Anyone else have a big concern over mouth/oral cancer?

[ShaunRyder]

Hi Guys

Last couple of months been really struggling over fears of mouth/oral cancer as recently read something in the paper of a 29 year old who sadly passed away because of it, it also said it is very very rare and even more rare in young people, the past 3 months ive been under alt of family stress so i've been getting alot of infections including ulcers, so every ulcer i get i start thinking ''this one isnt going to go, its going too keep getting bigger'' its starting too take over my life, also where i am stressed and worried im gritting my teeth and sort of sucking my tounge and cheecks etc so this is causing bits of redness and cuts around the mouth at times which then makes me worry more! Has anyone else has a fear of this and how did you deal with it? :shrug:

[Jamesk]

I was off work for a month or so some years ago having convinced myself I had this. I was worried about what looked like "growths" or "lumps" under my teeth.

Dr was non-commital and said "let's just keep an eye on them" which obviously had me crawling up the wall.

Then I went to my dentist who said they were a perfectly natural result of calcification of something in my mouth.

So I had wasted months of worry because mr Dr was sitting on the fence.

Moral of this story, anything in your mouth ask your dentist. In fact why not book a visit fo a checkup and ask your dentist to set your mind at rest.

[CeeCeeCee]

Hi SahunRyder, I had this very fear last year at around this time. Ulcers on my tongue and lumps too. I was convinced this was it. Fishmanpa reassured me a lot that it did not sound at all like OC, he has actually been through oral cancer and is doing well now, I suggest you look at some of his posts. Also my niece who is a dentist tried to reassure me, she referred me to dental clinic for a check, I made this into something more, about her being worried about it being bad but that was my HA kicking in, she was really just trying to ease my mind. They told me it was just taste buds swelling a bit and that I had Geographic Tongue! Perfectly normal. I'm happy to have that and not what I thought it was going to turn out to be :-)

[swanick15]

29 year old dying from Oral Cancer? You've been reading the Daily Mail! For HA that's a big no no

[unsure_about_this]

I have this fear, when I go to the dentist I asked questions because my current dentist knows I worry about mouth/oral cancer etc. I had an extra appointment last year because I was worried about a mark on my gum (thought it was either melanoma or mouth cancer) turned it my root canal which I have had eight years, could need redoing at some point.

Don't google, and like others have mention if you are worried see your dentist.

[xofeatherxo]

I have a random red spot on my lip, so yeah, oral cancer has been my Cancer of the Month.

I'm 19, I don't smoke or drink or chew tobacco, and I always wear lip balm with SPF 15 or higher, but I'm terrified I'll be the unlucky statistic that gets an already rare cancer at 20 and dies. I've been fending off panic attacks 24/7 since my last doctor's appointment, when he told me my lymph nodes were swollen (they're not anymore though, and if I did have lip cancer and it spread to my lymph nodes I don't think they would randomly go back to normal-- so that's reassuring).

But I'm just trying to tell myself it's just another Cancer of the Month. Like esophageal cancer was, and ovarian cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer... I've never been right before, hopefully I won't start now.

[anxietysucks5678]

Yeah I have just overcome this fear and gone to the dentist for the first time in ages. I have recurrent ulcers and I panicked as we'll plus for me I panicked over recurrent tooth ache that I convinced myself was going to be cancer in the bone plus I had little bumps on my lip etc which I also panicked over. Dentist said everything was fine. As the best thing I did going there. She said that unless you smoke and drink tons of alcohol your chances of oral cancer are very slim !

[cricket0148]

I can honestly say im living this right now. Red dot on inner cheek and i seriously cant relax.

[Kirbear4]

Yep, going through the exact same fear right now. This one is a spot on the roof of my mouth!

[Fishmanpa]

Ok... Many know me here as I've been part of the forum for a while now. Two time heart attack (bypass and stents) as well as Stage IV head and neck cancer survivor.

I'll start off saying of the thousands and thousands of posts I've read ...thousands and thousands... there is only ONE person who actually realized their fear and that person is dealing with it and doing well.

Head and neck cancer doesn't present itself in the manner in which is most posted here. I won't go into what my symptoms were but there were totally different from what most worry about on the forum. The same goes for heart worries. I've had two heart attacks. Both were different in the way the pain presented itself but there was no mistaking something was wrong. Head and neck (oral cancer) is different in that the vast majority of times there are no symptoms and it strikes older adults. Sure, there are exceptions and those are the ones that make the news and freak you out but like winning the lottery, you have the same chance of it happening to you.

Dwell on it if you like. It makes for some good reading but 99.9999% of the time, it can be attributed to something far less sinister.

Positive thoughts