You have probably heard of cold sores, if not experienced them occasionally yourself. A cold sore is a viral infection that appears as a small fluid-filled blister or group of blisters which lasts for a couple of weeks before going away. Once the blister opens, a scab is left that heals and usually doesn’t leave a scar.
Cause of Cold Sores
This virus is called herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1), and once a person is infected, the virus remains inside the body for life. This virus is contagious and can be passed from person to person. Typically, people will are infected at an early age with the cold sore virus. Once infected, cold sores may occasionally appear throughout life. Various reasons may cause a cold sore to appear in a person with the HSV-1 virus, including stress, fatigue, fever, hormonal changes, exposure to sunlight or wind and injury to the skin.
Symptoms of Cold Sores
A person may experience tingling or itching in the area a day or two before. Then, a small and painful lump appears on the lip or surrounding area. This lump will turn into a fluid-filled blister. Less commonly, these blisters can form around the nose or even inside the cheeks. There may be one or several blisters. The blisters will open after a week or two, leaving scabs in their place that eventually heal. Reoccurrence tends to happen in the same spot. Outbreak symptoms may be fever, sore gums and throat, swollen lymph nodes and muscle aches. (more…)
Bacteria can accumulate on pretty much any surface of your mouth. They prefer to attach themselves to rough surfaces, so the teeth and gum line are particularly prone to plaque accumulation. Did you know that the surface of your tongue is rough, containing thousands of papilla, also known as taste buds, that cause the top surface of your tongue to contain many crevices, a perfect spot for bacteria to hide? If you don’t brush or clean your tongue, you may not even realize how much plaque accumulation it can be prone to. Once you start cleaning your tongue, you may never go back!
Following the province of Ontario’s COVID-19 modified Step 2 lockdown announcement on Monday, January 3rd, 2022, we want to remind our patients that we are still open and ready to serve you as an essential service.
