My wife asked her doctor for something for canker sores which have been annoying her lately, and when I picked up her prescription, it was Zovirax - in pill and cream form.
My initial reaction is that her doctor simply misunderstood her. On the other hand, I did find one [website](Dental implant care - Dental Implants Group Sore Updates) (belonging to a DDS in Nebraska) that says:
I am still not sure about this, partly because a page that misspells “canker sores” as “cancer sores” doesn’t inpire confidence, and partly because I’d think that after ten years there would be online reference to this use. On the other hand, this is hard to search for, because the search results are polluted by an inordinate number of dodgy online drug peddlars that have no actual content.
What’s the straight dope on this? Legit use or vaguely embarrassing mistake?
“Canker sores” is a generic term that tends to encompass mouth sores that have many different causes, including Herpes Simplex Virus. Zovirax is an antiviral medication effective on HSV and approved for treating cold sores (link). Don’t be insulted – about 80% of the American population carries or has carried HSV.
*
Q: What are the symptoms of Oral Herpes?
A: “Cold sores” or “fever blisters” usually show up on the lips or inside the mouth. They are common in young children. Brief, direct contact is all that’s needed to pass the virus. Cold sores are annoying but harmless in children and adults. * http://www.herpesonline.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-herpes/
Buh? Really? I have only ever heard “canker” applied to oral ulcers. Canker sores are very distinct from cold sores; I have a hard time crediting that a doctor would use the terms interchangeably.
Well I don’t know what the hell the difference is between a canker sore and a cold sore, as far as I know, most people use those terms interchangably; they are colloqioal descriptions of a symptom after all.
Similarly, “oral ulcers” just means any kind of sore in your mouth. it’s like “bronchitis.” It doesn’t point to a cause, it points to a symptom. I don’t think the terms “canker sore” or “cold sore” are a diagnosis. A patient may be using it to describe any number of conditions, most of which get better with no treatment. Since the patient was requesting a treatment, he gave her one.
My understanding is that canker sores are the lesions that develop inside your mouth, and cold sores outside perhaps under a runny nose providing irritants and viruses.
I have suffered for years with canker sores. Recently I found 2 things that have been a big help. Miles Magic mixture which contains tetracycline. It doesn’t cure them, but stops the secondary infections causing the pain.
The other thing is Omeprazole. Since I switched to it to control acid reflux 6 months ago, I have had very few canker sores.
If you do a GIS for “canker sore”, you’ll see canker sores. There are a very few images of cold sores mixed in there, but if you follow the links you’ll see that they are universally presented in the context of distinguishing cold sores from canker sores.
As I said, it’s hard to search for this because the results are polluted by dodgy sites, but I found at least one more reference to Zovirax for treatment of canker sores, and it’s clear from context that the author is using the common definition of “canker.”
On the one hand, my wife was complaining of multiple canker sores, so that kind of matches the situation. On the other hand, the article is attributed to someone who gives her credentials as “a Bachelors degree in Arts with majors in Psychology and i always wanted to explore myself as a writer,” so, again - not exactly confidence-inspiring. My wife’s doctor is usually very good, and my wife hesitates to call her back to see if the prescription is an error.
I am fairly certain that it’s a mistake. The cream is an unguent-type cream and would be pretty nasty actually in the mouth, I should think. But my wife insists that she explained that she currently has multiple and persistent painful canker sores. Surely her doctor must have noticed that there were no cold sores in evidence.
I would like to tell her to bin this medication and treat the canker sores with baking soda, but I just thought I would check in first to see if this makes to sense to anyone with appropriate knowledge. Antivirals for canker sores? Antibiotics would be more appropriate, if anything, right? Anyone?
Go to the drugstore and ask for a tube of Orabase. If you can find Orabase-B, which contains Benzocaine, so much the better.
Orabase is a paste that contains pectin. It’s sticky, so it will adhere to the canker sore, and form a film over the lesion, to keep it from being irritated so easily.
I had a dentist tell me that canker sores are essentially self-limiting, lasting about seven days whether they are treated or not. I told him, “Yeah, but the damn thing is so PAINFUL, I don’t know if I’ll outlive the canker sore!”
Many places are not civilized enough to carry Orabase. They’ll try to sell you Anbesol gel, or Orajel, or some other crap. Keep looking.
And many sympathies to your wife. Those things HURT.
~VOW
I have gotten canker sores once or twice a year, my whole life. About 10 years ago, I got hit with a mouthful! Just as some would start to clear, new ones would come. It was awful!! Some web searching lead me to believe I might have developed a sensitivity to SLS, (Sodium Laurel Sulfate,) the ingredient in toothpaste that provides the foaming action. I switched to the SLS free Rembrandt toothpaste for canker sore sufferers, and they all cleared up within days. I have never had a single sore since. Well worth the price!!!
Definitely switch to an sls free toothpaste. It’s been mentioned in dozens of threads here over the years and many of us have benefited from that advice.
I still get the occasional one so my dentist gave me a sample of Debacterol. It works great and is the only thing I have ever tried that works to cure existing ones quickly. All of those household remedies are bullshit.
Never heard of Rembrandt for Canker Sores, but I’m definitely gonna try it! I’ve been searching for a toothpaste that won’t make my lips peel off. I had to completely give up the “All in One–Whitey-Brightie-All-Rightie” crap that everyone seems to make now.
I’m hoping the Rembrandt works, so I don’t have to resort to Bubble Gum Sponge Bob Square Pants toothpaste.
~VOW
WebMD’s answer to canker vs cold sores.
canker sores are caused by stress, acidic foods, or other enviromental irritants. They are not contagious
Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex (sometimes called herpes labialis) virus. These ARE contagious. There are several strains of herpes simplex, so even if you both have it, you can pass the different strains.
