I was just recently diagnosed with oral lichen planus about 1 month ago. It is painful, but not overwhelming. Mostly just looking for other people with this condition to share stories with and hopefully one day share a cure with. I'm 44. So far, I've just been using a gentle toothbrush, Tom's toothpaste, no swishing just gently wash mouth with water and release. I also gently swish (hold, move around, and release not really swish) with Chlorhexidine mouthwash and that seems to help as do gently swishes with saliva substitute packs (Salivamax) overall keeping the oral mucosa clean and moist but not overstimulating the surface with friction. The specialist said it's about 10% erosive and the rest not erosive. For those who it turned in to cancer, was it immediately obvious somehow, or how did you know it had turned? The specialist gave me a steroid cream to use if the pain gets really bad, but I haven't used it yet. As another poster mentioned regarding NSAIDS, I've also used a lot of NSAIDs due to an unrelated condition and was recently tried on Sprix (nasal form of Toradol) and coincidentally (or not) that is when the lichen planus started (right after starting Sprix). So I try to minimize Advil, etc. as much as possible. My uncle had autoimmune diseases; rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and had to take treatment with Methotrexate-not sure if autoimmune disease would be genetically passed on (or a predisposition for). Happy New Year to all and look forward to hearing from everyone.