Is nasopharyngeal cancer harmful?

Is nasopharyngeal cancer harmful? Nasopharyngeal cancer is a common tumor disease. After the disease occurs, it will cause nasal congestion, seriously endangering the patient's life. Once the disease occurs, it needs reasonable treatment to avoid cancer metastasis, lymph node enlargement, and optic nerve damage.

What are the common harmful consequences of nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

1. Swollen cervical lymph nodes: caused by tumor metastasis to cervical lymph nodes, the incidence rate is as high as 79%, and metastasis can occur unilaterally or bilaterally. Swollen cervical lymph nodes are painless, hard, and movable in the early stage, but adhere to the skin or deep tissues and become fixed in the late stage.

2. Eye symptoms: If the tumor invades the orbit or eye-related nerves, visual impairment or even blindness, visual field loss, diplopia, protrusion of the eyeball and limited movement, neuroparalytic keratitis, etc. may occur. Optic nerve atrophy and edema can be seen in fundus examination. This is a more obvious symptom of late stage nasopharyngeal tumor, and some patients seek medical treatment for this symptom.

3. Symptoms of cranial nerve damage: As nasopharyngeal tumors infiltrate the surrounding areas, any cranial nerve compression will cause corresponding symptoms and signs. However, the trigeminal nerve, abducens nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, and hypoglossal nerve are more affected, while the facial nerve, olfactory nerve, and auditory nerve are less affected.

4. Distant metastasis: Nasopharyngeal tumors can metastasize to various parts of the body, but are more common in bones, lungs, and liver. Metastasis can occur to multiple organs at the same time. Different symptoms of nasopharyngeal tumors will appear depending on the location of metastasis.

5. Cachexia: a terminal manifestation, which may lead to death. Death may also occur due to sudden massive bleeding.

What are the oral care measures for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

1. The size of the toothbrush head: The length of the toothbrush head should be 2.5 to 3 cm, the width should be 0.8 to 1 cm, there should be 2 to 4 rows of bristles, with 5 to 12 bundles of bristles in each row, and the front end of the toothbrush head should be round and blunt.

2. Hardness of bristles: Bristles are generally divided into three types: soft, neutral, and hard. Normally, a neutral hardness toothbrush is used, while a soft bristle toothbrush is more suitable for nasopharyngeal cancer patients. When buying a toothbrush, press the bristles with your fingers. If your fingers feel a tingling sensation, it means that the bristles are too hard and should not be used. Currently, most toothbrushes on the market have nylon bristles. The elasticity, uniformity, and hardness of nylon bristles are better than those of pig hair toothbrushes, and are more conducive to oral health.

3. Selection of brush head and handle angles: There are two types of toothbrushes on the market: straight and angled. Straight toothbrushes are more powerful when used, and angled toothbrushes are better for cleaning back teeth. The best angle is 17 to 20 degrees. Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer should choose an angled toothbrush, which can effectively clean oral hygiene.

I hope everyone can understand nasopharyngeal cancer as soon as possible, and in daily life, you need to pay attention to conditioning methods, a reasonable diet, and also pay attention to nursing matters, effective differential diagnosis, and usually pay attention to your own hygiene. When you suffer from nasopharyngeal cancer, don’t be too nervous. You should condition yourself scientifically, and also pay attention to your own health care methods and provide effective care.