What is moss? Causes of moss

Many people may not know much about lichen, but in fact, the incidence of this disease is relatively high, especially in the oral area. It often appears as white granular reticulation or stripes. Women over 40 years old are more susceptible to this disease.

1. Lichen planus is actually not ringworm, but a relatively common superficial, non-infectious, chronic inflammatory disease that often occurs in the oral mucosa, but can also occur on the skin, genitals, fingernails or toenails. Oral lichen planus is characterized by the appearance of various forms of lesions on the oral mucosa (cheeks, tongue, lips, palate, etc.), such as white granular stripes or reticular, dendritic, plaque-like, annular papules or blisters, which often have obvious left-right symmetry. According to the different lesion morphology and severity, it can be divided into three types. Reticular type: mild symptoms, only keratotic lesions; atrophic type: congestion, redness and swelling of the mucosa between the stripes; infiltrative type: the mucosa of some lesion areas is rough and thickened, and the typical manifestations are superficial erosion or ulceration, bleeding and obvious pain in the lesion area.

2. Oral lichen planus is more common in women over 40 years old, and the symptoms worsen with age. Most doctors believe that oral lichen planus is essentially a chronic autoimmune disease. Whether it is a precancerous lesion is still controversial, but there are reports of lichen planus turning into cancer.

3. A recent study showed that the canceration rate of oral lichen planus is 1.75%. It is a recurring, pruritic, inflammatory rash. It is characterized by small, scattered, polygonal, flat, purple-red papules, which can also merge into rough, scaly patches. Oral lesions are often present. The cause is unknown. Certain drugs (such as arsenic, bismuth, gold) or exposure to certain chemicals used to develop color photographs can cause lesions similar to those of lichen planus. Long-term oral administration of phenytoin or quinidine can produce hypertrophic lichen planus of the lower limbs and other skin and systemic damage. Other factors include liver disease and graft-versus-host reaction.

4. It is an inflammatory skin disease that can affect the skin, mucous membranes, nails and hair.