Rotten looking gums

I am travelling round the US (from the UK) and my gums have rapidly become a problem. At first the gum above one of my front teeth looked a bit rotten, it was sensitive and had receeded a bit. I assumed this was just because I had not paid the proper attention to my teeth for the last 2 weeks. I started brushing regularly again and took specail care with this gum. Soon the problem expanded onto the teeth either side. I decided to get some mouthwash, partly because it was too painful to brush the effected area. It hasn't worked and now all of my gums hurt. The ones on one side of my mouth have receeded, especially in between teeth. And whenever I brush them they bleed quite a lot. Often they seem to be bleeding occasionaly even if I haven't just brushed them. The strange thing is that all of this has happened within a week. They were fine before that. Is it some kind of indfection, and if so how do I get rid of it. Or will it go over time. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to cut short my travels just so I can go to a dentist. Many thanks.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

So the improved hygiene and mouthwash haven't done much to help you out?  Unfortunately you can't get a prescription of antibiotics without seeing a dentist to examine you.  Try using some hydrogen peroxide to rinse the mouth out.  It'll burn a bit I imagine but it may help with the infection.  You should probably also take some anti-inflammatories for pain such as ibuprofen or tylenol (whatever is safe or recommended for you).  Also keep up the hygiene as much as possible.  I'm initially guessing you have what we call trench mouth.  Google it and see if it sounds like what you may be getting.  I would still recommend seeing a dentist as soon as possible though.  I can't properly diagnose over the internet but hopefully that'll help you out immediately.