Well, reading these forums is eliviating my fears, and calmed me down some. I'd just like to say that this is a very friendly community and the support you guys gives to others comes accross everyone.
I'm sure this is nothing... but here goes
Im 19 years old, and I live in Anchorage Alaska. Im now a university student, and recently I've developed a few white painful sores on the bottom, inside part of my lip. It was also the same place where I also put some tabaccoo, (and I only did it a couple times, maybe 10 times my whole life time, but I did it about twice at work this summer)
I haven't told anyone yet personally, but I am calling dentists on the phone asking for advice. They do say I need to get it checked up. The sore is about 1 mm long, and there are 2 of them on the bottom portion of my lip. It is very painful to eat, and sometimes I notice that it can be hard to swallow (as if there were feathers in my throat blocking my esophogus). I also experience some drymouth more often than usual. Hopefully its just some swelling from like a bug bite, (what im hoping), but does any one have any information on this? I try to look online, I read the symptoms, and I fall under alot of categories. It ranges from Mouth cancer, small ulcers, canker sores, herpes, and various other cancers. It wasn't till I entered Mouth Cancer Treatment on google till I came across this site.
If anyone has any information on what I could possibly have, please reply.

Hello Georgie, First lets get to the part about never smoking or dipping again...got it?

There are many things that show up in the oral cavity that are not cancer. At your age it would be extremely unlikely that you have this kind of cancer. Possible yes but not likely. That dosn't mean you should ignore this but you shouldn't be living in fear.

Please do have it checked and let us know the outcome.

Georgie,

Hi. You don't mention how long these white areas have been present. If less than 2 weeks and you notice that they are getting better, they may be ulcers caused by a virus. Typically, apthous ulcers will go away, even if left untreated, in 10 to 14 days. They appear as white, slightly concave, areas sometimes with a slightly red border.

These ulcers usually occur when a person's resistance is low, i.e., when they coming down with a "cold". So it is common to have other cold symptoms, such as swallowing problems and dry mouth. They can be quite painful and many times they occur in clusters of 2 or more.

I suggest that you see a dentist as a diagnosis cannot be made on the phone (or over the internet). I hope that this is what you are experiencing and as soon as you find out, let us know. I'm sure that you will no longer use tobacco after this experience.

If the diagnos is apthous ulcers, I will be glad to tell you what you can do to help prevent another breakout. It works for me and hundreds of my patients.

Good luck.

Jerry

thank god, I went to see my dentist and at first he made me tell my story. He took a 1 minute observation and said it was just a small cankor sore / ulcer and it will go away in about another 1-3 weeks. He said it is linked to my high protein diet because Like you guys said im lacking nutrients found in fruits. As far as my throat, the difficulty swallowing isnt happening as much as cancer is out of my mind. I feel kinda childish in jumping to the worst conclusion and wasting your guys' time. Im now going to slap all my friends that chew tabacco, and talk to the guy at work that got me to chew a couple times. THANKS ALOT! ! !

oh yea please share the information on how to stop these ulcer breakouts, so when others post on the site with similar symptoms, I can pass the advice on to others as well as use it my self

Georgie... while we are on this subject, look at your toothpaste. There is an ingredient in many called SLS - sodium laurel sulfate. It has been shown to aggravate and promote the appearance of these types of ulcers in people who carry the virus that causes them. It is put in since it is a detergent, but many good toothpastes are out there without it.

To all that get ulcers:

Buy a bottle, over the counter, of Lysine 500mg. Very cheap and available in any drugstore. This will work both for "cold sores" on the lip or ulcers in the mouth.

There are two ways to do this.

1. If you get ulcers on a regular basis, take 1 tablet every morning (as a preventive) and you'll find that you get less of them or possibly none at all. If one happens to sneak through, and you feel a tingling or some other early sign, then take two tabs in the morning and 2 tabs at night until the ulcer goes away. You should notice that if in fact you get one every so often, they will not last as long by taking the 4 a day.

2. If you don't get them often, you can wait until you feel an early warning sign, and then start the 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening.

I'd love to hear from anyone that finds this helpful. I've been recommending this to my patients for over 30 years.

Jerry

Jerry, my daughter has had serious mouth ulcer problems for years. Our dentist recommended the Lysine and, unfortunately, it didn't seem to help her at all. Hers seem to be brought on by stress - so maybe that has something to do with it. She sometimes has them all over her entire mouth - much like my husband's mucositis during treatment.

Anita

Yea I use a crest whitening brand with SLS, Ill try to go with a sensodine toothpaste brand, and Ill look up on the tablets if i get them in the future. Thanks a bunch guys

Hi Anita,

Just curious if your daughter tried taking the Lysine on a regular basis as a preventive. Also, was she taking 2,000 mgs a day when they started?

Stress will lower ones resistance and this will allow the virus to take hold.

Check to see how she was taking it and please let me know.

Jerry

Anita - this is likely herpes simplex one, and it is a virus that is with you all the time, but at times of stress when your immune system is not up to speed, it has a chance to rear itself into an outbreak. Get your doc to write her an Rx for Valtrex, 500 mg, and these greatly reduce the number of outbreaks and can be taken preventively under times of physical or emotional stress. For outbreaks on the lips I have found that Abreva (OTC) ointment works well for shortening the period of activity. HSV1 has a duration period of about 10 to 14 days. There is no cure for it, and the virus lives on the ganglia of the nerves, mostly unilaterally.