Canker sore underneath tongue! Can anyone give me some advice? Has anyone been through this same path?

Question:

About a week ago I got what appears to be a canker sore right underneath my tongue, located right on top of the vein. I thought it would go away with time but it continued to grow and boy is it painful. I feel pain for anything a slight movement of tongue while talking or even breathing. Now a week after it still hurts but it's seems to be healing but leaving a sore of scar. Is this normal for canker sores to do? I have rule out herpes because from all the information I gather herpes only occur in lips, gums and roof of mouth, while in other area canker sores occur in movable parts of our mouths (cheeks and tongue). This is so stressful, because I want to communicate with people but it hurts.

Answers:
The best way I've ever gotten rid of one, and now use it every time. I don't enforce using peroxide a lot, but in this case it's wonderful. Right before you go to bed (your saliva production decreases at night when you're sleeping), brush your teeth and the area where the sore is. Make sure you rinse the toothpaste away. Keep your tongue up for a few seconds and let it dry. Take a q-tip, dip it in peroxide, and dab it onto the sore. Keep holding it up for a minute or so to let it work. Go to bed.
I've used this many many times and by morning have only a little area where the sore was, but it doesn't hurt and heals within the day! Good luck!

Canker sores can be very uncomfortable. A good home remedy is warm salt water. Make the water very salty and swish it around the area of the canker several times a day. It will help make it heal faster and help with the pain. You can also swish hydrogen peroxide around in your mouth if you want and that will help heal. If you want to go to the drug store, purchase something called Gly-Oxide. It is a hydrogen peroxide based medication that also works well, but its a bit expensive. Needless to say, don't swallow any of this stuff.

You haven't really ruled out herpes until you get a viral culture. Microorganisms are capable of breaking our medical "rules" all the time. Think outside of the box -- for example, Whitlow is herpes of the fingers! Very painful and indolent.

Anyway, there are several other common viruses that do this--cocksackie, for one.

I am a little concerned that this lesion is right over a blood vessel. You are right, it can take days to weeks for this thing to heal. Consider going to your family doc or ENT specialist for culture, pain med and possible appropriate antiviral.

(If you are desperate, an emergency department may do this for you as well, but be prepared to be triaged and wait for hours and the get a huge bill.)

In the meantime, consider topical numbing medicine (ex oragel) you can get over the counter --but use it **really sparingly.** Try an echinacea supplement, it may help you fight the bug. Avoid citrus juices and really hot food/fluids for comfort measures.

Get a formal eval given the location over a vessel. You need a well-trained set of eyes examining this.

Wishing you well.

Canker sore underneath tongue! Can anyone give me some advice? Has anyone been through this same path?

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