If you have experienced mouth sores, then you must have known how painful they could be. Actually, mouth sores can be very annoying; they can interfere with eating and drinking. Anything can cause sores in oral cavity, ranging from loose orthodontic wires to sharp edges of a cracked tooth or filling. Also, bacterial, viral and fungal infections can cause some types of mouth sores. Furthermore, they might be indicative for some serious systemic diseases. Generally, if you have mouth sores, you must eat and drink well until they heal.
The most commonly occurring type of mouth sores is canker sores or aphthous ulcers, these are not contagious, and they are painful, creamy-white small ulcers, surrounded with red borders. You might confuse canker sores with cold sores, but usually cold sores appear outside the oral cavity, while canker sores occur inside it.
Despite the real cause of aphthous ulcers is unknown, some scientists believe they are due to immunological factors. However, there are some predisposing factors which encourage occurrence of canker sores, like exhaustion, stress, and certain types of allergies.
Usually, canker sores are self-eliminated and heal after a week or two, but outbreaks are very common. While having canker sores, it will very comfortable for you to avoid very hot, citreous and spicy foods. Application of a topical ointment or a protective barrier can protect aphthous ulcer from further trauma inside oral cavity. Actually, A lot of prescribed as well as OTC drugs are available to relief painful canker sores. Recent studies have revealed that jojoba oil can treat canker sores effectively. Also, topical application of liquorice root extract and milk of magnesia produce remarkable results.
Cold sores are another type of common mouth sores, they are also known as herpes simplex or fever blisters. Cold sores are painful groups of blisters, filled with fluids; they usually erupt around lips or chin, or under the nose. Herpes Simplex virus type I is known to cause cold sores, therefore, they are very infectious.
If you had primary herpes infection in your childhood, then more likely, the virus has stayed in your body and it will cause recurrent attacks from time to time; these attacks are manifested by the appearance of cold sores, mostly at the edges of your lips. In some cases, these blisters might accompany bad fever, sunburns or stress.
Cold sores will heal usually in a week or two. Your dentist will prescribe some creams to relief pain; also, there are many OTC creams available in the market. If your blisters are very painful and persistent, your dentist might prescribe anti-viral drugs, like acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir, and penciclovir.
Moreover, there are some home remedies and diet supplements which are claimed to treat herpes simplex, most of these alternative remedies include; aloe vera, bee products, echinacea, eleuthero, L-lysine, and zinc.