Stress control as a method to reduce perceived pain in oral lichen planus

INTRODUCTION: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic, T-cell-mediated, inflammatory and non-infectious mucodermatosis. Patients diagnosed with oral lichen planus are more prone to depression, anxiety and higher perceived mental stress than the rest of the population. AIM: This study investigated stress control methods as a means of reducing pain levels in patients with oral lichen planus. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 62 adult oral lichen planus patients who have never received any OLP treatment before. Patients with a high level of perceived mental stress received, in addition to standard pharmacological treatment, herbal sedative medication or Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation guidance (JPMR), and the patients without a high level of perceived mental stress level did not receive any additional stress control methods. The research tool was the PSS questionnaire and NRS pain level scale. RESULTS: Before the treatment, the level of perceived pain did not differ in any of analysed groups. After the treatment, in the group not using any stress control methods, the mean NRS level was significantly higher than in the group performing Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation (2.79 ±1.76 vs. 1.08 ±1.29), and also significantly higher than in the group receiving the herbal sedative (2.79 ±1.76 vs. 1.41 ±2.06). CONCLUSIONS: The use of mental stress control methods as an additional element of therapy has a positive effect on the success of oral lichen planus treatment since it helps to reduce the perceived pain level in the oral mucosa better than a standard pharmacological therapy alone.