Hi everyone. I'm a 26 year old female, smoked for 8 years but quit cold turkey 3 years ago. I was diagnosed with HPV 2 years ago after an outbreak, but haven't had any trouble with it since.

A month ago, I found what appeared to be a small whitehead on the floor of my mouth, slightly right of center. I poked at it thinking I might be able to pop it, but that only made it angry (red and purple). So after reading about ranula, mucoceles, and blocked salivary glands, I let it be for the standard 2 weeks. Since then, I've seen it turn into a small oblong-shaped blister, pop (I never felt it pop until I saw that it had deflated), and I've seen the affected tissue seem to spread. When it's not a blister, it looks like a slightly red and white raised bump that isn't painful whatsoever. When I first noticed it, it was the size of a large grain of salt. It is now the size of a pencil eraser. It's a bit difficult to detect now that it's not an obvious blister, but I can absolutely feel a bump with my tongue and finger.

Last week, I suddenly developed a sore throat, pain in my neck muscles and right ear, and the feeling of a lump in my throat when swallowing. The sore throat is strange, not like I've ever felt with a common cold. I can only describe it as feeling like it's it's very deep in my throat and very cold. Ibuprofen and Tylenol don't help at all.

I saw my GP this morning who says it's nothing to worry about, probably a blocked salivary gland and an infection. He did note that the lymph nodes on the left side of my jaw were swollen, and remarked that it was odd given the ear pain I felt was in my right ear. I've made an appointment with an ENT one week from today.

I'm very worried. The throat/neck soreness has persisted for 6 days now without a hint of getting better and the lesion in my mouth only seems to be growing. Is it possible for symptoms to come on so strongly and so quickly like this?

Full disclosure...I've had a few health scares in recent months and willfully admit that I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. My mind always races to the worst possible scenario first. But this time, the symptoms truly fit and I am genuinely scared.

I have something similar right now - it is tiny like a grain of salt and hasn't changed - I will be having my radiation oncologist look at it tomorrow as I have an appointment. Mine as been here a few weeks - I looked I up and am hoping mine is a mucocle or ranula - as well but when you've already had cancer everything is scary. That said, the swollen nodes, and earache on opposite sides are odd. Usually, it's on the same side. It sounds to me like picking at your spot may have caused a bit of an infection. As for the swallowing (sore throat ) its unlikely it's all cancer since these are very diffuse symptoms often an oral lesion is scc - where - a Base of tongue tumor is often HPV+ scc, and only certain types of HPV can cause cancer so not everyone diagnosed with HPV gets cancer ( oral cancer ) I sincerely hope your GP is right. Do have it choked ou or peac of mind - and he's some cancers when they are agressive can really move! Good luck at the ENTs.

Welcome to OCF. I hope your scare turns out to be nothing serious and you dont need to be here. Congrats on quitting smoking! Its not easy but you are living proof that it can be done. Hope you will always remain smoke-free.

The sore in your mouth could be all kinds of things. Most doctors are not familiar enough to be able to tell you if a sore in your mouth is something serious or not. Glad you have an ENT appointment set up. Make sure you tell them its been there for a month. Oral cancer is nothing to play around with. If it would be cancerous, you need to be checked by a qualified ENT who specializes in oral cancer. Only a biopsy will give you a definite yes or no answer if this sore is cancerous. Its not a big deal to have it done. It takes about a week for the results to come back. Keep yourself busy so you dont worry needlessly.

Let us know how you make out. Good luck!

Dear fezley,

You are smart to have an ENT consult. Please make sure you have a biopsy done. I thought I was being paranoid in thinking that I had oral cancer when it turns out that I did. Sometimes a little paranoia can save your life!

You are catching this early and it very well could be nothing serious, but you don't want to have any regrets at the end of the day.

BTW, I had a blocked salivary gland in the area of my surgery and it looked like a fluid-filled blister (cyst). My surgeon found it on a routine follow up. I had no idea that it was there. By the time my next follow up rolled around (6 weeks later), the cyst had drained on its own and it did have that deflated appearance, but otherwise healthy tissue.

Bottom line is you don't know what it is or isn't until you get a sample under a microscope. So, best wishes for something that turns out to be nothing serious!

Please keep us posted. We're always here for you!

:)Kerri

Thank you all for your support and concern. The sore throat has gotten much better since late last week. I'm now almost certain I had it because I was paranoid and swallowing so often just to see if it hurt.

The one symptom that has returned with a vengeance that has me really worried is my ear. My right ear (the lesion is also on the right side of my mouth) really hurts. It feels like a pain/pressure very deep inside my ear and sometimes, the pain shoots over into my upper molars on that side. Sometimes I feel the pain shoot over under my jaw. It came back yesterday afternoon and hasn't let up since (it's been over a day). My lymph nodes on that side also seem swollen.

If I hold my nose, close my mouth, and blow really hard, I can feel my ears pop (both sometimes) but as soon as I inhale again, the right ear goes right back to hurting badly. This has me very worried. I've been trying to leave the lesion in my mouth alone by not tonguing it or touching it. It seems to have flattened out but it still looks red and white and patchy, and when I do happen to tongue it, it still feels like a lump.

My GP did give me a week's worth of antibiotics. I will be on day 6 of the course when I have my ENT appointment. I'm hoping and praying that in that time, the pain will have subsided... I'm trying to stay positive and not worry until I need to worry, if I need to worry, but it's very difficult.

Again, thank you so much for your kind words.

I know its really difficult to not worry when you have a cancer scare. Everything you think of hinges on "what if". Its like your whole life is hanging on the test results.

I have learned to avoid worrying when I have something that I think is cancerous. Its something that took me a long time to learn. It takes lots of practice to really believe that worrying will NOT change the results. It will only make you feel worse by making you more upset. Keep yourself extra busy so the time passes quickly. Read a book. That takes lots of concentration (at least for me it does). Take up a hobby that makes you study something. By focusing on other things it will help to distract your mind from worrying. Try helping others to take your mind off yourself.

At this point you do not know whats wrong yet. It could be nothing more serious than a throat infection which has also affected your sinuses and ears. Hang in there and stay busy.

Thanks Christine. I'm doing my best! It seems like my condition gets a bit worse every day that passes. Yesterday morning I woke up, and the lesion was no longer invisible. It turned red around the edges with black and white abnormally shaped areas in the center. I nearly had a panic attack when I saw what it had become and wasn't feeling any better that my ear pain hadn't subsided at all.

Last night after brushing my teeth, I noticed that the toothpaste irritated the sore quite a bit. This morning, it's still burning. For the last month, it's been completely painless and now all of a sudden, it looks angry and is somewhat painful. My ear pain has not subsided either. I am on Day 3 of my 7 day course of antibiotics.

I totally understand this could all still be a coincidence and perhaps the sore/ulcer/lesion/whatever it is could just be infected. It's troublesome to know that just a few days over a month ago, I wasn't concerned about any of this. And now I'm worried I might have cancer. To be perfectly honest, I'm driving my boyfriend and immediate family absolutely insane about this. They all think I'm overreacting, especially since I haven't even had a doctor look in my mouth and agree that it's something to be worried about yet. I'm hoping they are right and will continue to do my best to be positive.

You need to see someone asap... not because I think you have cancer, but because this is consuming you and that's unhealthy. DO finish your antibiotics.. they tend to kick in around day three or four. I do hope things improve and your fear unfounded. It does sound like an infection but you never know so definitely have it checked asap - best of luck.

So I just left my appointment with an ENT. He looked in my ears and said everything was normal. No enlarged glands either. When he looked in my mouth, he could barely see the lesion (it's gone down again somewhat) and needed me to point it out. He felt the area with my mouth open and closed, and didn't note any masses. I explained that I was concerned about it being serious, and his reaction was that it was highly unlikely, especially because the sore looks a little different almost every day (it doesn't fluctuate in size though, just gets bigger). He seemed surprised that the antibiotics my GP gave me haven't helped.

So his explanation was the same as my GP, probably an infected submandibular gland. He gave me a different, stronger course of antibiotics to take for 10 days, and an antiviral. He explained that if at any point the lesion looks inflamed, I can call their office and come in right away. He said if the ear and jaw pain don't get better after 10 days, I can come back and we'll go from there.

I'm still concerned...there is definitely a canker sore type lesion in my mouth that I can see and feel with my tongue, and yet both doctors I've seen could barely make it out, saying the tissue looked normal. I asked about a biopsy, but the ENT expressed that there really wasn't anything TO biopsy.

I'd like to take this as good news, but my unresolved earache and jaw pain are not helping. If this is serious, I don't want to lose any time...

Perhaps I'm still overreacting?

Do what he says - take your meds as prescribed, if the problem still hasn't gone away go back again. Show him the exact area and ask for biopsy. Tell him this had gone on long enough and you want it figured out. Plus a biopsy will ease your mind once you have a definitive result. Also how is it he thinks you may have an infected submandibular gland yet can't palpate it? Usually they swell if infected... good luck and take care.