Hand foot and mouth ulcers in mouth

Q: How do you treat mouth sores from HFMD?

Theres no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease usually clear up in 7 to 10 days. A topical oral anesthetic may help relieve the pain of mouth sores.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common infection that causes mouth ulcers and spots on the hands and feet.

Table of Contents Show

Symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease
Mouth ulcers
Spotty rash and blisters
What to do if you or your child has hand, foot and mouth disease
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Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the hand
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the hand
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the foot
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the foot
When to see a doctor
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Does hand foot and mouth look like ulcers?
How long do HFMD mouth sores last?
How do you treat mouth sores from HFMD?
What does HFMD look like in mouth?

It's most common in young children – particularly those under 10 – but can affect older children and adults as well.

Hand, foot and mouth disease can be unpleasant, but it will usually clear up by itself within 7 to 10 days. You can normally look after yourself or your child at home.

The infection is not related to foot and mouth disease, which affects cattle, sheep and pigs.

Symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease

The symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease usually develop between 3 and 5 days after being exposed to the infection.

The first symptoms may include:

a high temperature (fever), usually around 38°C to 39°C (100.4-102.2°F)
a general sense of feeling unwell
loss of appetite
coughing
abdominal (tummy) pain
a sore throat and mouth

Mouth ulcers

After 1 or 2 days, red spots appear on the tongue and inside the mouth.

These quickly develop into larger yellow-grey mouth ulcers with red edges.

The ulcers can be painful and make eating, drinking and swallowing difficult. They should pass within a week.

Spotty rash and blisters

Soon after the mouth ulcers appear, you'll probably notice a rash made up of small, raised red spots on the skin.

These typically develop on the fingers, the backs or palms of the hand, the soles of the feet, and occasionally on the buttocks and groin.

The spots may then turn into small blisters with a grey centre.

The spots and blisters can sometimes be itchy or uncomfortable and typically last up to 10 days.

What to do if you or your child has hand, foot and mouth disease

If you have hand, foot and mouth disease, the best thing to do is to stay at home until you're feeling better. There's no cure for it, so you have to let it run its course.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a mild, contagious viral infection common in young children. Symptoms include sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is most commonly caused by a coxsackievirus.

There's no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Frequent hand-washing and avoiding close contact with people who have hand-foot-and-mouth disease may help lower your child's risk of infection.

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Symptoms

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the hand Open pop-up dialog box

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the hand

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease often causes a rash of painful, blister-like lesions on the palms of the hands. Rashes appear differently depending on skin tone.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the foot Open pop-up dialog box

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease on the foot

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease often causes a rash of painful, blister-like lesions on the soles of the feet. Rashes appear differently depending on skin tone.

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease may cause all of the following symptoms or only some of them. They include:

Fever.
Sore throat.
Feeling sick.
Painful, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks.
A rash on the palms, soles and sometimes the buttocks. The rash is not itchy, but sometimes it has blisters. Depending on skin tone, the rash may appear red, white, gray, or only show as tiny bumps.
Fussiness in infants and toddlers.
Loss of appetite.

The usual period from initial infection to the time symptoms appear (incubation period) is 3 to 6 days. Children may get a fever and develop a sore throat. They sometimes lose their appetites and don't feel well.

One or two days after the fever begins, painful sores may develop in the front of the mouth or throat. A rash on the hands and feet and sometimes on the buttocks may also appear.

Sores that develop in the back of the mouth and throat may suggest a related viral illness called herpangina. Other features of herpangina include a sudden high fever and, in some instances, seizure. In rare cases, sores develop on the hands, feet or other parts of the body.

When to see a doctor

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is usually a minor illness. It typically only causes fever and mild symptoms for a few days. Call your health care provider if your child is younger than six months, has a weakened immune system, or has mouth sores or a sore throat that makes it painful to drink fluids. Call your provider, too, if your child's symptoms don't improve after 10 days.

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Does hand foot and mouth look like ulcers?

The blisters caused by HFM are red with a small bubble of fluid on top. They often peel, leaving an ulcer, which is a sore with a reddish base. The soles of the feet and the palms of the hands may have a rash that can look like flat red spots or red blisters.

How long do HFMD mouth sores last?

What to Expect: Fever lasts 2 or 3 days. Mouth sores should go away by 7 days. Rash on the hands and feet lasts 10 days.

How do you treat mouth sores from HFMD?

There's no specific treatment for hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Symptoms of hand-foot-and-mouth disease usually clear up in 7 to 10 days. A topical oral anesthetic may help relieve the pain of mouth sores.

What does HFMD look like in mouth?

What does hand, food and mouth disease look like? The rash manifests as tiny red bumps or blisters on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, fingers and toes. In the mouth, the rash appears as painful sores or ulcers mainly clustered in the back of the throat.