More often than not, a person will at one time or another has canker sores. These are the sores that are characterized by shallow ulcers and they often affect persons between the ages 10 years to 20 years. These sores are painful and often cause a person not to eat or drink what they want in peace. Unlike the cold sores which are cause by the herpes simplex type 1 virus, these sores are not contagious and are easy to treat. In fact many people will treat themselves at the comfort of their homes. However, if the symptoms are not very appealing a person should seek medical attention.

The symptoms that come with canker sores are numerous and a person should really not fail to identify them. If a person feels pain and discovers a round sore on the tongue, the back part of the palate and or on the inside of the cheeks, then they are likely candidates of these sores. Just before the sores appear, one will feel some burning sensation. A person will also notice that the sore will turn white and will also have a red lining. Combined with the obvious pain that a person will be feeling, these symptoms are hard to ignore.

There are numerous causes of canker sores. Even though there is no definite known cause for this condition, a person will definitely need to know the main reasons that they might appear or those that might propagate the same. Some of the reasons why these sores will attack a person are if they are having a weak immune system.

The most common cause for these sores however, is if the mouth suffers some sort of stress. Such stress would be brought about by having a disturbing tooth condition like if it was shooting, having dentures or braces and so on. Eating acidic foods such as lemon, oranges, strawberries and tomatoes will also cause the appearance of the sores. The other known causes include menstrual cycle, food, allergies, gastrointestinal diseases or bacteria.

Canker sores are not very serious, at least when they are in their simple stage. A person will treat the sores easily at the comfort of their home with some basic home remedy tactics. One of the ways through which a person can treat the sores is by applying aloe on the sores. Applying this aloe twice a day will help in eliminating the sores. Using hydrogen peroxide is also another good way to dealing with the sores. Mouthwashes, baking powder, alum, plum juice and papaya fruit are some of the other homemade methods to treat these sores.