormone related, but I have often wondered if many women of this age just become susceptible to LP/LS druing this time? I bought olive oil soap on holiday as I heard that is really good for the skin so will see how I get on with that. Think I will make dr appt for the scaly bit on my hand as it is quite noticeable and a bit annoying. My mum used to get scaly bits like this on her legs and got them burned off with liquid nitrogen at dermotology, so may need to go down that route. She had an auto immune disease, so wonder if LP/LS is also auto immune related? Rambling on a bit, just putting down thoughts......

Hi kim, Will go so my local chemist, who is very helpful. I am keen to start Cetraben and see if things improve. Hi itchy person, welcome back and hope you had a good holiday. Please can you all explain to me how you manage to use steroid creams only twice a way, if less, when having a flare-up. When I have a flare-up, I am climbing the walls and certainly wouldn't be able to sleep, without using my dermovate. It would be unrealistic to say that one application would do the trick, as once things are on fire they tend to be like that for quite a few days. Do you all just grin and bear it, or is mine horribly worse?

I was looking at my Dad's skin, who is over for lunch today, and he seems to have scales just like mine. I am wondering if he has LS or LP and just suffers in silence. I wouldn't know where to start a conversation with him about this; I have difficulty with my nearest and dearest.

Take good care, Horses xxxxx

Horses,

When my LS was first diagnosed I was in a terrible state of mind and also 'down there'. I also had chronic thrush (the over the counter cream had been making things worse) and I also had a fungal infection. I used dermovate twice a day for six weeks or so until it was under control. Only then could I use dermovate once a day or less. As soon as I'm aware of slight soreness or itching I use it...... to nip it in the bud so to speak.

Hi Horses

Thanks for welcome back and I did have a good holiday. Forgot to say, I got a turkish bath on first day and they really rub your skin hard to exfoliate it before the massage and I was very alarmed after mine to see that I had red dots all over! Luckily they calmed down again, I stayed in the shade that day but it has shown me that our skin must be damaged or thin or something and I don't think I would go for one again. Re-using dermovate twice a week, that's only when I don't have too bad symptoms. During a bad flare up I have to use it at least twice a day and I find turning the shower to cold and using it down there cools it all down so helps to alleviate it a bit. The main thing for me is not to wear tight bottoms, if I do it just causes irritation. Hope you feel a bit better soon, I think these things do run in families - as well as my mum having had problems, one of my sons also suffers from itchy skin.

Hi Kim, Are you sure it was thrush you were suffering from. That is what the doctors kept telling me too, but turns out that it was LS and LP instead. The proof is when the canestan cream (or whatever other cream they give you for thrush) almost makes it worse. I had this experience for a very long time indeed, before I had the good sense to see a specialist. Strangely enough though, if I was ever given antibiotics I got almost instant relief!!! Cannot explain why!! I never really know if I am using too much steroid cream, as if I use only a tiny bit it doesn't do any good!! xx

Hi itchy (I always find myself grinning when I write your name - I chose mine thinking of poor Humpty Dumpty; I was obviously feeling sorry for myself that day!!). The Turkish bath sounds great, but I would have freaked out at the spots. I find myself constantly inspecting my arms for signs of new lumps and I have one in particular at present which looks horrific.

Were you able to turn brown at all? I miss having a suntan, don't you? xx

Hello all. @Kim: My feet are just as you describe: blisters, horrible itch at night. Congrats on the steroids working! I cannot take them b/c of their side effects. My feet recently have not been itching, so that is good news! The other day I went to a homeopath who prescribed Sulphur as a remedy, but need to hear back from her about the details. This week, I'm going to a hypnotist to help w/ the emotional aspect. So, so grateful it's not on my face or hair. Friday I'm driving 2 hours each way to see a specialist dermatologist, and will keep you all posted. Wishing all the people in this group a pleasant weekend, and a relatively symptom-free one, too.

Hi ihatelichenplanus,

Yes my feet were awful all the skin peeled off, I had splits and blisters all over them. I could hardly walk. At first it was diagnosed as pomphilix eczema but comparing my feet with pictures on Internet they weren't the same. Then my dentist told me I had lichen planus in my mouth so I'm guessing that's what has been on my feet. I'm going for a colonoscopy in a couple of weeks as this foot rash could also be an underlying problem of colitis. We shall see.

Horses,

Yes I had thrush and fungal infection on top of the lichen sclerosis!!! It was terrible.

Hello Ihate, Sorry to hear about your feet, Kim seems to be well-informed as she is in the same boat. I hope you find a solution fast and your feet heel up quickly.

Take care both of you and good luck for the colonoscopy, Ihate.

Horses xx

Hi Horses

I tanned a bit, but I use factor 30 now to protect my horrid skin a bit more and spend a lot of time in the shade. My 'itchy' name came quite naturally to me as I spend so much time itching - hey ho! Re- thrush, I think we are more susceptible to also getting thrush and last time I was at the dr, she could see thrush as well as LS so I use canestan fairly regularly - if my dermovate is not making a difference then I know thrush is there too.

Kim and Ihatlichenplanus - I had itchy feet too at one point and I put dermol lotion on them before bed and wore sports socks and it seemed to help.

Hi, I'm very new to this site but am interested to share a recent experience.

My partner has recently been diagnosed with, and had surgery for, oral cancer which involved cutting out the affected portion of her tongue and replacing it with a flap of skin from her arm. This new flap of skin developed lichen planus in exactly the place where her original tongue had suffered from OLP for many years (the surgeon actually confirmed that in a small percentage of cases OLP can be a precursor to oral cancer, but says he has never seen OLP return to a reconstructed tongue).

It seems conventional medicine doesn't have much of an idea about how to treat OLP so I suggested to her that she try colonic hydrotherapy (colonic irrigation) to address her chronic problem with constipation, in the belief that skin problems can be a manifestation of a build-up of toxins in the body due to inefficient elimination. Within a few weeks of having a series of colonic irrigation treatments the OLP seems to have cleared up, although she was also having steroid mouthwashes prescribed by the surgeon.

I know that the medical establishment can't accommodate these alternative-type approaches to disease treatments, but I can't help feeling that this would explain both her many years of suffering both constipation and OLP and why it returned after surgery and why it has now resolved itself.

Has anyone any comments on this?

Hi Ron,

I am very sorry to hear about your partner's suffering and am very relieved to hear that the problem has now b een resolved.

What does a colonic irrigation involve. Is it an operation as, personally, my skin is now so thin I don't know whether I would have any success, but at least it gives a little hope, so thank you for that.

Please tell your companion that she is in our thoughts.

Horses

It could be a vitamin deficiency. Try Vitamin C.