Canker sores are also known as mouth ulcers and as that latter moniker might suggest, these are ulcers that appear in the mouth.
While mouth ulcers might not seem like a huge deal, they can actually be incredibly irritating. They have a tendency to get caught on your teeth and to hurt when you eat. This can sometimes make talking difficult or be enough to take the joy out of eating. And taking the joy out of eating is about the worst thing you can do to someone…
There are actually different types of canker sore. These are the ‘simple canker sore’ and the ‘complex canker sore’. They might both seem pretty simple to you though: both of them are just painful ulcers in your mouth.
The difference is in the way these conditions present. A simple canker sore is likely to appear two to three times a year and will generally last up to a week. They generally last for about a week.
Complex canker sores meanwhile are less common and these generally appear in those that have previously had canker sores.
Although they have similarities, it is important to distinguish between canker sores and cold sores, which are not the same thing. Cold sores are caused by viruses and will appear on the outside of the mouth, usually under the nose or around the lips. Canker sores by contrast appear inside the mouth and are not caused by the herpes simplex type 1 virus.
So, what does cause canker sores? The unfortunate answer is: all kinds of things! Canker sores can be caused by everything from stress, to illness, to direct trauma. In some cases, they may be the result of irritation in the mouth, or of vitamin deficiencies. In other cases, canker sores might appear to emerge for no apparent reason whatsoever. They just felt like appearing.
The good news though is that there are also lots of ways you can squash a canker sore. In this post, we’re going to take a look at some of those methods and you can then try using them yourself to remove the canker sore quickly and start enjoying your food again!
Yes, the best treatment of all for canker sores and the one that is nearly always guaranteed to work is to play the old ‘waiting game’. As mentioned, canker sores tend to be self-limiting and will go away on their own after about a week.
So, while it might be very frustrating right now, it will pass in time. And before the canker sore completely goes away, it will first shrink and become a lot less angry and painful. Time is the great healer of all wounds! Well… most anyway.