Mrs X had been troubled by longstanding soreness of the mouth. After moving to a new city she registered with a dentist who made a clinical diagnosis of oral lichen planus. A referral was made to the local Oral Medicine service for a specialist opinion. The diagnosis in the mouth was confirmed by biopsy. The biopsy specimen did not include any cancer or other worrying cells. Treatments were started to help control the soreness. A referral was made to a Dermatology specialist who confirmed that the changes to the fingernails and the genital soreness were also due to lichen planus. The patient had never considered that there might be a link between the symptoms at the different sites.
To find out more about this condition read the Patient Information Leaflet (PiL) prepared by the Society on Oral Lichen Planus.