If you or your partner have a single canker sore, or multiple canker sores in different parts of your mouth, kiss away. You’re not going to give it to someone else or catch it. If what you have appears on your lips in clusters of blisters – you might want to just hold hands for a few days. And see your doctor. There are some medicines you can take to reduce the symptoms and make them go away faster.

2. Are Canker Sores
Contagious?

3. I see this question constantly on
forums and answer sites all over
the internet. “Are canker sores
contagious?!”

4. It’s an understandable question,
especially when you’re young and
dating. Either you’re the one with
the canker sore and want to know
what to tell people when they ask,
or you’re dating someone with a
canker sore and want to make
sure you don’t get it yourself.

5. There’s a short answer and a long
answer to this.

6. The long answer: This is an
extremely common
misconception about canker
sores. So much so, it’s often
considered common
knowledge. But like most
common knowledge, it’s not
true.

7. This comes from the prevailing
but unfortunate confusion
between canker sores and herpes.
Anybody who has spent any time
on this site knows I spend
about 90% of my time debunking
this myth. So much so that I
actually got a herpes test just to
prove the myth wrong. You can
see the results here.

8. Long story short… I don’t have
herpes. And I’ve gotten canker
sores my whole life.

9. Canker sores are an immune
system dysfunction, and are not
caused by a bacterial or viral
infection. Now, a viral or bacterial
infection in your body can trigger
your immune system response,
which in turn can bring on canker
sores, but it’s not a firsthand
cause.

10. I’ve dated many women in my
life and I’ve never given a single
one of them a canker sore. Not
one. Ever.

11. How do you know if it’s a
canker sore or herpes?
There are three telltale signs:

12. 1. Location. Cold sores appear
mostly on the lips, and canker
sores appear mostly inside the
mouth. There are exceptions in
both cases, but the
overwhelming majority of the
time, this is the case.

14. 2. Blistering. Cold sores form
as fluid-filled blisters. Canker
sores do not.

16. 3. Clustering. This one is most
important. Herpes lesions, which
only rarely appear inside the
mouth (known as intraoral
lesions), always appear in
clusters of ulcers, usually 4 or
more. Canker sores very rarely
appear this way, less than 10% of
canker sores will cluster like this.

18. I wrote extensively on this
topic in my last post.
So… Are canker sores
contagious?

19. If you or your partner have a
single canker sore, or multiple
canker sores in different parts
of your mouth, kiss away. You’re
not going to give it to someone
else or catch it. If what you have
appears on your lips in clusters
of blisters – you might want to
just hold hands for a few days.

20. And see your doctor. There are
some medicines you can take to
reduce the symptoms and make
them go away faster.
Now, spread the word about
this. We’ve gotta bust this myth
somehow.

21. For more details
Visit us @
http://www.cankerboy.com/