Mouth ulcers-those small yellow or white eruption lined inside your mouth! They are simply painful and they can make your life miserable with their miniscule presence. These rashes as small as a few millimeters are caused inside your mouth by break in the mucous membrane and appear like a depression in them.
Although mouth ulcers may be of different types, the two most common types are -Ulcers caused by minor injuries -Aphthous ulcers
The first type of mouth ulcer occurs when a person has a sharp edge on a tooth, or poorly fitting dentures. In these cases, the mouth is continuously getting hit by the edgy tooth that ultimately results in ulcer. These ulcers are treated by removing the source of the injury.
Aphthous ulcers are very small, but painful ulcers that most people experience in their lives at least once, especially in adolescence or young adulthood. The aphthous ulcers occur mainly when the body's own immune system attack the mucosal lining of the mouth. These ulcers often are the result of deficiency in vitamin B12, folic acid or iron. They can also appear at the time of stress or certain hormonal circulation. They commonly occur due to the eating of certain foods. This type of mouth ulcer also may appear as a result of certain types of viral infections.
The mouthwashes are the most effective way of healing both types of ulcers. The mouthwash may be of two types: home made or commercial. In certain ulcers, the simple salt and warm water solution come to great help. The compound thymol glycerin mouthwash is another simple solution for certain ulcers. For more advanced ulcers, antiseptic mouthwashes such as chlorhexidine povidone iodine mouthwashes are applied.
If the ulcers are too painful, the mouthwashes containing local anaesthetics are applied. Local anaesthetics like benzydamine hydrochloride, choline salicylate gel or lignocaine provide temporary numbness at the affected area. However, the mouthwashes containing local anesthetics are not recommended for young children suffering from mouth ulcers. Mouthwash containing Carbenoxolone can be used to relieve the irritations of certain types of ulcers.
So far as the aphthous ulcers are concerned, treatment is based on medical advice. To treat this ulcer, mouthwash containing corticosteroids is most commonly prescribed. However for more severe cases, in addition to mouthwash, oral medications or injections are also recommended. But before you start using corticosteroids containing mouthwash, it is important to make sure that the ulcers are not caused by a viral infection.
There is another type of mouthwash to treat aphthous mouth ulcer. These mouthwashes contain a type of antibiotic called tetracycline.
Most of the mouth ulcers can be easily treated by the application of the mouthwashes. If they persist long, it is recommended to seek medical help, as they may be the outcome of poor immunity or other medical conditions.
Recurrent mouth ulcers are a source of worry for many people worldwide. It is an apparently simple condition that causes much more pain than is expected. Because of its relative commonness in some societies, it has gotten itself a variety of names such as canker sore, aphthous stomatitis or aphthous ulcer. Commonly, mouth ulcer, canker sore or whatever name you wish to call it, involves painful open sores that will exist in the mouth, believed to be due to the breaking off of the overlying mucous membrane.
In most reported cases, mouth ulcers starts off with a sort of tingling or burning sensation at the spot where the future mouth ulcer will occur. After a few days, a blister forms in the mouth with the top quickly sloughed off resulting in a red spot or a bump, which will then be followed by an open ulcer. The mouth ulcer appears as a white or yellow oval with an inflamed red border. Sometimes a white circle or halo around the lesion can be seen. The grey, white, or yellow colored area within the red boundary is due to the formation of layers of fibrin around the ulcer.
When at this final stage, a mouth ulcer, in common cases can be as wide as 3mm, while in extreme cases it could be as large as 1cm (in extremely rare cases, though). The main ulcer body can be really painful when agitated especially with the presence of food in the mouth. This is perhaps the most unacceptable part of the disease. Also, mouth sores are often accompanied by painful swelling of the lymph nodes below the jaw and this fact tends to make people confuse canker sores for toothache, initially.
Several reasons and factors have been cited as the cause of mouth ulcers, though none seems to be conclusive yet. Some evidence points to the role of infections like herpes, cytomegalovirus and yeast as the cause of mouth ulcers. However, several other viruses that have not even been conclusively identified are also being researched for their role in the cause of mouth ulcers.
Moreover, a person's immune system seems to play an important role in the cause of mouth ulcers, in some people. This process is known as an autoimmune reaction, in which in the response to certain allergies, such as to chemicals in toothpastes and/or mouthwashes, a person's immune system causes the formation of blisters in the mouth which then open up to result in ulcers. Although, no studies have been able to isolate bacteria or viruses enough to establish definite roles in mouth ulcers, some studies have shown a rise in a person's immunity against herpes and cytomegalovirus when that person suffers mouth ulcers.
Mouth ulcers may last a couple of days or in some cases, up to about 4 weeks, with the pain and discomfort persisting throughout. They may disappear without treatment, though this rarely occurs.
There are several ways to prevent and manage mouth ulcers. However, the best prevention of the disease unarguably requires sound dental hygiene which eliminates the presence of harmful microbes in the mouth, and to avoid/reduce spicy, acidic or salty foods and drinks, which tend to predispose to it.
Medically, there are only a few treatment options available to choose from. In most cases, your doctor will have to inject a small amount of a type of cortisone called triamcinolone into each ulcer. This will get rid of the ulcers rather quickly, but it will not prevent them from recurring. However, the best home remedy you can employ is to pour salt on the surface of the main ulcer. This could be really painful though, but it relieves you of the continuous, daily pain that accompanies mouth ulcers.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of an oral paste known as amlexanox (Aphthasol). When applied, this paste reduces the swelling and discomfort of mouth ulcers. Moreover, clinical trials reported in recent journals, have established the efficacy of several treatment options for mouth ulcers. Some of these include the use of prednisone to suppress immunity (reducing autoimmune responses that are believed to cause mouth ulcers in some people), pentoxifylline, a drug that increases blood flow to the mouth, thalidomide to reduce blood flow to the area affected by the ulcer, acyclovir to kill herpes, and colchicine, a gout medication.
As you can see, there are several options available when you really need to battle that troublesome sore in your mouth. You only need to choose the option most suited to you or contact your physician immediately you feel you have a canker sore or mouth ulcer, for advice.
Both Jason Uvios & Michael Russell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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