I’m a young adult female and a hypochondriac. I’ve been having ulcers in my mouth for the past 6 weeks or so. Generally it’s only one at a time, but a couple of days after one goes away (which takes between 24 hours and a week) another one appears. They’re usually painful but sometimes they’re not, like today’s isn’t. As a hypochondiac, I’ve been trying to do research on anything I think it could be.
-Recurrent aphthous stomatitis: seems like the most obvious answer from the research I’ve done. Recurring canker sores, basically.
-Caused by my retainer: I’ve been wearing the same retainer for years and it’s all cracked and has some sharp edges. I know ulcers can be caused by mouth injury so maybe the retainer is stabbing it and causing it. It sometimes has like a trail of blood running through it, kind of like an injury. That said, though the ulcers are always around the insides of my lips, they're not in the same place every time. Maybe a combination of this and the above? Not sure.
-Herpes: It’s not like a cold sore, but it could potentially be HSV-2 in the mouth. (THIS IS WHERE I’D LIKE FACT-CHECKING AND OPINIONS) I’ve heard that it’s very possible but somewhat rare that it occurs there. However, the time period doesn’t seem quite right- herpes even at the initial outbreak I don’t think would be like “outbreak for a week, a week of being okay, outbreak for a week, a few days being okay, etc.” I think herpes generally takes longer to heal than that. Separate outbreaks would be further apart, and if it was all one outbreak I wouldn’t have had 5 days of no symptoms in the middle of it. In addition, the ulcer never has like a hard crust or has been convex; the ulcer dips down into my mouth not protrudes out like a blister. Maybe the lack of hard crust is because it’s in my mouth though, which is always moist. Does this sound like it’s likely to be herpes or can I try to stop worrying so much about that? Even though to me it seems the least likely, it’s the most serious (because it’s contagious) and therefore what I’m worrying about the most.
Any thoughts would be fantastic, especially if you’re a medical professional or otherwise familiar with any of the conditions I mentioned. Thanks!