Should I be worried about this tongue ulcer?

Hi for the past few weeks I have had a really sore tongue and earache. I always checked to see if there was any swelling or ulcers because I was expecting there to be since it was agony to talk, eat or move my tongue in anyway.
It did feel a little swollen and I noticed my teeth kept jagging into my tongue.

About a fortnight ago (I think, at least roughly) I bit my tongue full on and was nearly crying in pain. It hurt again for days after and on Friday (5 days ago) I noticed a lump on the side of my tongue, it is at the groove of the side of my tongue. It wasn't there the day before, though the pain was. I took a picture and realised it was an ulcer. It is yellow, oval-ish shaped and the groove of my tongue where the ulcer is placed is swollen into a lump. I have been using Isycalm and Medijel for the pain and they are good at numbing it but also have been told by friends to put salt directly on it and I did. Also been brushing my teeth and using mouth wash more. It hurt like hell but it numbed it for a while. The area around the ulcer isn't as red now, the pain isn't unbearable without the cream any more but the yellow coating just wont budge and get any smaller which is worrying me. I still have a bit of earache as well but nowhere near as bad.

I get ulcers all the time but they are usually on my gums, the back of my throat or the inside of my lip and are usually white, not yellow and usually fade after a day after using a mouth ulcer cream. About 3 weeks ago I had about 5 in my mouth and they all totally healed in under a week.

Does it sound as though it is healing? Just slowly though? I have tried to brush off the yellow coating and it worked for about 10 mins and then it came back again, just as bright and as yellow as before.

I wouldn't say I was ill, run down or stressed before I got the ulcer, but I am now thanks to worrying over it.

Reply 1

carrotstar

Yeah, might just be slow to heal. I think ulcers can take around 2 weeks to disappear for some people!

Reply 2

nexttime

Ulcers can be slow to heal, i wouldn't worry yet. If it persists for 3 weeks from first symptoms see a doctor.

You do seem to be getting a lot of ulcers though. Do they ever affect the top (hard) part of your mouth? Sometimes ulcers can be a sign of other disease affecting other parts of your body, so if you've been having other problems it might be worth getting a doctor to check it out. Some people do just get a lot of them though without anything else wrong, so its up to you.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Thanks for your replies.

I have been getting ulcers almost every month since I was about 11, so that has been the last ten years. I have had blood tests done and been tested for autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's Disease as a few people in my family have it but all the tests came back clear so the doctor put it down to my menstrual period, the fact ulcers run in my family and because I am easily stressed. I last was tested for all of those things about 3 years ago, might be worthwhile for me going back to the doctors for a full MOT so to speak, especially if this ulcer still hasn't budged. The yellow does look a little less bright today and I can talk, eat and drink without the need to put the cream on. It only slightly hurts if I move my tongue certain ways and even then, the pain is about 2/10.

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

I have been getting ulcers almost every month since I was about 11, so that has been the last ten years. I have had blood tests done and been tested for autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's Disease as a few people in my family have it but all the tests came back clear so the doctor put it down to my menstrual period, the fact ulcers run in my family and because I am easily stressed. I last was tested for all of those things about 3 years ago, might be worthwhile for me going back to the doctors for a full MOT so to speak, especially if this ulcer still hasn't budged.

The ulcer doesn't hurt at all now. I can eat, talk and wiggle my tongue and there is no pain there or my ear whatsoever. The area around the ulcer is pretty much normal tongue colour now too, not bright red and inflamed. The lump and the yellow is still there. The lump isn't as big and the yellow patch isn't as big either but its worrying me that it is still here. I have tried washing and brushing off the yellow stuff which does work for a while but then comes back. I know I shouldn't worry until it reaches the 3 week mark (its been 8 days since I found it) but it just worries me because usually my ulcers are totally away by now and after reading online (yes I know, a big mistake) I found its in the position where most mouth cancers appear, side of the tongue.

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

Hi me again. I have an appointment on 23rd to discuss this with my GP but thought I would ask on here to see what people think.

As you know about 3 weeks ago I bit my tongue really badly and a few days afterwards a massive yellow ulcer appeared on the groove of the side of tongue along with a lump. The ulcer took about a fortnight to go away but is now finally gone but there is what looks like a crater left and the lump is still there, not as big as when the ulcer was there tho. Like I said, the ulcer itself is totally gone so I'm taking that as a good sign at least. Just worried that the lump is still there. Its tiny, about the size and shape of a grain or rice I would say and its not too hard, not too soft either. If I move my tongue to the side, you can't feel it all, just only if my tongue is out straight.

But what is worrying me more is I've also just noticed that the veins under this side of my tongue are very dark and prominent (you can barely see the veins on the other side) and I have seen one or two little red spots that the veins connect to under my tongue. I think they have been there from a few days to maybe a week. I'm paranoid that the veins under my tongue leading to the spot(s) (can't remember exactly how many are underneath maybe one or two) might be tumours or that the lump on my tongue might be a tumour as well since its not totally healed. Nothing is painful any more since the ulcer healed and nothing has bled. I have had a sore throat but I think that is because I don't drink enough and my throat is always dry. I can't see any white patches in my mouth. There is some red inflamed bits on my tongue every now and again and there is what looks like tiny burns or cuts on the side where the spots are on the floor of my mouth and near to where the ulcer was.

Should I be worried about this tongue ulcer?

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