If your child has painful sores in their mouth, this can make it very difficult for them to eat or drink. If the sores are very bad, they may refuse to drink or eat anything. For this reason, you need to take your child to a pediatrician immediately to determine what is going on. Below are two things the pediatrician may find that is wrong with your child.
Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
The hand, foot, and mouth disease comes from the coxsackievirus. The main symptom of this disease is blisters in the throat and mouth. Your child may also have blisters on the bottoms of their feet and the palms of their hands.
Because this is a virus, your child's doctor will not prescribe antibiotics but instead will tell you the virus has to run its course. The doctor will treat the symptoms, however. There is a mouth wash that can help relieve pain from the blisters. You can also let your child drink cold fluids and suck on ice pops. Do not let them have anything that is acidic, such as orange juice, as this could sting.
Your child may also feel achy, much like when you have the flu. To help with this, give them ibuprofen. You need to be very careful with dehydration if your child refuses to drink.
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is highly contagious and can be passed on through touching, sneezing, and coughing. Your child's pediatrician will tell you how long they will be contagious so you can keep your child away from other children.
Canker Sores
Canker sores are also known as aphthous ulcers and are small blister-type sores that you will find on the lips and inside of the cheeks. There may also be sores under the tongue and at the base of your child's gums.
Fortunately, even though canker sores will make your child very uncomfortable, they are not contagious. The cause of canker sores could simply be hereditary, or it could be food allergies. If your child gets constant canker sores, this is a sign there is a problem with their immune system.
If your child bites the inside of their lip or brushes their teeth too hard, either of these things may cause canker sores to appear. There is no specific treatment for canker sores, as the sores go away within a week or two on their own.
A pediatrician such as one from Ada Pediatrics PA can go over these two things with you in much more detail.
