From Canker Sores to a Blister on the Lip, What You Need to Know to Stop Oral Blisters from Ruining Your Life
Mouth blisters cause pain. They call attention to your face, and not in a good way. They tend to come at exactly the wrong time.
But everyone can do something about mouth blisters, if you just have the right information. Here are the ten most important things to know about treating, stopping, and maybe getting rid of these pesky blisters for good.
- A blister on the mouth that comes back in the same place every time is probably due to herpes of the mouth.
- Blisters that occur in different places on your lips and mouths than the last outbreak probably are not due to herpes of the mouth.
- Canker sores are whitish or greyish and usually stay that color.
- Itching and blistering on the lip after eating a trigger food may be due to hives.
- Yeast infections are also among the most important mouth sores causes.
- If you get a blister on your lip after you receive a punch in the face, it's probably a "cold sore."
- Dental work can activate cold sores.
- Ice can deactivate cold sores.
- Garlic may speed up your body's reaction to the cold sores virus.
- Consider an old European remedy for cold sores and blisters of all kinds, red wine.
The herpes virus "hangs out" in the trigerminal nerve in the face until it is reactivated by the immune system. Sun exposure activates the immune system in the skin, and the activity sends out a "threat" to the virus. It responds by multiplying itself and traveling to the outside of the body where it can be picked up by someone else. But if you just don't get too much sun on your lip, you may not get the blister.
If you get a blister here, there, or somewhere else, not in any predictable pattern, chances are you do not have herpes. That's good news. Other mouth sores causes are usually curable.
These mouth blisters are due to usually caused by your body's reaction to some component of food, such as the gluten in wheat. They hurt, but they do not break open to spill out a virus, because there is no virus in side them. Canker sores aren't catching. You can relieve the pain with products like Ambesol and by avoiding any food with stinging acids, such as orange juice, or sharp edges, like toast and crackers.
Hives are a usually a reaction to a sensitizing food or aspirin (which is chemically similar to the BHA and BHT used to preserve baked goods). It's possible to have hives just on the lip or in the mouth, and a kind of hives known as angioedema swells the sinuses and throat and can even be life-threatening. If you get blisters on lips that do not burn but do itch or ache, and they appear in different places at different times, consider hives. And if you ever have trouble breathing, get emergency medical attention.
If you get a whitish, painful blister in the mouth, that's probably a canker sore. If you get a whitish, itchy blister in the mouth that seems to grow and spread but does not cause pain, that is likely to be a yeast infection. You can make your own antifungal mouthwash with goldenseal or Oregon grape root. Be sure to follow label directions. If you have HIV or if you have received chemotherapy, however, you should see your doctor for treatment. Thrush, a yeast infection of the throat, can cause serious problems.
Cold sores are not caused by colds. They are an outward sign of chronic herpes infection, which can be activated by physical injury.
If you know you have cold sores, ask your dentist for a prescription for a medication like Valtrex (valacyclovir), to take at the very first hint of tingling or itching in your mouth or on your lip and then again 12 hours later. This can stop the herpesvirus from setting up camp in a blister on your lip.
Another way to stop the development of a blistering cold sore before it starts is to apply ice to your lips as long as you can stand it, preferably 15 minutes or more, allowing the ice to melt and lubricate your lips while it cools the skin. (Never use dry ice. It will kill tissue and cause an even worse cold sore when it heals.)
And it will also make you less kissable, reducing the risk of your spreading the virus to others. If you want to avoid garlic breath, consider taking an enteric coated garlic supplement.
Scientists attribute the ability of red wine and red grape juice to stop mouth blisters on their content of resveratrol. But if either wine or juice makes you feel better, then the calming effect may be what really keeps cold sores in their place, off your face.