In this post we’ll look at the different reasons a tongue could get ulcers or become sore.

1. The first, and most obvious reason your tongue could have a sore is because you bit it.  Maybe you don’t remember biting your tongue but it’s very possible this is the cause for the soreness.
2. The second most obvious reason your tongue could have sores or ulcers is because you ate something that has irritated it or that you are allergic to.  If you are having an allergy your tongue could swell up pretty big so keep track of the time and if you notice a significant difference in the size of your tongue in just a few moments you had better get to a close hospital.

   If you ate something that has just irritated your tongue, something acidic like pineapple or tomato sauce, the sores will go away in a day or two.

3. What do the sores on your tongue look like?
   Are they little white dots?

   These little white spots on your tongue could be inflamed taste buds.  These dots are sort of hard and they are annoying because the tongue is such a sensitive part of the body.  Having the small white spots isn’t anything to cause alarm and they should disappear in a few days; however if the dots don’t go away or they multiply please go to a doctor or free clinic.

4. Herpes Simplex causes most mouth sores problems for people young and old.  Painful white sores or lesions on your tongue could be from the herpes simplex virus and you should go to a doctor for treatment.
5. If you notice that you have weird bumps, discoloration or sores in your mouth that were never there before, make sure you examine it daily for changes; even if the abnormality isn’t painful it is important to pay attention to it.  Most cancers do not have symptoms of pain in the beginning so if you notice a sore that doesn’t go away you need to make an appointment with your doctor for a diagnosis!

In fact, some doctors say as many as 1 in 5 children will contract Herpes Simplex 1, HSV-1, the virus that causes cold sores.

Luckily, treating cold sores and preventing lip blisters isn’t much different in children than it is in adults.

How to Recognize Cold Sores

Cold sores, unlike other mouth sores, are usually small, red bumps that appear primarily as sores on lips. They can appear inside the mouth, but that is rare. Cold sores can also creep up into the nose and they can cause a lot of pain no matter where they show up.

These fever blisters can last 1-2 weeks, often erupting a few days after a child feels a tingling in their lips. Once the sore grows, it will eventually burst and leak a white fluid. The exposed lip sore will then crust over and last as many as 10 days.

After healing, sores on lips will leave a red mark on the child’s face for as long as a month in some cases.

What Problems Cause Cold Sores in Children?

Just like adults, kids can get HSV-1 from the following:

• Sickness
• Overexposure to Sunlight
• Stress
• Chapped Lips
• Sharing Food or Drink with a Kid Who Has Cold Sores

Read more about what problems cause cold sores.

Fever Blister Treatment for Kids

There is no cure for cold sores, but you can take steps to help heal lip sores more quickly.

Here’s how to take action:

• Make sure the child is getting a balanced diet. Doctors have linked improper diets to contributing to trigger factors in cold sores.
• Give the child foods high in Lysine, a compound known for quickening the lifespan of a lip sore. Foods high in lysine include Chicken, Beans and Fish.
• Apply moisturizer to the cold sore
• Cover sores on lips with a balm
• Acetominophen and Ibuprofen can be given to some children to help ease the pain caused by lip blisters.

Get more cold sore remedies.

Prevent Cold Sores

Cold sores can’t be completely prevented, but kids can reduce the likelihood of a cold sore outbreak.

A simple step would be to make sure child washes his or her hands and face regularly, especially when they are around a child who currently has cold sores.

Get more methods to prevent cold sores.

Herpecin-L Lip Balm Stick, SPF 30

Apply Herpecin when you feel your lips begin tingling.  This balm is known to stop cold sores in their tracks.  There are a lot more reviews out there about Carmex but I think that is because Carmex has been around longer and therefore has a greater loyalty.

Herpecin is a really great product and it has cured my lip sores before they even get to the blister stage.

Ingredients:

Sunscreen - Sun burn is known to agitate the skin and cause lip sores
Lemon Balm, Vitamin B6 - skin conditioner
Dimethicone - seals moisture in skin
Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Lysine - antioxidants

Carmex Cold Sores Click Stick Lip Moisturizer with Sunscreen, Cherry Flavor, SPF 15

Carmex Lip Balm seals in lip moisture and helps prevents your lips from getting dried out or wind burned. Sun is a known culprit in causing cold sores and lip sores so having the double feature of sunscreen along with the moisturizer is a great way to cure lip sores.

Carmex is a long, trusted brand in cold sore prevention and relief.  Many people swear by it and take Carmex with them wherever they go.  For a while I even heard rumors that Carmex had addictive qualities.
It doesn’t, if you are worried.

Besides the somewhat medicinal taste of Carmex, it works really well at relieving burning, itching and swelling of mouth sores.  Carmex, in my experience, has never prevented a cold sore from appearing like Herpecin does but Carmex does an excellent job at keeping lips moisturized and soft, which will keep cold sores from happening in the long run.  If you wear Carmex daily you’ll probably have fewer mouth sores.

If I were you I would not buy the flavored Carmex.  Scents and added dyes can irritate your lip sore further.  It is always best to stick with an all natural product with no added flavors–although the flavored type is tempting to buy since Carmex doesn’t taste great.

Active Ingredients:
Octinoxate
Oxybenzone

Inactive Ingredients:
Petrolatum
Lanolin
Meadow Foam
Seed Oil
Camphor
Menthol
Phenol
Salicylic Acid in a mixture of fragrance

Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment

Blistex offers hydrating lip therapy for extremely chapped lips.  Chapped lips leave lips sore and dry and this can cause a lip sore outbreak.  The nice thing about Blistex is that the menthol in it makes your lips instantly feel cool and refreshed.  It relieves burning and itching right away and it doesn’t have the waxy taste associated with Herpecin or Carmex.  Blistex has a nourishing feel but again, it doesn’t prevent or cure a cold sore; it does help relieve the lip sores once they come though.

At the first sign of a lip sore, fever blister or severe chapping or sunburn rub this ointment on your lips to soothe and protect them.

Like Carmex (with flavoring) Blistex does offer balms that have added flavors.  This can cause further irritation to your sores if you have a bad reaction to it.  Keep this in mind when making your product choice.

Active Ingredients:
Allantoin
Camphor
Menthol
Phenol

Inactive Ingredients:
ammonium hydroxide
beeswax
calcium disodium EDTA
calcium hydroxide
cetyl alcohol
dimethicone
flavors
glycerin
lanolin
lauric acid
mineral oil
myristic acid
oleic acid
palmitic acid
paraffin
petrolatum
polyglyceryl-3 diisostearate
potassium hydroxide
purified water
SD alcohol
silica
sodium hydroxide
sodium saccharin
stearyl alcohol

Be aware of ingredients and allergies.  If you are allergic to any of the ingredients listed do not use that product.  A small amount of an ingredient you are allergic to applied to an open sore can seriously negatively affect your good intentions and cause more pain.

The fact is, lip sores are extremely contagious.  They are most contagious when the blisters are opened and not scabbed yet.  The pus is the cold sore virus and when you have open mouth blisters this virus is available to contaminate the world.

You want to be sure to keep your hands very clean and be sure not to touch at your mouth.  This can be difficult since you are probably self-conscious of your lip sore and it is easy to touch at the area subconsciously, please try not to do this.

Wash your hands and carry sanitizer with you while you are suffering with a cold sore outbreak.  Clean hands will prevent you from spreading the virus to others and it will also protect you from reinfecting yourself.

Be very careful not to touch, scratch or rub at your eyes after touching your lip sore.  Having the Herpes Simplex 1 virus in your eye is dangerous and can cause blindness.

You can transmit the cold sore virus by kissing and by oral sex!  Don’t share chap stick, towels, beverage glasses, or eating utensils-unless you are trying to pay back someone for giving you a cold sore.

It is especially important to stay away from the elderly, infants and ill people when you have contagious lip sores.  These people are especially susceptible to the virus and could end up getting very ill if they are exposed and contract a lip sore.  With a low immune system their bodies don’t have the ability to fight off the virus and therefore they get extremely sick and may have multiple out breaks.

The sad thing is, you can’t cure cold sores, also known as fever blisters.

But you can take steps to prevent cold sores and it’s best to know what triggers a lip sore outbreak for your body.

COMMON COLD SORE TRIGGERS

If you’re going to prevent new sores on your lips, get to know these common triggers that many of us don’t give enough credit to.

1. Stress: We all have too much stress in our lives. But when stress really gets to us, it’s common for a cold sore to erupt. Talk about adding wood to the fire.
2. Not Enough Sleep: The average adult should get at least 6-9 hours of sleep a night. If you’re not getting that much, you could be tempting a mouth sore to appear.
3. Overexposure to Sunlight: Too much sunlight or exposure to UV rays can dry out the skin and attach your lips. If you’re going to be in the sun for an extended period of time or in the tanning booth, make sure you use a lip balm to protect your lips.
4. Dry, Chapped Lips: Deal with chapped lips immediately. The last thing you want to do is create lip sores by not taking care of them.
5. Menstruation
6. Pregnancy
7. Fever: Getting a cold or flu can reduce your body’s hydration levels, which can spur fever blisters.

While not all of these causes of cold sores can be avoided, some of them can at least be addressed before it becomes too late. If you think you are about to have some mouth sores, it’s best to get prepared with some pain relievers and natural home remedies for mouth sores.

While you can’t “cure mouth blisters” you can use several over-the-counter medicines to help get over these mouth sores quickly.

WHAT ARE CANKER SORES?

Canker Sores, also called mouth blisters, are small sores that appear on the inside of the mouth. Sometimes referred to as mouth ulcers, these sores can show up on the tongue, roof of the mouth, cheek and inside of the lip.

Here’s the kicker too, no one knows what causes mouth blisters.

Canker sores are not like cold sores, which only occur on the outside of the mouth and sometimes in the nose.

But like cold sores, mouth blisters are incredibly painful and very irritating. They typically last 1-2 weeks. You can choose from several medicines to help speed up the healing process.

BEST OTC CANKER SORES TREATMENT

The following medicines will help you heal blisters in the mouth:

Anbesol - A topical ointment that comes in a tube and can be applied for relieving pain from toothaches, canker sores, cold sores and even teething in babies.

Orajel - This medicine works on mouth blisters but is also heavily geared toward toothaches.

Orabase - Produced by Colgate, Orabase contains Benzocaine, which inhibits pain from recurring canker sores.

Zilactin-B - Mouth sore gel that works to form a bioadhesive barrier that covers the lip blister. It’s formulated to last as many as 6 hours with re-applying.

Have you used any of these medicines? Which one works best for you?

MY MOUTH SORE MAKES IT HURT WHEN I EAT

If you have a canker sore, avoid foods that are either very spicy or very salty.  Bland tasting foods are usually the best in general.  Also avoid foods which have citric acid in them (like orange juice) as they can irritate your canker sore.  A good way to dull the pain is to eat cold foods like ice cream or popsicles.

WHAT DIET CHANGES CAN I MAKE TO PREVENT MOUTH SORES

Foods high in the B vitamins can have a positive effect in reducing the occurrence of canker sores. If you notice that you your canker sores  usually occur after you eat or drink a lot of a certain type of food  (again, such as juices high in citric acid or extra salty or spicy food), you’ll want to make a mental note of this and avoid those foods in the future.

One last thing to keep in minds is that certain kinds of toothpastes and mouthwashes contain an ingredient known as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. This ingredient has been associated with causing an increase in mouth sores breakouts for some people. So check to make sure that your toothpaste isn’t the reason for your canker sores.

Here’s to a healthy and pain-free smile!

Once contracted, cold sores will lie dormant in your nervous tissue. Everyone has certain lip sore triggers that will prompt a new sore to erupt.

Fever blisters can’t be cured but you can take steps to prevent cold sores and treat them to shorten their lifespan.

Cold Sore Signs and Symptoms

Here’s some things you should look for to identify lip sores:

• Tingling of the lips. This sometimes precedes lip blisters by 1-2 days.
• Small, hard bumps under the skin around the mouth
• Small and painful blisters filled with fluid on around the mouth. These blisters are often raised, red and very painful.

Cold sores last 7-14 days and can leave a lasting red bump for up to a month after a lip sore has erupted. They can also appear on your nostrils and sometimes inside your mouth.

After a cold sore has appeared, it will eventually break and release fluid. After that, the lip sore will crust over and will create a scab that can last for about 10 days.

Cold Sores Are Contagious

Cold sores brought on by HSV-1 are very contagious, especially during the period that they have erupted on your skin. It’s best to stay out of contact with others during this time and avoid touching you sore with with your fingers.

Do not share food, drinks, utensils or even towels with someone who has an open fever blister.

Cold sores are even contagious when they are not present, but spreading them during this time is rare.

Preventing Cold Sores

There are several steps you can take for preventing cold sores. To do so, you must know:

1. What are your cold sore triggers
2. How to prevent cold sores

Some simple steps to take include eating healthy foods, wearing sunblock and avoiding stress.

Cold Sores Treatment

If you have cold sores, you will want to take steps to make sure your body can deal with the pain and also shorten the lifespan of the cold sore.

Here’s some more resources for treating lip sores:

• The truth about Abreva ointment
• Cold Sore Pain Killers

Medical Attention Sometimes Required

Cold sores that last for more than two weeks can be cause for consulting a medical professional. Most cold sores will not need medical assistance, but if your symptoms are severe, you’ve had irritation in your eyes or you have a pre-existing condition that lowers your immune system, it’s best to get the help you need.

Cold sores, also called fever blisters, are caused by the Herpes Simplex 1 Virus (HSV-1). They usually appear as small, red, painful bumps on and around the lip area and sometimes nostrils. They rarely appear inside the mouth.

What Are Canker Sores?

Canker sores are small, painful sores inside the mouth that can either be red or have a white coating.

Canker sores most commonly appear on the soft tissue of the inside of your lips and cheeks and sometimes under your tongue. They can appear as a single mouth sore or as a small cluster of sores inside the mouth.

People in their 20s are most susceptible to canker sores, although anyone can experience them.

Are Canker Sores Contagious?

NO! Isn’t that great? Unlike cold sores, canker sores are mouth ulcers that do not spread from person to person.

It’s still a good idea to not share food and drinks while you are experiencing a canker sore, but you won’t infect another person if you do.

What Causes Canker Sores?

No one knows for sure what causes these mouth sores. Doctors have found that canker sores tend to run in families, but that they won’t spread from person to person.

Other experts suspect canker sores are linked to stress, nutrition deficiencies, hormones, menstruation and possibly the foaming agent found in some toothpastes and mouthwashes.

How To Treat Canker Sores

• Over-the-counter medicines are able to numb and reduce swelling of canker sores
• Use toothpaste and/or mouthwash that does not contain SLS
• Apply tea bags to the sores. Appropriate teas include green and black teas.

What To Avoid During Canker Sore Outbreaks

Spicy and acidic foods can irritate canker sores and make them last longer than you’d hope. Try to avoid those as well as any sharp foods that may aggravate and poke the mouth sores. Avoid anything that may irritate the canker sore, including brushing it with your toothbrush.

People rarely get the Herpes Simplex 1 virus inside their mouth.  It usually attacks the outside mouth region like the lips or the nose and chin area.  However, there have been occassions that cold sores have developed inside your mouth.  More likely though, if you have a sore inside your lip you have either bitten your lip and it is now infected or you have a canker sore.

Canker sores aren’t contagious.  Science doesn’t have an answer as to why we get sores inside our mouth like canker sores.

If you have a canker sore they can sting and make your whole mouth feel swollen.  Here are some things you can try to treat the sore inside your lip:

Don’t eat any acidic or spicy food. Once that type of food hits the open, white wound of your canker sore you are going to jump up in pain!  It will sting terribly so don’t eat oranges, pineapple, barbeque sauces or lemonade, etc. until the sore inside your lip has gone away.

It usually takes about 7-12 days for them to completely disappear.

Biting your cheek with your teeth or cutting it with a sharp piece of food like a tortilla chip can cause a canker sore to appear. Try not to bite the inside of your cheeks if you have a habit of doing that when you are nervous.  The abrasion is enough to bring on a canker sore.

Fatigue, stress and allergies all have a tendency to cause you to get canker sores.  It’s difficult to never be stressed, tired or allergic to something but if you pay attention to your body and you are prone to getting sores on the inside of your lip you will be able to tell why you are getting them.  If they erupt when you have been working hard and not sleeping well you will know that if you want to stop getting canker sores you will need to rest more often!