Radiotherapy done but lumps come up in my mouth when I eat

Hi Trish

Welcome to the forum.

I'm wondering whether the little bumps are sores from eating?  The inside of the mouth does become very tender and easily damaged.

I was very lucky in that I didn't suffer with mouth ulcers etc during rt.  I remained eating very soft/pureed food for some time after the rt had finished and find that if I'm not careful I can cut the inside of my mouth or make it very sore if I try more crusty/crunchy foods.

I know that for some other people they've experienced sores etc from sweet food.

Wishing you all the best.

Linda

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the tip on the sweet food, I will monitor my diet in the next couple of days to see if anything cause them to erupt more than at other times. 

It's just odd since it is purely just in that area tucked just under my inside jaw line. I just wondered if it was something other than mouth ulcers, because I would have thought that mouth ulcers would come up and remain there for some time, rather than coming and going as these bumps do.

Thanks for the info

Trish

Hello Trish , i have not experienced this but i know others on this site that have had similar , i agree it is most probably linked to what you are eating as the skin etc is still recovering from the radiotherapy and will react to different foods i.e acidic ,sweet ,hot or cold . I dont think there is a lot you can do its just a matter of waiting for this area to recover . Pleased you managed to get through the radiotherapy ok , all the best .

                                                                                    Chris . x

Hi Trish,

I am one of those people who get little blisters come up on the inside of my mouth sometimes.  They are always on the radiotherapy scar sites, and follow a predictable pattern.  First I get small, hard lumps, which then turn into somethng like blisters full of clear liquid.  After that they either go down again or turn into little ulcers, which are small red patches (about 2mm) with a white ring around them.  These fade away pretty quickly, with the whole process taking 24-36 hours.  The consultant attributed it to radiation damage.

I did also go through a phase of different lumps appearing in my mouth, a few months after radiotherapy ended.  They were related to eating, and would come up during and after eating then would fade away again over the next few hours.  I had two that were related to my jaw pivot joint, but I could feel then just underneath the end of my jawbone.  More would appear down the insides of my cheeks, and these were almost like hard cords in appearance and feel.  Others were under my tongue.

I went and asked the consultant, and he explained that they were my saliva glands healing.  We have loads of saliva glands all over the inside of our mouths, and the radiotherapy kills them off temporarily.  The three pairs of large ones heal first, followed by variable numbers of the smaller ones, depending on individual reactions to the radiotherapy.

When they heal, sometimes they regain functioning before they regain the ability to drain back out into the mouth.  The opening needs to heal and reform properly before it can let the saliva out.  As a consequence, the saliva that builds up during the chewing process has nowhere to go, and can make small, painful lumps in the mouth.  If it does not drain out then it is gradually reabsorbed by the body over the next few hours, so it does not cause any harm, just some discomfort.

I don't know if either of these are helpful for you, but they may go some way to explaining what you are experiencing.

Best wishes,

Josie

Thank you so much for this Josie, this is exactly what has been happening to me and it is good to know that it is part of the healing process.  As it happens the lumps under my jaw don't come up anymore when I eat but (same as yourself) little lumps now come up on my cheeks.  Lets hope we are on the mend :-)

Regards,

Trish

Quck update on this one.  It transpires that Josie was absolutely right.

It wasn't triggered by the type of food I was eating, it was indeed the salivary glands repairing themselves.

I am happy to say that the original little lumps don't come up anymore but I have less of a dry mouth than I had, now I get the little lumps on my cheek inside my mouth, but I am quite happy about it because I now know they are slowly repairing themselves as well :-)

Many thanks Josie for hitting the nail on the head.

Regards,

Trish

Glad to be of service!

Josie x