Introduction to Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis

I wonder if you have ever heard of the disease called recurrent aphthous stomatitis? Perhaps many people feel a little unfamiliar with the name of this disease. But I believe everyone is familiar with its manifestations. The main sites of disease are the mouth, tongue and cheeks. So what exactly is going on? Let’s discuss it together.

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis is painful, recurring ulcers of the oral mucosa.

【Cause and pathogenesis】

The cause of the disease is not yet clear, and it may be related to factors such as viral infection, gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, endocrine disorders, mental stress, polygenic inheritance, and local irritation. Recently, the buccal mucosa autoimmunity theory and the transient L-type bacterial infection theory have been proposed. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "when there is heat in the heart and spleen, the qi rushes to the upper part of the body, fumigates the mouth and tongue, thus causing sores."

【Clinical manifestations】

This disease is more common in young women aged 20 to 30. It often occurs in the cheeks, lips, and tongue, but can also occur in the palate and pharynx. The skin lesions initially appear as millet-sized erythema and papules, which quickly form ulcers. The ulcer expands into a round or oval shape, with grayish-white necrotic tissue at the base, surrounded by a red halo, and covered with a light yellow pseudomembrane, causing pain. It usually takes 7 to 10 days to recover, but the disease is prone to recurrence. In severe cases, patients may suffer from fatigue, weakness, low-grade fever, and loss of appetite.

The damage can be divided into 3 stages:

1. Blistering stage: Local congestion and pain, clustered papules or small blisters appear one after another, and the base is red and swollen.

2. Ulcer stage: The blisters rupture rapidly to form ulcers, which are as big as a hat pin or lentil, round or oval in shape, and may gradually expand to the size of a fingernail or larger. The edges are neat, surrounded by a red halo, the surface is concave and disc-shaped, and covered with a gray-yellow to gray-white moss-like pseudomembrane that is not easy to remove. If forcibly peeled off, it may cause bleeding.

3. Healing period: redness and swelling decrease, pain is relieved, exudation decreases, basal granulation tissue grows, and the ulcer becomes shallower, smaller and heals. No scars left. It can heal itself within 7 to 14 days, but it may recur.

There is local burning pain and increased salivation, especially when eating and talking. It is often accompanied by swollen lymph nodes.

Diagnosis and differential diagnosis

This disease is easy to diagnose based on its clinical features, but it often needs to be differentiated from the following diseases: ① Oral simple rash, which is small and shallow herpetic or ulcerative lesions that are densely clustered. ②It is difficult to distinguish the incomplete form of Behcet's disease from this disease.

Through the introduction above, I believe everyone has a certain understanding of recurrent aphthous stomatitis? The main group of people who suffer from this disease is young women, so we young women must pay special attention to it. Once we have similar conditions, we must seek treatment in time.