Mouth ulcers, or oral ulcers, cover a wide variety of conditions and descriptions but the unifying factor is that they are all painful, annoying, and gross. What is possibly the worst aspect of mouth ulcers, though, is the fact that they can arise from nearly anything. Physical trauma like biting your cheek or chipped teeth can cause ulcers just as easily as a diet with not enough vitamins or too many of the wrong vitamins. Furthermore, a mouth ulcer can be an indication of a bacterial infection or even cancer. Problems that reside in areas like your gallbladder or other internal organs can even manifest themselves into mouth ulcers. What is a simple person with a canker sore to do? This is why, long before you try to narrow down the cause of your mouth ulcer, it is important to know exactly what mouth ulcers are.

Despite the wide-ranging causes and appearances of mouth ulcers, canker sores, and fever blisters, we can answer the question of “what are mouth ulcers?” with a simple precept: A mouth ulcer is any appearance of an open sore in the mouth because of a break in the mucous membrane. Your mouth and the inside of your lips are covered with a membrane of mucous because it is intended as a safeguard against infections and bacteria. Granted, your mouth is filled to the brim with germs and bacteria every second of every day but, if not for these mucous membranes, your mouth would be covered with ulcers and sores.

As mentioned earlier, the break in your mucous membrane can arise from just about anything no matter how insignificant. A visit to the dentist can result in a mouth ulcer simply because of the pressure on your mouth from the tools, for instance. No matter the cause, though, the vast majority of mouth ulcers fall into one of two categories: Canker sores or cold sores. Cold sores are of course widely known as the result of the herpes simplex virus, which affects over ninety percent of the population. This “working man’s” herpes is essentially harmless, although few of us would think that when we show up to the first day on the job with what looks like the remains of a volcanic eruption on our lip. Canker sores are more likely to appear on the inside of the cheek, although they can thrive anywhere they please.

While some mouth ulcers can be indicative of something dangerous like cancer, it is much more probable that you have simply eaten too much of the wrong food or have quit smoking. When dealing with a mouth ulcer, over the counter antihistamines or cortisones work just fine. A prescription may be required if you want something to really nip the problem in the bud but this is often not necessary. The fact of the matter is that the mouth is the fastest healing area of the body and a canker sore, cold sore, or any other mouth ulcer will heal itself fairly quickly whether or not you use any medication.

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