Do I Have Oral Herpes or Canker Sores?

Do I have oral herpes or canker sores?

No one tells you about that particular danger from oral sex. The advantage of having canker sores is that you can't give it to the partner via oral sex but could if you were kissing.

What about oral herpes?

The virus could be spread via oral sex, kissing or regular sex. It's as communicable as the common cold.

This looks and feels way worse than the common cold.

It's also more prevalent. I think around a quarter of all young adults now have a strain of herpes.

You'd think after two generations of safe sex lectures, something like this would have gone the way of the dodo. How can I tell what I have?

Canker sores generally create red sores with a white border, and they heal within three weeks unless you have HIV or malnutrition. Cold sores look like blisters and clear up within ten days.

That's not enough to tell the difference.

Cold sores will create blisters around the lips as well as in the mouth. Oral herpes will usually only affect the mouth or throat.

I heard oral herpes are the same thing as cold sores.

Most oral sores are type 1 herpes simplex virus, while the remaining cases are type 2. While both create blisters, oral herpes leaves a yellow spot after the blister fades.

I hope I don't look like a spotted animal after this. Gosh, it's bad enough already.

You may not have a virus. Canker sores may be caused by citrus fruit, food allergies, braces and malnutrition.

Whereas oral herpes is always a virus.

Cold sores AKA oral herpes is more likely to give you a sore throat, swollen glands and a leaky sore, too.

It's like chicken pox in my mouth.

That's why we developed a vaccine for it.

I need the HPV shot. Or I might have had it.

The HPV vaccine doesn't prevent or cure either one of these. You're left with meds, aspirin and lots of hand washing.