Preventing cuts in the mouth from turning into canker sores

[gfx]

This problem has plagued me for a few years now.

When I get hit in the mouth, my teeth will cut the inside of my lips. Then a few days later, these cuts will turn into cankers.

It'd takes around 2 weeks to heal, and is painful as hell.

I do have a mouthpiece, and it does greatly reduce the occurances. But sometimes I forget to wear it, and sure enough I'll always get hit in the mouth when it's not there.

I do use canker medication on it, but it's still very unpleasant.

So I'm wondering does anyone else have this problem? How do you prevent the cuts to turn into cankers?

[mickey]

Hello gfx,

This is a new one for me. Have you tried rinsing your mouth out with salt water a few times a day? The canker sore thing needs to be looked into. While some may automatically think herpes, it may be a sign of a depressed immune system. Overtraining is one thing that an cause this.

mickey

[Hau Tien]

Originally posted by gfx
This problem has plagued me for a few years now.

When I get hit in the mouth, my teeth will cut the inside of my lips. Then a few days later, these cuts will turn into cankers.

It'd takes around 2 weeks to heal, and is painful as hell.

I do have a mouthpiece, and it does greatly reduce the occurances. But sometimes I forget to wear it, and sure enough I'll always get hit in the mouth when it's not there.

I do use canker medication on it, but it's still very unpleasant.

So I'm wondering does anyone else have this problem? How do you prevent the cuts to turn into cankers?

I am plagued with canker sores. Sometimes I get them so big that they're the size of my index fingernail. Those REALLY suck.

I find they're brought on by stress, or as you said, by a cut in the mouth that then becomes infected.

They most definitely are NOT herpes.

They are an immune problem in the mouth that is very common. There is no way to ensure you won't get them, but you can decrease their occurance. The mouthguard is one way, but you have to keep a very clean mouth, too.

I rinse 2-3 times a day with Listerine and I find this is a great preventative. When I do get a canker sore, I keep rinsing (it hurts, but afterwards there's an antiseptic/anaesthetic effect, so it's worth it). If it's in a fairly easily accessible place you can get stuff called "Zilactin" to put on it. Not only does it contain the medicine you're referring to, but it creates a thin coating over the sore so that when you play with it with your tongue (and you KNOW you can't help it) or eat you aren't aren't constantly irritating it.

Anyway... hope that helps you out... that's reduced me from having cankers a LOT (every few weeks) to only getting them 2 or 3 times a year.

[Spark]

I have had many problems with kanker sores as well over the years. I found that my girlfriend coming to visit was the main reason of the outbreak!! HAHA
She was a handful and made life stressful when she'd visit for a week at a time.

Anyhow, she used to pack a big pile of salt on it, which hurts like you wouldn't believe, but did shrink the sore considerably. I don't know if that product mentioned before is what I'm thinking of, but there is a product on the market that comes in a little packette (like a wet nap sized) that has a powder you dissolve into a glass of water and rinse in your mouth for 2 mins or something. I found that worked well too.

Lastly you can always use ... I don't remember the brand name again - that gel you would give to a baby teething. It numbs the sore so you don't have to feel aggrivated all day long.

[gfx]

thanks for the reply guys

I rarely get cankers occuring inside my mouth by itself though. I only get them when I get a cut inside my mouth.

I know people who can get huge cuts in the mouth and never have to worry about cankers *shake fist*. I'm hoping that I can find a way to prevent their occurance when I get cut, instead of having to treat it after it breaks out.

Use a mouth wash regularly sounds like good advice, thanks.

[mickey]

gfx,

You may also want o change your mouthpiece. I remember the people at Ringside selling a mouthpiece that was custom made; you had to make a mold of your teeth and send it in to a company. They would make a mouthpoece specifically designed to the contour of your teeth.

I don't know what your discipline is but a shot of whiskey or Black Label may help prevent canker sores from appearing. The alcohol stimulates a rise in testosterone levels, boosting the immune system. You may also want to give yourself more time to recuperate (I hope I spelled that right) between trainings. I say this with the assumption that you are of drinking age.

mickey

[Toby]

Timely post. I got a cut about three months ago that refused to heal. The sore kept swelling up like a blister. Finally everyone forced me to go to the dentist. He sent me to an oral surgeon. Verdict? Sometimes you cut a mucous gland and the scar tissue from the cut seals across the gland which then swells up periodically. Most of the time these heal by themselves, but because mine kept recurring and was over such a long time he has me booked in for day surgery. Last few days it's just gotten much better so I may cancel the surgery (scheduled next Tuesday). Wonder if the anaesthetist will still give me the drugs?

[Serpent]

My god, you're all a bunch of pox ridden lepers! I'd never heard of canker sores before this thread, and now I'm paranoid I'll get them! Which will probably make me get them!

Aaarrggghhh!

*runs screaming into the night*

[Toby]

Yeah, pretty gross. I'm not entirely sure what a canker sore is either. Mouth ulcer? Dunno. Anyway, mine's just a simple concept - sealed gland == swelling. Apparently common with this type of injury so I thought I'd post it. Unfortunately, the treatment for it cost AUD$95 for the oral surgeon consultation and an estimate of AUD$275 for surgery, plus anaesthetist, plus hospital fees. Luckily most of it would be covered by Medicare and HBF, but still I'd rather save the change if possible. I'll see how it goes.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Toby
Sometimes you cut a mucous gland and the scar tissue from the cut seals across the gland which then swells up periodically.

Can those occur on the bottom of the tongue?

[Toby]

Maybe, in that the oral surgeon told me that you have dozens of mucous glands in your lower lip and the tongue is sort of joined to the lower lip. Otherwise maybe the same thing but with sealing saliva glands (if saliva != mucous). Another thing might be what the dentist thought - a sebaceous cyst (sp?). Dunno if what I've got is a sebaceous cyst or not but I don't think so.

[IronFist]

Just wondering cuz every once in a while I wake up and there's a little bump on the bottom of my tongue. I can pop it and it goes away. It's weird. It doesn't hurt or anything, and it's always in the same place.

[Toby]

Ask your dentist on your regular 6mthly checkup .

[Spark]

Iron ... that's not a canker sore, i've had them on my tongue and you can't pop them that's for sure!

Toby - yup a canker sore is an ulcer.

GFX - now that I think of it, because you are trying to prevent these ulcers from occuring, I would maybe suggest treating the cuts like you would if you got a peircing in your mouth. Generally you need to wash and rinse your mouth out with Listerine after every meal - or eating anything for that matter. Hell, maybe even go into a peircing shop and ask them the treatment they suggest for a tongue peircing. I'm saying this because these treatments are geared towards preventing infection.

[Hau Tien]

If you are prone to canker sores you will not be able to prevent them (according to the numerous doctors I have seen) 100%. You can only do your best to keep the reoccurance low.

Cankers are an immune response to bacteria that is in everyone's mouth. For some reason, those prone to cankers have bodies that periodically forget that this bacteria is normal and send anti-foreign body agents to take care of it. This results in a canker.

As I said, stress sets it off in some people... other times it's a bite on the cheek or a punch from sparring.

I can't stress how simply rinsing a lot with Listerine seemed to help. Oh, and not the minty fresh kind of Listerine... the gold death kind