I Think I Have Angular Stomatitis, What Can I Do?
Angular stomatitis, or rotten corners of the mouth, is very common and affects many people. Suppose you think you may have angular stomatitis. In that case, you should start by reading this article on treating angular stomatitis at home.
There are many causes of angular stomatitis. Many people will unconsciously lick their lips, thinking that using saliva can moisturize their lips. Saliva does not act as a moisturizer for your lips and even makes them worse. Still, they don't know that the corners of the mouth are cracked and rotten, and the lips are licked and drier. Saliva will remain in the corners of the mouth, creating a perfectly moist and warm environment for yeast and other fungi to grow, allowing bacteria to take advantage of the situation and form angular stomatitis.

What is angular stomatitis?
Angular stomatitis is a long-term disease. It is often caused by high-stress levels and can be accelerated if you have an imbalance in your immune system. This disease causes inflammation around your mouth's corners. They are usually found on one or both sides of the corners of the mouth, and the situation will last for a few days, or it is possible to recover on its own. However, many people will "relapse" at regular intervals even after recovery.
Angular stomatitis is common in people who wear dentures or braces. On the other hand, we need to wear masks under the new daily life for a long time. Suppose you do not change the mask frequently. In that case, moisture will be caused under the mask due to breathing or saliva, creating a warm and humid environment suitable for bacteria to breed and triggering the corners of the mouth and resulting in inflammation. In addition, children with low immunity are also particularly susceptible to infection. Most children are prone to drooling. They like to suck on their fingers or pacifiers, easily inducing angular stomatitis.
Symptoms of angular stomatitis
Painful angular stomatitis is usually accompanied by redness, swelling, blisters, bleeding, itching, peeling, festering, and burning sensation on the corners of your mouth. Besides, when you open your mouth, you will feel pain, and even eating and speaking will feel pain, making it difficult to eat, affecting your daily life.
Causes of angular stomatitis
Unlike cold sores, cold sores are mostly related to low immunity. There are two main reasons for angular stomatitis: unbalanced eating habits and fungal, a bacterial infection.
- Lack of vitamin B complex If the body lacks sufficient nutrients, such as vitamin B group (B2, B6, and B12), of which vitamin B2, also known as Riboflavin, is an indispensable nutrient for the metabolic system, which helps to maintain the mucosa, such as the health of the oral mucosa. Suppose the intake of vitamin B2 is insufficient. In that case, the metabolized skin and mucous membrane cells cannot be regenerated normally, causing the skin or mucous membranes to fester and induce angular stomatitis.
- Fungal, bacterial infection usually due to habitual licking of lips, skin wrinkles at the corners of the mouth due to loose skin in the elderly, using inappropriate dentures or having a malocclusion problem, it is easy to leave saliva residue, so that the corners of the mouth are moist, breeding bacteria, which is conducive to rosary beads Pathogens such as bacteria (fungi) and Staphylococcus aureus (bacteria) wait to infect the corners of the mouth, causing angular stomatitis.
How to treat angular stomatitis?
- Maintain a balanced diet
If angular stomatitis is caused by a lack of vitamin B2, vitamin B2 can be supplemented through a balanced diet. Since vitamin B2 is a water-soluble vitamin and does not accumulate in the body, it must be supplemented daily from food. Vitamin B2 is found in animal offal (liver, kidney, heart), lean meat, milk, dairy products, fish, dark green vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, etc.
- Medical treatment
Is angular stomatitis contagious?
If angular stomatitis is caused by nutritional deficiencies and lack of vitamin B2, there is generally no risk of infection; even angular stomatitis caused by fungal bacterial infection has a very low risk of infection. In fact, Candida is present in every population; it's just a matter of how much it carries. Therefore, angular stomatitis caused by Candida infection is generally not infected through contact. Because the symptoms of angular stomatitis and cold sores are very similar, many people confuse the two. Cold sores are virally contagious, so some close contact behaviors, such as kissing and sharing daily necessities, for example, toothbrushes, towels, cups, etc., have the opportunity to contract cold sores.
6 ways to prevent angular stomatitis
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To avoid further infection, do not touch the hurt corners of the mouth with your hands. After the scab is formed, do not tear it with your hands to not tear the wound and increase the chance of recurrence.
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Drink plenty of water to avoid excessive dryness of the lips; eat less spicy and hot irritating food to not further upset the skin at the corners of the mouth.
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To avoid excessive drying of the corners of the mouth, lip balm can be applied to protect the skin of the corners of the mouth. In addition, Vaseline can be applied to the corners of the mouth to form a saliva barrier and help reduce licking of the corners of the mouth to avoid bacterial infection.
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Improve immunity through adequate sleep, proper stress relief, and regular exercise.
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Eat more vegetables and fruits and adequately supplement the vitamin B group and vitamin C.
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Apply or take medication as directed by your doctor.
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