Lichen Planus, an obstinate skin disorder has baffled not only the patients but also the practitioners equally. The cases of Lichen Planus have been observed all over the world, irrespective of the race, skin color and culture. The medical field today finds little help for this chronic disease. Fortunately, homeopathy, the fast growing alternative medicine has a definite, promising treatment for Lichen Planus.

It is a long standing (chronic), recurring, non-allergic, non-infectious, non-contagious disease of the skin, of which the exact cause is not yet fully understood.

It can affect skin, oral mucosa, tongue, scalp, genitals and nails. However, it is less likely that it affects all the areas as stated, at the same time. It has a tendency to relapse after some months or years. Females are more frequently affected as compared to the male counterpart, however, uncommon to find it in children. Over 1.9% of the total population is affected by Lichen Planus.

Signs and symptoms:

The typical appearance of the Lichen Planus eruption is round or irregular shape, raised slightly above the skin level, brown or pinkish or black in color.

Skin, Mouth, Nails, Scalp, Genitals:

Lichen Planus largely affects skin. It may also affect mouth (oral Lichen Planus), the scalp, nails, or the genitals. It could affect one or more of the said body parts. It is not a rule that every patient with Lichen Planus will have all the said areas affected. In males it could affect the glans of penis and in females the vulva or vagina. It can be said that more areas affected, more difficult to treat. Also, experience says that the oral or genital Lichen Planus is more difficult to treat as compared to that on the skin.

Lichen Planus after stretch marks:

One of the recent cases documented at Life Force has displayed occurrence of Lichen Planus after stretch marks (striae) on loosing weight. This is called Koebner phenomenon. The Koebner phenomenon denotes development of Lichen planus after trauma to skin.

Causes of Lichen Planus

Lichen Planus is found to be an immunologically  mediated diseases. The exact cause of Lichen Planus is not very clearly understood. Some triggers have been found which are clinically found to be responsible for Lichen Planus. It is one of those conditions where the exact cause remains unknown till the date. There are theories. In some cases there are obvious links with the facts such as

1. Certain modern medicines such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain killers (NSAID), antihypertensive medicines, amalgamated dental filling, etc are known to induce Lichen Planus, which has a tendency to persist despite the discontinuation of the said medicines.
2. Contact with certain chemicals (paraphenylenediamine), drugs (Arsenic compounds, certain metals such as Gold, Bismuth, Quinacrine), exposure to light by photography development) etc.

Stress

In our in-depth studies, we have observed that certain intense and prolonged emotional stress such as anxiety, shock, traumatic childhood, sadness; disappointment, failure, humiliation, etc. often initiate the process of Lichen Planus. Stress has been found to be an important trigger in many cases, but not all.

It may be noted that this information is derived from the study at our center and may not be found in the standard dermatological text books.

Genetic

Hereditary tendency. We have observed Lichen Planus running in family. However, it is not a rule that if you have Lichen Planus, your children will necessarily have it.

Allergic component

The studies have indicated presence of certain cells, called as HLA A-3 cell markers, suggesting immunological and allergic links.

Skin, Mouth, Nails, Scalp, Genitals:

Lichen Planus largely affects skin. It may also affect mouth (oral Lichen Planus), the scalp, nails, or the genitals. It could of more of the said body parts. Is is not a rule that every patient with Lichen Planus will have all the said areas affected. In males it could affect the glans of penis and in females the vulva or vagina. It can be said that more areas affected, more difficult to treat. Also, experience says that the oral or genital Lichen Planus is more difficult to treat as compared to that on the skin.

Symptoms

• Round, irregular, thickened, flat-topped, dark skin lesions
• Slow, gradual onset
• Rough, oily look of lesions
• Intense itching
• New lesions of Lichen planus come up in areas where skin is scratched or injured. This is called as Koebner’s phenomenon
• Bleeding may be present on scratching
• Oral Lichen planus presents as white streaks on the mucosa of mouth, tongue and gums. There may be ulcers in the oral mucosa, any part of mouth
• Genital Lichen planus shows white streaks or ulcers on vulva, vagina, prepuce or shaft of penis. Genial Lichen planus in both sexed can be painful
• Lichen Planus of nails may present with ridged, deformed nails
• Burning in mouth while eating spicy food

Homeopathic Treatment:

The condition takes a long duration to evolve and slow to respond to treatment. Long term homeopathic treatment gives good results, to control the further spread, to stop the disease activity and to reverse the hyperpigmentation to an extent. Complete recovery from hyperpigmentation may not be possible in most cases. We have treated and documented good number of cases and have shown great control and some definite recovery in many cases.