How to identify and treat foot-and-mouth disease

Foot-and-mouth disease is a disease that causes thrush, blisters and mouth sores. This disease can appear in 3 different types, Minor, Major and Herpetiform and appears frequently in babies, children or people with weakened immune systems due to diseases such as AIDS, for example.

When you have Foot-and-mouth disease, episodes of thrush are recurrent, appearing every 15 days or monthly for at least 1 year.

How do I know if I have foot-and-mouth disease

It is possible to know that you have Foot-and-mouth Disease when episodes of thrush are recurrent, appearing every 15 days or monthly for 1 year.

Canker sores caused by foot-and-mouth disease

In addition, canker sores are painful whenever they appear and have a round or oval shape, making it difficult to drink or eat food. See all symptoms in Know the Symptoms of Foot and Mouth Disease.

How is the treatment

The treatment of any of the types of Stomatitis Foot and Mouth serves to relieve the symptoms of pain and discomfort and to help in the healing of ulcers.

Treatment is usually done using anti-inflammatory drugs like amlexanox, antibiotics like minocycline or tetracycline and anesthetics like benzocaine, as well as mouthwashes to disinfect and relieve local pain.

In addition, the use of natural and homeopathic remedies such as quercetin, the extract of the bark of Mangrove, licorice extract or propolis that help to reduce the symptoms presented may also be recommended. See other great natural remedies to stop thrush in Natural Remedies for Thrush.

Why aphthous stomatitis appears

This problem arises without warning at any point in life and can be caused by specific factors such as:

Family history of the disease; In women it can arise due to hormonal changes; Certain nutritional deficiencies, such as a deficiency in vitamin B12 or folic acid; Immune system is weakened, as in the case of autoimmune diseases such as AIDS; Food allergies; Situations of emotional or physical stress.

These are some of the factors that can lead to the onset of the disease, but there can always be other causes involved.

How to Identify the Different Types of Foot-and-Mouth Stomatitis

The different types of foot-and-mouth disease differ in size and quantity of ulcers or canker sores that form in the mouth and in their healing period, some types being more common than others.

Different types of Stomatitis

1. Minor aphthous stomatitis

This type of stomatitis typically has small thrush, approximately 10 mm, and usually takes between 10 to 14 days to disappear and heal. This is the most common type of stomatitis, which can occur at any time.

How to Identify:

To identify Foot and Mouth Stomatitis of the Minor type, you must be aware of the thrush that appears, as it has a rounded shape, and its color is gray or yellowish, with reddish edges. This type of thrush usually appears inside the lip, causing discomfort and pain.

2. Mouth-and-mouth disease stomatitis

This type of stomatitis causes larger canker sores, which can reach 1 cm in size, and can take from days to months to heal completely due to its size. This type of stomatitis is less common, and canker sores appear in lesser quantities, leaving scars in the mouth.

How to Identify:

The canker sores that appear in the case of Major Foot-and-mouth Disease Stomatitis already have a more oval shape and are quite large. In addition, this type of cold sore arises mainly on the lips and throat.

3. Herpetiform type stomatitis

In this case, the canker sores that appear are very small, about 1 to 3 mm in size, and usually appear in large numbers, with 100 canker sores per episode.

This type of stomatitis is more rare and is called herpetiform not because it is caused by the herpes virus, but because its lesions and outbreaks can be easily confused with those of Herpetic Gingivostomatitis, which is caused by the virus.