Hello everyone,
I am new at this and just hoping someone who has gone threw this may be able to tell me if I have a reason to be concerned or not. I am a 22 year old female with no serious past medical history. I did have my tonsils removed when I was younger due to recurrent strep throat. I do not smoke and I drink very rarely.
About 6 months ago I started getting severe headaches and a very sore jaw which made it very hard to eat. It seems my teeth were becoming loose and moving, like they were no longer properly aligned. Then about a month ago the mouth sores began. I have never had a canker before so at first I thought thy must just be cankers. Well it's been a month and they have not gone away, the pain is so bad that its preventing me to eat, drink, and even talk. The most severe of the sores is on the tip of my tongue. It's about the size of the tip of my thumb and it is white and red, it feels numb, but painful at the same time.
Does this seem like something I should get looked at or am I totally off?
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Absolutely get that checked. Go to an ENT or your dentist. Any mouth sore that lasts more than a few weeks should be evaluated by a medical or dental professional. Good luck!

Yes! ASAP! Anything that does not heal within 2 weeks should be addressed.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for your quick response. I do not have an ENT where I live but I made a doctor appt on Monday so hopfully he will Stear me in the right direction. For those that have had symptoms before do these seem like worrisome symptoms?

I know what you want to hear is that "oh no, those don't sound serious at all" - that sure was what I always wanted to hear. Wrong place to hear those words!! Get it checked and stay vigilent. You are right, you don't have any of the most common risk factors and given your age, one would definitely think the odds are on your side that this is NOT something serious, BUT - cancer can happen at young ages and you need to get it checked. Any sore in anyone's mouth that does not heal is an issue.

Keep us posted. Note: You may want a referral from your GP to an oral surgeon. GP's really aren't well trained in matters of the mouth. Discuss this (tactfully) with your doctor.

Hugs

Donna

Many family doctors have not seen or dealt with oral cancer or many other mouth ailments. They probably will not be able to help you.

I would suggest going to a dentist, oral surgeon or ENT. If you do not have an ENT in your city, try going thru the closest major hospital. They should have an ear, nose and throat dept.

Best wishes!

for any of you whose cancer started on the tongue, could you give me an idea of what the pain felt like? Mine is a burning feeling which also feels numb. Just wondering if this is the same feeling any of you experienced.
I know im neither a patient or a survivor, so I really do appricate the time you all are taking to help me through this scary time.

I had the sore on the left side of my tongue I thought it was a canker sore. Then it started to spread, it was sore, red and bleeding, at times it would turn white. I lost major weight because it was painful to eat all I did was drink and I don't mean alcohol.

If I were you I would go to someone who will recommend a biopsy forget the family doctor unless he schedules you for a biopsy. Don't walk out of his office until he referres you to someone who will do it. Be very stern about this. He might give your something for it and tell you to come back in 2 weeks, forget it, you want a biopsy no if's and's about it. That's what happened to me. It was come back, come back for 3 months.

This is nothing to mess with. There is nothing to a biopsy they take a sliver and send it off.

Take care....keep us posted.

Connie

Thanks alot connie! I deffinitly and going to get a referal right away. I'm tempted to go to emerg just cause I know that will be the quickest way about finding out whats going on!
Thanks everyone for your input and i'll be sure to come back with the results!
Jennika

Okay first off your say multiple sores - that would be unusual for cancer.. Usually there is a primary. And it's the boss. On the tip would be an unusual location but not impossible. Tongue cancer can be painful not all oral cancers are, mine was very painful. You definitely have something going on - do not stop until you get a definitive answer and it has cleared up. Is it cancer - ? Probably not. But definitely have it checked by an ENT. That said despite the misconception cancer is not an old man's smoking and drinking disease, it has jumped the line and demographics have changed, non smokers, non drinkers, and young people are getting it too. So push and find out what the problem is until it's dealt with and don't take you're too young for cancer - as an answer that's not true we have several members presently in their 20s with it and one teen - two of our youngest members passed away last year. good luck and be diligent.