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A canker sore is an open mouth ulcer. This is also an aphtlous ulcer. It is very painful. The upper throat normally has a break in the mucous membrane. The cause of canker sores is unknown. The condition is known as aphthous stomatitis or Sutton’s Disease. Aphtha is the other name for ulcer. Aphtha has been the term used to give a description of ulcer areas on membranes which have mucous. Aphthous stomatitis is a condition that is seen with repeated ulcer dominated areas which are predominantly painful. It is normally distinguished from other lesions like oral bacteria or herpes simplex. They tend to recur and they also differ in the multiplicity and chronicity. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is one of the most apparent oral problems. It is observed that ten percent has it. Women tend to get more affected than men. Research shows that more than forty percent of patients with recurrent aphthae show a family history.
Epidemiological studies show that canker sores are prevalent at an average between fifteen percent and thirty percent. They normally affect people below forty five years of age. They affect people who are between sixteen to twenty five years of age. It does not normally affect people who have crossed their fifties.
Canker sores normally occur four times a year in eighty five percent of the cases. Sometimes it occurs just with an episode a month. This happens in ten percent of the cases. This also includes people who suffer from repeated recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
What is a canker sore? They are normally found inside the mouth. They are mostly visible on the tongue and the inner portion of the cheeks and the lips. canker sores normally occur in areas of the mouth that can move. They are normally seen to occur in small clusters but sometimes they are seen to pop up alone also.
There is a tingling sensation in the mouth before the sore occurs. Then the sore graduates to becoming a bump. The bump that is formed bursts after some time.
What is a canker sore wound? It is an open, shallow wound which is yellowish with a red border. These canker sores are normally very painful and the size could be up to an inch across. Most of the canker sores are much smaller. It has been seen that canker sores are formed with a fever and the person starts feeling sluggish, lethargic and uncomfortable.
Canker sores are not spread by sharing food or by kissing someone. Cold sores are normally caused by the herpes simplex virus. This is a virus that can pass from person to person. It is easy to differentiate between canker sores and cold sores by the location of the ulcer. Cold sores occur outside the mouth, around the lips, chin or the nostrils. But canker sores are found all over the mouth.
Sometimes the canker sores are found in the mouth as spots. These spots resemble chicken pox or measles. In most of the cases the rash spreads all over the mouth. But a chicken pox patient might have it on other parts of the body also.
Canker sores are different from fever blisters. These are blisters that occur on the outer portion of the lips or the corners of the mouth. These sores are also called aphthous ulcers. It has been seen that diet affects the occurrence of these sores. Mouth injuries, stress, poor nutrition, allergies to food and menstruation are things that aggravate a canker sore.
Thus canker sores can be classified as major recurrent canker sores, minor recurrent stomatitis, minor recurrent stomatitis, and herpetiform. Minor recurrent stomatitis is a condition where the ulcer is less than one centimeter in diameter. It is found in most of the canker sores and is found in seventy percent of the cases. These canker sores are seen to heal within seven to ten days with little scarring. Sometimes no scarring is seen. Major recurrent stomatitis is a canker sore that takes a longer time to heal. It takes around three weeks and more to heal. The canker sores leave a scar after they heal. Herpetiform is a condition where the sore is around two to three millimeters. These are pointed and they become bigger ulcerations. This normally is a rare occurrence.
There are cases where the illness could be due to Behcets’ disease with eye lesions along with mouth ulcers. Sometimes people with celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and HIV patients have canker sores.
