Effect of Mouth Opening Training Stick Combined with Oral Massage on Mouth Opening Difficulty in Head and Neck Cancer Patients after Treatment

Objective: To study the application effect of mouth-opening training sticks combined with oral massage on patients with mouth-opening difficulty after treatment for head and neck cancer. Methods: Using convenient sampling, 60 patients with mouth-opening difficulty after treatment for head and neck cancer admitted to the Oncology Department from February 2022 to October 2023 were selected for a 2-week exercise and nursing program. The patients were divided into a control group (February 1, 2022 to November 30, 2022) and an observation group (December 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023), with 30 patients in each group. The control group underwent routine mouth-opening functional exercises combined with cork for oral support training, while the observation group underwent routine mouth-opening functional exercises combined with oral massage and mouth-opening training sticks for oral support training. The mouth-opening degree, mouth-opening difficulty level, comfort level, compliance, and quality of life were observed in both groups. Results: Before the intervention, there were no statistically significant differences in mouth-opening degree and mouth-opening difficulty level between the two groups (P > 0.05). After the intervention, the mouth-opening degree, mouth-opening difficulty level, oral comfort level, compliance, and QLICP-HN scores in the observation group were all better than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The combination of mouth-opening training sticks and oral massage with mouth-opening functional exercises can effectively improve the degree of mouth-opening difficulty, enhance oral comfort, increase compliance with mouth-opening exercises, and improve quality of life.