I am a trumpet player and trumpet players are known to experience both canker sores and cold sores. I have experienced canker sores in a total of four times in the past four years, once a year. The first time, it was the simple, but numerous, amounts of canker sores that appeared to only congregate around my upper lip and mostly inside the gums of my upper lip. The second time was more abrasive than the first. It chapped and opened around the sides of my mouth and appeared on both my top and bottom lips and gums. When I went to bed at night, I would wake up in the morning to have my lips physically sealed shut and unable to open unless I chose to reopen the blisters and bleed in the morning. In addition to the lips, I had fever symptoms and lightheadedness; I was also considerably malnourished as it was difficult for me to get any food past my swollen lips. I first went to the doctor, who prescribed me antibiotics and referred me to my dentist. My dentist referred me to the oral surgeon who then prescribed me antiviral medications to help with it. They then told me to schedule a biopsy if it pops up again. The third time was considerably less abrasive, but still more prominent, than the first. They scheduled and proceeded with the biopsy only to have the results come up negative. The fourth, and current, canker sores are turning more abrasive by the limit and I'm completely confused as to what is causing it. I am not allergic to silver, which is what most trumpet mouthpieces are made out of. I understand that coffee seems to cause the canker sores, with my research in herpes, so I have stayed away from coffee. But, the biopsy and the symptoms don't correlate with one another. Since I've experienced both the canker sore approach and the herpes symptoms, is there a time difference in how long the herpes virus lasts to affect the biopsy in such a way that it isn't the herpes virus, or is it just a more abrasive version of canker sores?