What are Canker Sores?
Filed Under Canker and Cold Sores |
Canker sores are shallow, painful sores on the inside of the lips, the inside of the cheeks, or on the gums. They begin as small, reddish swellings. Then they burst, and the ruptured sores are covered with a white or yellow membrane. The edges of the sores are still red, and look like a painful red halo. Without treatment, canker sores (medically: aphthous ulcers) heal in 2 to 3 weeks.
Canker sores can be as large as a nickel, or as small as the head of a pin. They appear suddenly, and often disappear just as suddenly. There are several types of aphthous ulcers: technically, canker sores are “recurrent aphthous ulcers” or “recurrent aphthous stomitis”. “Aphthous” is derived from the Greek word “aptha” - which means “ulcer”. “Canker” has a Latin root - from the word “cancer”. Canker sores, however, are not cancerous.
Recurrent canker sores afflict 20% of us. That means 56 million Americans suffer from these small but painful ulcers. Anyone can get canker sores, but teenagers and young adults get them most often, and women are afflicted more frequently than men. The sores may run in families, and experts are uncertain whether they are contagious.
Most people who suffer from canker sores first develop the sores between the ages of 10 and 20. Children as young as 2, however, may get aphthous ulcers. The frequency of canker sore recurrences varies considerably. Although many people have only one or two episodes a year, others may have a continuous series of canker sores.
