These injuries to the mouth can make even drinking water painful.
You take a simple sip of water and then you feel a painful sensation inside your mouth. The mirror reveals a round or oval, white or yellowish lesion with a red border.
It is oral thrush, and if you are one of the unlucky people prone to them, you know they can hurt a lot.
The thrush, which may appear on the inside of the cheek or tongue, gums or soft palate can make eating, drinking and do almost anything with the mouth is a severe test. And experts don’t really know what causes them, says physician Matthew L. Mintz.
About a third of people with them have a family history of them, so they may be genetic, but stress tends to make them appear more. Acidic fruits, braces and dentures can also irritate the mouth and cause canker sores, says Neal Shipley, an emergency physician at Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care in New York.
Regardless of the causes, there is a reason canker sores are very painful: There are many nerves in the lining of the mouth, which are exposed to saliva, food, drinks, and air when the tissue is torn, explains Dr. Mintz. This means that even a simple drink of water can aggravate the nerves and cause great pain.
The sores are different from cold sores, although sometimes people use the terms interchangeably. However, there are some important differences: Cold sores, which is caused by the herpes virus, are contagious, while canker sores are not.
While canker sores usually go away on their own within a few days, any home remedy that makes them more tolerable can be a godsend, Mintz says.
The best way to treat canker sores is to get an over-the-counter topical anesthetic like benzocaine, Mintz explains. Products like KANK-A, for example, helps decrease pain in the mouth.
If this doesn’t work, you can ask a doctor to prescribe a topical steroid, which reduces the inflammation caused by canker sores.
Or you can use a home remedy. Dr. Shipley recommends rinsing your mouth with milk of magnesia or putting a Tums (containing milk of magnesia) on the canker sore to neutralize any acid in the mouth that makes it more painful.
Placing a wet tea bag on the sore for five minutes can also help because the tea neutralizes acids and tannic acid reduces inflammation. Putting alum in place for a minute can dry out the area to reduce irritation, and rinsing your mouth with saline to clean it can also help relieve pain, Mintz adds.
If you are prone to canker sores, you will most likely continue to experience them at least sporadically. Still, sometimes, canker sores caused by a deficiency of the amino acid lysine, Shipley explains. Therefore, taking lysine supplements may help eliminate canker sores and prevent them in the future. In the meantime, keep your mouth clean and avoid spicy foods so they don’t make things worse.