As far as minor inflictions of the body go, I find few things more annoying that canker sores (itchy mosquito bites are probably the only thing that I find as irritating). The painful sores make eating less enjoyable -- it's hard to get excited about a tasty meal when every mouthful brushes against the spot and sends a minor jolt through your face, and make brushing teeth a chore.

According to this, the good news is that cankers are not caused by a virus or bacterial infection but result from an injury to a part of the mouth (in my case, too much sour candies or a bite to the tongue tend to be the culprits). While painful, most cankers go away on their own within a few days. Cold sores are a slightly different story.

I've been lucky enough so far to not catch the herpes simplex virus 1 that causes the nasty lesions (according to the piece cold sores can also be contracted via oral sex from the herpes simples virus 2. Yikes!) but I've heard others complain about what a pain they are. Like cankers, these sores, which consist of a group of small blisters that eventually burst, will go away on their own after approximately 2 weeks.

They certainly don't sound like fun, so to learn more about prevention and treatment read more about cold sores here. And keep in mind, that any unidentifiable sore in your mouth could be the sign of something more serious so if you've got something in there that seems funny and doesn't go away on its own, make sure to see your doctor about it.

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