Canker Sores

A real pain, canker sores are also known as mouth ulcers and aphthous ulcers (aphthae)! They are small and out of sight, but at the same time painful and annoying. Mouth ulcers occur on the tongue, inside the cheek and lips, on the soft palate and on the gums. They may make it difficult to talk and eat.

Being tired and stressed out can bring on a relapse of canker sores (aphthous ulcers), the American Dental Association (ADA) says. So can fatigue, illness, anxiety and allergies, as can biting the cheek or tongue. Some patients get them after visiting the dentist for cleaning or other dental work, although some dentists add chlorhexidine to their rinse water and believe that it reduces or eliminates the problem.

The exact cause of canker sores. those small to medium-sized, sharply-painful ulcers that appear on the gums and elsewhere inside your mouth, is unknown. Some experts believe the body's immune system problems is involved. Canker sores do not appear to be contagious, compared with cold sores which are caused by the herpes simplex virus and are very contagious.

Canker sores usually heal on their own after a week or so. Some over-the-counter topical anesthetics and antimicrobial mouth rinses offer some relief from the pain. Hot, spicy or acidic foods that can irritate existing canker sores.

Canker sores are mostly harmless sores with a white or gray base and a narrow red halo border inside the mouth. For unknown reasons, they occur in women more often than men, and they often happen during a woman's periods. Why canker sores appear is unknown but it may be related to problems with the immune system, the system in our bodies that fights disease. Viruses or bacteria may be involved. Fatigue, stress and allergies increase the chances of getting one or more canker sores, as do cuts or cheek-bites. Canker sores tend to be small and heal by themselves in a week or two (painful) weeks. If you have a large mouth ulcer (larger than one-half inch or 1 centimeter in diameter), it may need to be treated with medicine. Some persons find relief from miild mouthwashes or salt water, while others prefer swabbing the sore with milk of magnesia or with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water.

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