Unpacking Canker Sores: Causes and Connections

This chapter explores canker sores, their prevalence, and the contrasting views of functional versus traditional medicine regarding their causes. It highlights key triggers such as food sensitivities, autoimmune disorders, and nutritional deficiencies, emphasizing the need to understand root causes over mere symptom management. The discussion also connects gut health and nutrition to the occurrence of these painful mouth ulcers, advocating for holistic approaches to treatment.

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Getting Rid Of Cold Sores And Canker Sores | This episode is sponsored by Thrive Market and Apeel

While there is a difference between cold sores and canker sores, they are similar in that common occurrence of either is an indication that something is out of balance in the body. Most of us have had canker sores at one time or another. They usually occur at the side of your mouth, by your cheek, inside of your cheek, or underneath your tongue, and they can be quite painful. As opposed to cold sores, canker sores are not infections. Cold sores, however, are contagious, often forming inside your mouth, near your teeth, or on the lips; they result from herpes simplex virus.

In this episode, Dr. Hyman sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Boham to discuss what frequent recurrence of cold sore or canker sores might be indicating, and how they treat patients experiencing these issues.

Elizabeth Boham is a physician and nutritionist who practices functional medicine at The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. Through her practice and lecturing she has helped thousands of people achieve their goals of optimum health and wellness. She witnesses the power of nutrition every day in her practice and is committed to training other physicians to utilize nutrition in healing. Dr. Boham has contributed to many articles and wrote the latest chapter on Obesity for the Rankel Textbook of Family Medicine. She is part of the faculty of the Institute for Functional Medicine and has been featured on the Dr. Oz show and in a variety of publications and media including Huffington Post, The Chalkboard Magazine, and Experience Life. Her DVD Breast Wellness: Tools to Prevent and Heal from Breast Cancer explores the functional medicine approach to keeping your breasts and whole body well.

This episode is sponsored by Thrive Market and Apeel.

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In this conversation, Dr. Hyman and Dr. Boham discuss: