Sunny Health

As the year of the snake rolls in, late nights, stress (over meals, shopping and meeting the relatives), consuming lots of unhealthy Chinese new year goodies and not getting sufficient water to go with it can lead to ulcers.

Simple mouth ulcers are believed to be caused by injury and trauma, changes in hormone levels, lack of iron, vitamin B12, or folic acid, food allergies, genetics, stress or anxiety, reaction to certain medications, or a suppressed immune system, according to Guardian.

The Chinese believe that “heatiness” causes simple ulcers, and ulcers are therefore a sign of impending sickness if you do not cool off with some herbal tea or get sufficient sleep!

Ulcers are a real pain in your mouth and very often, you can’t enjoy your favourite food without wincing in pain! If you don’t clear it up before the Chinese New Year, you won’t be able to enjoy the food and festivities wholeheartedly!

Fortunately or unfortunately, mouth ulcers go away without treatment within 14 (long days). There’s no real cure for ulcers in the sense that nothing makes the pesky little bump disappear in a day or two. However, you can get pain relief for it, or make it heal faster.

Like acne, certain remedies work for certain people, while some don’t do anything at all. Here are the more common methods for pain relief and faster healing:

- Over-the-counter gels like Bonjela. These can usually be applied as often as required and do not pose harm when swallowed. Bonjela provides a slightly numbing and cooling effect that provides temporary relief for your pain.

- Antimicrobial mouthwash helps to kill germs that are causing mouth infections. If your ulcers are so crippling that you can’t brush your teeth for the time-being, using mouthwash helps to keep your mouth hygienic.

- Oral pastes like Kenalog, which forms a protective layer over the ulcer, allowing it to heal, while relieving pain and swelling. These are rather expensive however.

- Salt has anti-bacterial properties, which probably leads to it being a common cheap home remedy for ulcers. Make a solution of salt water and gargle it every night. While it does not provide pain relief, and may even cause more pain (ever heard of the saying “rubbing salt into one’s wound”? This exemplifies it), it does reportedly speed up the healing process for some. Some people apply grains of salt directly to the wound, but this can be extremely painful.

To go beyond these surface treatments, you will need to understand what’s causing your ulcer. Reflect on your lifestyle in the past days. Have you been staying up late? Snacking on heaty new year goodies? Been particularly stressed over finishing your work before the holidays? Not getting sufficient veggies and fruits in your diet? As mentioned earlier, all these are potential causes for ulcers, so to make the ulcer go away more quickly, you will need to correct your lifestyle. Personally, I get ulcers when I’m a little under the weather. Herbal tea usually works for me.

For faster relief, you can also go to the doctor for a prescription.

As your ulcer heals up, do take some precautions so you do not hinder the healing process:

- Avoid food that would irritate the ulcer, especially spicy foods and sour foods that are high in acidic content.
- Avoid chewing gum as you may accidentally brush against or bite on your ulcer. Ouch.
- Use a soft-bristled brush to reduce the trauma on your ulcer. Do also floss daily. Good oral hygiene is crucial in preventing possible mouth infections and spreading of ulcers.

Do note that if your ulcer is severe i.e.
- lasts longer than 14 days
- have not healed with treatment
- are larger than 1 cm
- bleed
- occurs very often
- several ulcers occurring simultaneously or one after another
- accompanied by other sicknesses like sore throat, rash, high fever, diarrhoea

you should consult your doctor as this may be an indication of other underlying health problems.