Mucositis treatments

It’s important to let your hospital team know as soon as you notice symptoms of mucositis.

Oral mucositis can be very painful, so your hospital team will usually offer you painkillers.

These might be tablets, mouthwashes, gels or sprays.

The strength of the painkillers will depend on how much pain you’re in. If you’re in a lot of pain, you may be given drugs containing morphine. You can take this by mouth, as a patch on your skin, or by injection under the skin (subcutaneous injection).

Try to be clear with your hospital team about your symptoms and the amount of pain you’re feeling, so they can give you the right care. Don’t be afraid to tell them if the treatment isn’t working. There will be other options to try. Your hospital team can also assess your risk of getting mucositis before you start your cancer treatment.

Treatments that can help stop you getting oral mucositis and help with symptoms include:

Benzydamine is an anti-inflammatory drug that contains a local anaesthetic to numb the pain of oral mucositis. It comes as a mouthwash or spray. You may hear it called by its brand name, Difflam®.

You may be given antifungal tablets or drops such as fluconazole to stop oral thrush developing from an infected mouth ulcer.

This uses low-energy beams of light delivered by a small probe. This is put inside or outside your mouth, close to your cheek.  This usually takes 20 to 30 minutes, up to 5 times a week, while you’re receiving treatment. This can be given before and during your chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment. The aim is to reduce pain and inflammation and encourage healing. This can be given both to prevent and to treat oral mucositis.

If you have a dry mouth, your hospital team may offer you an artificial saliva product such as Biotene® spray.

This is a rinse that contains calcium phosphate. It helps by cleaning and moistening the mouth and can be used several times a day.

Cryotherapy can help prevent mucositis. It can also reduce the effects of mucositis. It involves cooling your mouth with ice and is sometimes given to people receiving some types of high-dose chemotherapy. You may suck on ice lollies, ice cubes or ice chips. It can help to stop the chemotherapy drugs from getting to the lining of your mouth. You may have cryotherapy before, during and after treatment for around 30 minutes.

Your treatment for GI mucositis will depend on your symptoms and how severe they are. If you’re feeling sick, you’ll be offered an anti-sickness (anti-emetic) medicine. There are different types of anti-sickness medicines that you can try if the first one doesn’t work.

If you have symptoms of indigestion, your hospital team may recommend drugs to reduce stomach acid or numb the pain.

If you have stomach cramps or bloating, there are drugs that can relax your gut.

For diarrhoea caused by mucositis, you’ll usually be treated with a drug called loperamide. This is the ingredient used in some over-the-counter products. If loperamide isn’t effective, you may be given another anti-diarrhoea drug called octreotide. You’ll usually be given octreotide in hospital.

Symptoms of GI mucositis can be upsetting and hard to talk about, but it’s important to tell your hospital team about your symptoms so that they can treat them. They can also give you things to make you feel more comfortable, such as incontinence pads or pants, or creams to soothe a sore anus.