White bumps under tongue

[vpfrends]

About two days ago I started feeling a sensation on the left side of my tongue as if it were rubbing against my teeth in an irritating way. More recently I began to feel like something was stuck under my tongue on the same side, though nothing is there. Today I was checking my tongue in the mirror and noticed some things that really worried me:

- a slightly raised, pale area on my tongue (about where I felt the first irritation), but not painful to touch - it really doesn't look like anything but I can still see it
- a couple of small white pimple type things under my tongue (about where I feel something stuck)
- reddish lumps on my tongue web, about halfway down on either side, though I think these might be normal for some people

Now of course I'm freaking out about tongue cancer, though I don't smoke or drink. I've also recently been getting globus (feeling of lump in throat) from my anxiety. I've had a lot of cancer scares with health anxiety but this one is really starting to panic me. I would really appreciate any advice or anything, thank you.

[Gary A]

It sounds to me like you've irritated your tongue on an adjacent tooth. It's quite a common thing. Get your doctor or dentist to check it out if you're concerned, but it doesn't sound like much to worry about, especially for a non-smoker.

[vpfrends]

Thanks for your reply, it's reassuring. Of course now that I've been checking my mouth obsessively I've noticed that the skin on the floor of my mouth underneath my gums is quite pale, verging on white. It's in a regular pattern but it freaked me out because I've been reading that white areas are a sign of cancer (I really need to stop googling these things) and I've been trying to find pictures of normal mouths but I just don't know. Is is normal for the skin on the floor of your mouth to be pale? Thank you, anyone.

[vpfrends]

-Update-

Over the past couple of days I've noticed a few more things which have made me even more worried. I've been obsessively feeling around my mouth with my tongue and I have felt one small hard-ish lump just below the gums of my molars on the bottom right side, and a similar but slightly larger lump just below the gums at the front of my mouth, on the bottom as well.

Now, since I can remember I have always had a sort of moveable lump at the very centre of the floor of my mouth, it has never hurt or changed, and for all I know these others have been there as well but I've never noticed. Researching it has made me aware of salivary gland stones, but I have never had any discomfort associated with them. These new lumps I have found do not hurt at all, they are just there, and I think they are both moveable, but it scared me because I was already worried.

I know given my history with health anxiety, my age (21) and not smoking/drinking makes oral cancer very unlikely, but as ever I just can't stop thinking about it and as ever it is making me so depressed and miserable that I feel suicidal. I can't handle the thought of having a terminal illness, and because of that my mind tries to sort of 'prepare' me for the possibility that I will have one by forcing me to confront that scenario now, over and over, every time I come up with a new cancer that I think I have. Sorry to go off topic, but I really can't live like this. I should be able to get a dentist's appointment soon, but in the meantime I'm just freaking out.

[Fishmanpa]

I'm an oral cancer survivor. What you describe doesn't present as such. That being said, if you're that concerned, a visit to an ENT that is experienced in OC would be in order. Biopsy of a suspicious lesion, area or node is the definitive test. If there's nothing to biopsy, the answer is clear.

Positive thoughts

[vpfrends]

Hi Fishmanpa, thank you for your reply. I've seen a few of your other posts as I was scouring the message boards, you seem to put a lot of people's minds at rest! If you don't mind me asking (I don't want to start googling again) what are some of the usual presenting symptoms? I should be going to the dentist soon in any case. I hope you're doing well, and thanks again for your help.

[Fishmanpa]

Hi Fishmanpa, thank you for your reply. I've seen a few of your other posts as I was scouring the message boards, you seem to put a lot of people's minds at rest! If you don't mind me asking (I don't want to start googling again) what are some of the usual presenting symptoms? I should be going to the dentist soon in any case. I hope you're doing well, and thanks again for your help.

With many OC folks... nothing really... I had a painless swollen node that didn't resolve with antibiotics and continued to grow after a sinus infection (when I forst noticed it). Some had a lesion or sore that wouldn't heal despite antibiotics. It doesn't come up overnight nor does it come and go.

Positive thoughts