View Full Version : Oral cancer
Ok. I have always had a white mark on the inside of my upper lip. It's like a white mark, part of the skin, not a patch or ulcerated.
I showed my dentist before who said that it doesn't bleed when scraped, hasn't changed, isn't ulcerated etc etc so it is fine. I also saw him two times last month for problems and he looked all around my mouth then.
Three weeks ago I got an ulcer on top of it. It was a really sore one and quite big.
The pain went away in a week and it started to go.
So I looked in the mirror at it and noticed that I still have the white thing but it is still much redder around it than normal.
I showed my GP yesterday who said it looks like an ulcer that is still healing and to go back in a weeks time if it hasn't fully gone.
When I got home and looked at it again I realised it looks just like it did months ago before I got the ulcer but a bit redder so I don't think it's an ulcer fading at all.
So he obviously thinks it's a potential problem.
So now I think I have oral cancer and I can't see my dentist for 10 days :(
I start a job next week and was feeling really good about it but now I am wondering what is the point.
Hypo I think it's time that you tackled the illness that you do have. Your anxiety is quite out of control and you'll be so much the better for tackling it head on. Living in constant fear, poking yourself and looking for clues that signify impending doom, is that living?
You have a healthy body, a family, it's time to start living. Revisit your doctors and this time discuss your anxiety disorder. Meet it and deal with it. The biggest killer? Stress. And what are you living with day after day? Stress.
Take the anxiety bull by the horns Hypo, and get yourself well :hugs:
I suspect when the USA wakes up Fishmanpa will be along as he has been through oral cancer. You may want to read back through some of his posts which will give you all the reassurance you need - and then get treated for anxiety :)
Thank you.
I have started CBT and I passed my driving test this week and got a job so I have more to focus on. The changes of money etc are unsettling me a little but I hope that with working I will have less time for anxiety. It is increasing it a little right now but coming off benefits etc is a huge step.
I had a good week until yesterday as I was so excited that I passed my driving test and got a job the same week. I have not worked for 14 years so this is a huge step :)
I think my head always says 'Hypo, you are feeling good, you now have a future to look forward to, but hey, lets give you something to worry about so you can't be too happy'
It sucks.
I don't want to be that person.
I want to be happy that I am now driving with a brand new job. But this mouth thing is getting in the way. Well, anxiety I should say.
I can truly associate with that. Luckily anxiety has never stopped me working, but in April I landed my dream job with the NHS, I have always wanted a job with enough scope to make a difference and know that my skills lie in strategic change type roles rather than front line delivery, so I worked my proverbial off for 15 years to get to this point. And then bang, thought pops into my head and has been conspiring to screw it up ever since.
Fortunately I have managed to create an image of competence so far, which is a relief because I am not working at anything like full throttle!
The mind of an anxious person is a cruel thing, but all the more reason to get through it.
You passed your driving test and got a new job? Way to go Hypo, way to go! :yahoo:
It would seem that you can indeed conquer mountains so right there is the evidence that you're courageous and determined and capable. Now it's time to climb the next one. Time to arm yourself with the ropes and tools in order to climb to the top.
You can do it :yesyes:
Ok. I have always had a white mark on the inside of my upper lip. It's like a white mark, part of the skin, not a patch or ulcerated.
I showed my dentist before who said that it doesn't bleed when scraped, hasn't changed, isn't ulcerated etc etc so it is fine. I also saw him two times last month for problems and he looked all around my mouth then.
Three weeks ago I got an ulcer on top of it. It was a really sore one and quite big.
The pain went away in a week and it started to go.
So I looked in the mirror at it and noticed that I still have the white thing but it is still much redder around it than normal.
I showed my GP yesterday who said it looks like an ulcer that is still healing and to go back in a weeks time if it hasn't fully gone.
When I got home and looked at it again I realised it looks just like it did months ago before I got the ulcer but a bit redder so I don't think it's an ulcer fading at all.
So he obviously thinks it's a potential problem.
So now I think I have oral cancer and I can't see my dentist for 10 days :(
I start a job next week and was feeling really good about it but now I am wondering what is the point.
Hi Hypo,
As CP said... I've been there, done that. What you describe is NOT indicative of oral cancer. Just the fact you've always had the white mark tells me that. An ulcer is an ulcer and things in our mouths are typically slow to heal (I'm still healing 7 months post treatment from OC) That being said, the OC rule of thumb is if you have a suspicious lesion, area or lymph node that doesn't resolve in several weeks, have it checked by a qualified ENT that has experience with OC.
You're doctor doesn't think there's a potential problem. He's doing what a good doctor would do and following the rule of thumb as I stated. If he thought it was suspicious he wouldn't have sent you on your way.
Relax. Getting cancer is rare, getting oral cancer is even rarer. And don't go poking around at it... let it heal ;) You even said it looks like it did before albeit a bit redder (still healing). So it's nearly back to what you've always had there which is just a little white mark, kinda like a freckle or mole you've always had ;)
Positive thoughts
Hi,
Just thought I would add my experiences to the mix.
I found a lump on my inner lower lip 11 years ago. It is sitting on an artery in my lip, so appears to pulsate if you look hard enough. A few months after this, another appeared on my upper lip, directly above the lower one.
To say I was scared was an understatement. It actually triggered my problems with depression and anxiety.
After seeing several doctors, I was still not given a definitive answer as to what they were - I was told anything from a granuloma to a hemangioma as well as numerous other things I don't recall. I got so many varied opinions, but the one definite opinion I also got was that they were benign.
This many years down the line I still have them. Only I really notice they are there, I have been told (although of course you think the whole world can see them when you have anxiety). I have had several bouts of cryotherapy on the lower one which made it only slightly smaller, but I can live with that.
They don't bother me. Haven't got bigger. Haven't changed.
Sorry to blah on, but I just wanted to really demonstrate that weird things like patches and lumps can appear and make you think the absolute worst case scenario, but that is not the case the vast majority of the time.
I am sure you have nothing to worry about.x
Thank you, everyone.
It's only noticeable when you shine a torch in there.
Without a torch you can't see it but with a torch you really can.
I am 33, an ex smoker and I quit two years ago. So I don't know my risks of OC.
Hypo you really need to develop a hobby ... in 45 years I have never yet shone a torch in my mouth ... :roflmao:
Really, we used to do it all the time as kids :)
Hypo you really need to develop a hobby ... in 45 years I have never yet shone a torch in my mouth ... :roflmao:
How else can you see if you have oral cancer if you don't shine something in it? :roflmao:
The dentist always has a light!
---------- Post added at 19:00 ---------- Previous post was at 18:55 ----------
And GP's too :lol
If I didn't shine my torch, which happens to actually be an iPhone app I would never have noticed it.
How else can you see if you have oral cancer if you don't shine something in it? :roflmao:
The dentist always has a light!
Hypo I'm far too busy restoring nasty old occasional tables, annoying my dog and eating cake to bother shining torches in ones various orifices ... :roflmao:
How else can you see if you have oral cancer if you don't shine something in it? :roflmao:
The dentist always has a light!
I had OC and I never looked inside my mouth with a flashlight. I let the doctors do that. Besides, You can't see much past your tonsils anyway, and how would know what you're looking at or for? I can think of plenty of other things to be doing with my time rather than shining a light in my orifices :)
Positive thoughts
Oh yeah the doctors have torches. Well - does this qualify?
... one time, during the old testing of the cervix health, a nurse shone a torch ... up there ... and, whilst I mentally distracted myself from the medical fishing around down below, up popped the nurse who excitedly declared that I had the most beautiful cervix, and then enquired as to whether I'd ever had a look.
Oh yes, replied me, I'm up there poking around all the time. With me torch and mirror :shrug:
Stop for a moment and visualize this conversation ~lol~
Stop for a moment and visualize this conversation ~lol~
... I really am trying not to Fishman. I thinking I'm failing :unsure:
I have never looked at my cervix with a torch!!!
That is something I never plan to do either LOL
He looked at my lip with a torch and lollypop stick. I don't have lollypop sticks though.
I have never looked at my cervix with a torch!!!
Just to be clear ... me neither :D
This forum has left me with some of the most incredibly unpleasant imagery ;)
I really need to stop sharing. Don't I ...
Oh yeah the doctors have torches. Well - does this qualify?
... one time, during the old testing of the cervix health, a nurse shone a torch ... up there ... and, whilst I mentally distracted myself from the medical fishing around down below, up popped the nurse who excitedly declared that I had the most beautiful cervix, and then enquired as to whether I'd ever had a look.
Oh yes, replied me, I'm up there poking around all the time. With me torch and mirror :shrug:
What a shame....not much call for 'Cervix models' I would think, otherwise you'd be on to a nice little earner there, Andria.....:yesyes:
What a shame....not much call for 'Cervix models' I would think, otherwise you'd be on to a nice little earner there, Andria.....:yesyes:
I told my doctor what the nurse had said the day she gave me a coil MOT. She wanted to know how the hell the nurse had found my cervix because it took her about 15 minutes of desperate searching before she spotted it.
I did try to helpfully point out that my cervix was situated at the apex of my vaginal canal (as these things generally are) but I don't think she appreciated it because she replied "I know perfectly well where it's supposed to be however yours is evasive and won't keep still".
As you can see I lead an exciting life.
Hopeandlove
16-11-13, 23:37
are u on med for ocd or anxiety???????????????????
I told my doctor what the nurse had said the day she gave me a coil MOT. She wanted to know how the hell the nurse had found my cervix because it took her about 15 minutes of desperate searching before she spotted it.
I did try to helpfully point out that my cervix was situated at the apex of my vaginal canal (as these things generally are) but I don't think she appreciated it because she replied "I know perfectly well where it's supposed to be however yours is evasive and won't keep still".
As you can see I lead an exciting life.
LOL...there you go, hun. It's so beautiful the doctor didn't even recognise it!:biggrin:
Trust me Andria, Your life has got to be more riveting than mine. The highlight of my week has been buying a multipack of M&S knickers, sigh.:wacko:
LOL...there you go, hun. It's so beautiful the doctor didn't even recognise it!:biggrin:
Trust me Andria, Your life has got to be more riveting than mine. The highlight of my week has been buying a multipack of M&S knickers, sigh.:wacko:
I try to wring every last thread out of my underwear. I really dislike shopping. And when I do buy some I tend to buy several of the same pair. I once got my husband to buy me some because I really couldn't be bothered with it all.
He cured me of ever asking him again when he came back with knickers that cost me €12 a piece (I was living in Lisbon at the time, undergoing my Shirley Valentine moment with the Portugeezer that is now my OH).
Apparently he didn't look at the price, he just grabbed three pair that he thought would fit me. Eejit.
I think I'm going to bring a torch to bed tonight...
"Honey, what is that for?...." :winks:
I think I'm going to bring a torch to bed tonight...
"Honey, what is that for?...." :winks:
I'm thinking you'll need a pretty good ruse Fishman. Just saying.
You don't even need a torch if you have a smart phone!!!!
And yes, I am on meds. Plus beta blockers.
My mark is still red this morning. Boo.
Trying to console myself with the fact that the dentist saw it not long ago before the ulcer.
Must leave the iPhone torch alone.
---------- Post added at 10:34 ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 ----------
I told my doctor what the nurse had said the day she gave me a coil MOT. She wanted to know how the hell the nurse had found my cervix because it took her about 15 minutes of desperate searching before she spotted it.
I did try to helpfully point out that my cervix was situated at the apex of my vaginal canal (as these things generally are) but I don't think she appreciated it because she replied "I know perfectly well where it's supposed to be however yours is evasive and won't keep still".
As you can see I lead an exciting life.
Ahh you sound like a smart arse (in the nicest possible way) I love it :roflmao:
You don't even need a torch if you have a smart phone!!!!
Must leave the iPhone torch alone.
"Honey, what are you doing with your iPhone?"
"Just looking around with the torch is all"
"Don't iPhones have a camera and video recorder?"
"Hmmmm.. this could get very interesting!"
:ohmy: :whistles:
You can post images on NMP Fishman. Jast saying. In the event anything ... interesting ... came to light :huh:
glorialimjyyy
18-01-18, 13:41
Hi, Guess this is quite an old post, but I too have similar problem. I had a canker sore at the TOP of my lip inside. It actually went off without anymore pain. But I still have the redness surrounding the patch of the sore healing. It’s still red pink. And the Color has been there since. I am so worried until I found this post by you. I am so scared I have OC.. and like u said, can see it clearly with the flashlight.Worries
Hiyer!
Yes a very old thread, but I can reply to this easily. Two months ago I had a really deep and painful mouth ulcer. I knew what had caused it, I accidentally stabbed myself with my teepee interdental brush. It was right on that part where you pull your lip open and it has skin that attaches to the lower dental line. I bet there is actually a proper word for it, but hey ho. :blush: This mouth ulcer took 3 weeks until it appeared it was starting to improve and 4 weeks until it was kind of gone (of course in the past all my mouth ulcers had resolved in 2 weeks or under and it worried me) Although now all pain has gone and there is clearly no more ulcer, the area around it is still red and there is a scarred area where the ulcer was - exactly the same as you.
During my searching about what to treat it with (I ended up using corsodyl mouthwash), I discovered that deep ulcers can take up to 6 weeks to fully resolve and even after that the process is slow for the skin to go back to its usual colour. So, like me, I suspect your discolouration of the skin will resolve in time.
This is the key to knowing if it is something that needs looking at by a GP or dentist. Firstly most mouth ulcers will resolve themselves, in a couple of weeks.(Im prone to them and have always had one every few weeks) If it isn't slowly slowly getting a wee bit better day by day and lasts more than 3 weeks, and if it gets more red and more painful over 2 weeks, then you may have a bacterial infection that needs antibiotics. If an ulcer keeps coming back in the same location you also need to see a GP or dentist also.
There is a bottom line here - oral cancer is very rare, mouth ulcers/canker sores are very common,only very very rarely are canker sores a sign of oral cancer and usually they are from a variety of other causes. The fact that yours has gone, there is no more pain and just left a bit of redness is quite normal. You need remember that just like if you cut your finger and although it heals fine it leaves a scar and redness for some time, the same happens in the mouth. SO unless your ulcer comes back in the same place, and unless it suddenly becomes more red and painful then I'd leave alone and forget it.
I was convinced I had Oc (specifically minor salivary gland tumor) 2 months ago. There is this point on my soft palate that is more palpable with my tongue than others. I also have spider capillaries there on both sides of my roof of the mouth (i can palpate them with my tongue). The "bump" can't be seen with or without a torchlight, i can only feel it with my tongue.
So I went to the best specialist of oral pathology of my country, he is even a professor of oncology and has worked in this field for more than 20 years (i always try to visit best of the best specialists with my HA induced problems, as I don't really trust anyone else).
He took a look, saw nothing suspicious, palpated it, said it was normal. Took a scan with velscope technology and nothing was seen on that, except my capillaries he showed me and said that they were of no concern.
I accepted what he said and believed him. Now yesterday I got all clear for my breast "lump" which was not even a lump at all, and for my lymphnodes which were not even enlarged. So naturally I began thinking that THAT ORAL PATHOLOGY PROFESSOR must have left something out as I can still palpate the capillaries with my tongue on the roof of my mouth. (And probably always will :D), so I had a thought yesterday that they may not be capillaries but OC instead, but i recognised it being just a thought and that it does not mean that it is real. Maybe I will visit this doctor again in a year but for now he gave me all clear and I will stick to that.
When I wrote this I had an urge to google palpable capillaries on soft palate but I will not take that route again.
glorialimjyyy
19-01-18, 14:52
Thanks for your advice! It did make me feel better! Because Google is depressing me everytime I find picture of reddness in mouth>> leads to something I don’t want to know. But thanks a lot for sharing it with me. I am worried because most of my canker sore heal without leaving the redness there. So that panicked me a lot.
glorialimjyyy
21-01-18, 16:19
I am back, the area of pinkish redness did not go. And it still looks the same. Now I am even worried. As I’ve researched Ethroplakia (oral cancer)in Google, it doesn’t look exactly like mine but I am just afraid it is , what it is and I am not being able to diagnose it myself. I have this very sewerage anxiety that I will go very depressed over some things and start overthinking. But it’s more like pink bright lesion thingy . I dk. I don’t smoke or drink and I am only 20..sigh
Its only been two days ! Mine is still there too if it helps you to know that...it can take weeks for this to resolve. A scar on your finger, to disappear would take many months.
As I’ve researched Ethroplakia (oral cancer)in Google
It's a red flag to me that health anxiety has got out of control when normal people casually use terms such as "Ethroplakia".
Also never elevate the frantic, biased, anxiety-fuelled Googling health we anxious people do to the level of "research".
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