Mouth ulcers, also referred to as aphthous stomatitis, are common in many people. The causes of ulcers in the oral cavity can be different, ranging from a symptom on the background of a disease to the hereditary factors of their appearance.
Today, you will learn what aphthous stomatitis is, why mouth ulcers appear, see photos of ulcers and learn how to treat oral ulcers.
Content
Mouth ulcers: description and photo
Sores in the mouth are small craters from the inside of the mouth, most often they appear on the moving parts of the cavity. Since the causes of such sores are different, treatment is prescribed only after finding out the reason for their appearance. As the ulcers in the mouth, you can see on the proposed photo.
Aphthous stomatitis in women appears more often and repeats with a certain frequency. Oral ulcers in adolescents are considered to be a frequent occurrence, and aphthous stomatitis can be inherited.
Depending on the size, they subdivided into the following categories:
- small - they have a diameter of from 1 to 10 mm and occur in 80% of cases. Such ulcers usually disappear within a week;
- large - have a diameter of 10 mm and are treated for about a month. Often after treatment there is a scar in the mouth;
- Herpetiformis are groups of small ulcers with a diameter of up to 3 mm. The healing of such a company takes up to ten days.
The main symptoms of aphthous stomatitis
As mentioned earlier, mouth ulcers appear on moving partsfor example, the tongue, near the gums, inside the lips or cheeks. At first they have an oval or round shape and are red-colored tumors, such ulcers appear during the day. Then they can be torn and covered with a membrane and framed around the edges with red circles (see photo).
In most cases, they disappear within two weeks and do not leave scars; ulcers appear either alone or several at a time.
Sometimes the appearance of ulcers accompanied by heat, but it happens very rarely and against the background of another disease.
Aphthous stomatitis may appear for the first time before the age of 20, in the second case, its symptoms may differ from the first and be chronic.
What causes oral ulcers?
The causes of aphthous stomatitis and mouth ulcers are many and they are all very different. We list only some of them:
- allergic reaction to a particular food product;
- problems with the human immune system;
- lack of vitamins, iron and folic acid;
- against the background of gastrointestinal diseases;
- vitamin C deficiency;
- emotional disorders of a person;
- injuries or damage to the mouth due to piercing, braces, eating hot foods;
- smoking;
- wearing dentures;
- development against the background of lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease or Behcet;
- the appearance of ulcers in women at some stages of the menstrual cycle.
Many confuse aphthous stomatitis with herpes, but these are different things, because aphthous stomatitis is characterized by the appearance of ulcers in the internal cavity of the mouth, and herpes is on the outside and represents a threat of infection, but aphthous stomatitis is not contagious.
Treatment of mouth ulcers for aphthous stomatitis
So, with the appearance of ulcers in the mouth and should take the following actionswhich will sometimes help get rid of them:
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Do not eat coarse food, which can get stuck in the mouth or gums and aggravate the condition of ulcers; - brushing your teeth should be extremely careful not to pierce the gum or cheek with a brush;
- eliminate from the diet sour and spicy;
- use pasta without sodium lauryl sulfate and other irritating ingredients.
Typically, aphthous stomatitis runs independently without special treatment, especially if you take the above measures. But if you want to relieve pain and get rid of discomfort, you can use some topical medication for rinsing and special ointments to treat the oral cavity.
Among the ointments that are used to relieve ulcers, benzocaine is often used, which causes the cavity to numb for a time. It is applied directly to the ulcer, and it helps to reduce pain while eating, drinking or brushing your teeth. It is also used lid cream gel, but it is not recommended for use for children, because it has a toxic effect.
As for benzocaine, it is also not recommended to give it to children, adults should follow the conditions for taking this drug strictly according to the instructions and consult a doctor.
Also widely used anti-inflammatory ointmentHowever, their reception is agreed with the doctor and in most pharmacies they are released with a prescription. The situation is similar with antibiotics.
How to rinse your mouth with ulcers
Also a doctor can for treatment of aphthous stomatitis prescribe rinsing agents. One of them is Dimedrol suspensionwhich is used to temporarily relieve pain when ulcers appear in the mouth in adults. Diphenhydramine in such cases is not recommended to use in pills, namely in the liquid form, so its reception will be more effective.
For severe ulcers in the mouth, the doctor may prescribe stronger steroid drugs that reduce the inflammatory process and prevent the recurrence of ulcers. Steroids are prescribed only for severe form, because they have a large number of side effects. They should be taken under the strict supervision of the attending physician.
Relieve the symptoms of aphthous stomatitis in its milder forms will help tetracycline based rinseswhich eliminate discomfort and prevent the appearance of infectious lesions in wounds. As a rule, thanks to tetracycline ulcers heal completely within a maximum of a week. However, this drug should be used for pregnant women and children with caution, since it can have side effects.
As already mentioned, in most cases ulcers during treatment or its absence disappear within a week or up to ten days. Sometimes they can be repeated, but not too often. But too frequent appearance may indicate the presence of a more serious disease in a person and you should pay attention to your condition and contact the therapist for a general diagnosis of the body.
Thus, aphthous stomatitis can be a symptom of diseases such as lupus erythematosus, celiac disease and even AIDS, but mouth ulcers do not always appear in these diseases.
However, if outbreaks of stomatitis appear too often, it is better to pass tests and test for allergies, in order to identify the cause of this recurrence.
In other cases, if we are not talking about serious diseases, you just need to monitor the hygiene of the teeth, prevent injury to the mouth and monitor their diet.
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