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Home Remedies For Canker Sores
Canker sores are located inside the mouth around gums, inside of cheeks and lips and around the tongue area. It’s unknown what causes them exactly but it’s suspected that stress and diet can play a big factor. These aren’t contagious like cold sores, but they can be quite painful. Sores can last 2 to 3 weeks.
Spoonful Of Honey
Canker Sore Remedies
- Salt (stings): Apply salt directly to the sore or rinse your mouth a couple times a day with a strong salt water solution.
- Crushed Aspirin (*Careful): Dab the crushed aspirin directly on the sore. *Although I’ve experienced no problems with this, you may get an aspirin burn (see comment below).
- Baking Soda: Sprinkle onto sore or make a paste of baking soda and water then apply. You can also rinse your mouth with a strong baking soda and water solution.
- Tea Bag (wet): Tannin from the tea helps sooth the sore, apply a wet tea bag directly onto sore and leave for a few minutes at a time. Use a fresh tea bag for each treatment (do not reuse). Can also help soothe the pain.
- Aloe Vera: Dab gel from a fresh Aloe leaf or pure aloe onto sore, can also help soothe the pain. Do this several times a day.
- Honey: Dab honey onto canker sore 2 to 3 times a day, can also help soothe the pain.
- Vodka, Rum or Whiskey (dabbed onto the sore): Will likely sting, apply alcohol full strength to the stain by dabbing it on with a q-tip.
- Listerine Mouthwash (original): Swoosh mouthwash around your mouth focusing on the sore area for as long as you can stand it (will likely be painful), do this a couple times a day until sore is gone.
- Apple Cider Vinegar (stings): Dab onto sore several times a day, although it stings at first it can help soothe the pain as well.
- Mix a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water, apply directly to sore.
- Dab Milk of Magnesia onto the sore several times a day, helps soothe as well.
Pain Relief:
- Apply a topical dental gel such as Anbesol or Orajel to the sore, will usually relieve the pain temporarily.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of Milk of Magnesia (Maalox) with 1/2 tablespoon of Benadryl (two treatments), use half to swish around in your mouth over the canker sore area. Spit out, don’t swallow.
- Apply an ice cube or ice chips to sore as needed, will help numb the pain.
Note: If a sore persists and won’t heal or is accompanied by a fever, make sure to see your doctor.
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You’ve got one “cancer” instead of “canker” in there
Whoops! Thanks Dave, I totally missed that
.
I’d be very cautious about reccomending the crushed aspirin remedy. People also use it on toothaches and end up with aspirin burn, which is worse than the canker sore. Never use aspirin as direct contact on oral tissue (cheeks, gums, lips, tongue).
Thanks very much toothfairy, I wrote a quick note warning of that.
My family has always used Boric Acid powder for canker sores. Just put a bit of the powder on the canker sore and hold in your mouth til it dissolves. It doesn’t taste too terrible and usually works with only one application.
I get canker sores all the time, usually after too many tomatoes. My best remedy is to eat the hottest, spiciest food I can handle (without any tomato, of course). Even buffalo wings works, as long as you don’t bite the sore while you’re chewing! The sore is less painful within an hour and usually starts to disappear by the next day. Jumbo, can see the swelling from the outside sores may take a second spicy meal, which is a dosage I can handle.
My mother has always recommended Lysine. It is a white powder found in the vitamin aisle. Applied directly to the sore it helps ease the pain and heal faster.
Last time I was plagued by canker sores I used Orajel. There is a mouth sore gel… apparently it is different from the other Orajels. Well… after the excrutiating pain on initial application, it numbed the area… and every other area in my whole mouth… but it seemed to assist the sores in propegating. I ended up with sores in half my mouth instead of 1. It was awful. I am going back to my mother’s remedy.
=/ Anne
I have had canker sores very often since I was in grade school. I hadn’t discussed it with my doctor, only my dentist–when I told my doctor, she prescribed a special cream to put on them at night. Sores are completely gone in one or two nights!
Pepto Bismo has aspirin (or some pain reliever) in it. Putting a drop or two of it on the sore usually relieves the pain for awhile. It’s much easier and tastes better than putting the aspirin directly on it. It works pretty well.
My husband’s family drys the sore,then holding it out- puts a small dab of iodine on the sore, stings just a second, then in the morning, almost totally gone. I use L-lysine from the vitamin store.Usually works in a day or 2 or I take it 1 or 2 a few times a week and never see any.It does not sting!!
I have been having dental work done on my teeth,and now have sores around my gums and teeth that have been worked on. My dentist said it was caused by a “cold sore” virus and there is little that can be done for it. His explanation was that when there is any kind of trauma or stress on the body, the nerves are activated resulting in these types of sores. The sores usually last 10 days from break out to healing. This has been true for me. The best relief I have had has been from rinsing several times a day with warm salt water. Betty Jo.
It should be noted that boric acid can be toxic. Look here for more info – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid I was surprised to see that it is used as an antiseptic! Learn something new everyday!
When I used to get canker sores as a child my mother always had me eat yogurt. Not sure if there are any particular reasons why other than it was soothing & nutritious but they usually went away quickly after eating it.
My family dabs alum on the canker sore.
Another natural remedy is Tincture of Benzoin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tincture_of_benzoin
It’s often used in sports medicine to help bandages adhere better, but it’s also quite good for coating canker sores and other oral irritation. As an aside it has a nice aromatic smell.
The amino acid L-Lysine works GREAT. I recommend 2 or 3 1000MG doses a day. It greatly shortens the life of the ulcer and dries it up much faster. I always keep Lysine in the house, for when a canker sore shows up. For some reason, it’s not as effective when the ulcer is on the tongue, but it definitely works for the rest of the mouth.
Zilactin-B also works well, and leaves a hard cover, if you hold out the lip to let it dry completely. But it burns like a beyotch when you first apply it.
I too grew up using alum (a spice used for pickling) on canker sores inside the mouth. I still treat them with this remedy. Sure, it tastes super sour and nasty for about 15 seconds, but it gets the job done – the sore is usually within 24-48 hours. Pickling the sore away really seems to be the best remedy for my family! LOL
Alum is absolutely the way to go! First dry the sore as well as possible and apply the alum. Hold and keep dry for 30 seconds. Yes it tastes awful and leaves an awful aftertaste, but the sore is gone in a day, two at most.
Prevent canker sores altogether! Many people are sensitive to lauryl sulfate — the foaming ingredient in toothpaste (and shampoo, liquid soap, etc., but hopefully you don’t put those in your mouth). Switch to a toothpaste without it and see how you do. I use JASON SmartMouth toothpaste. I used to have canker sores almost constantly — sometimes 2 or 3 at a time. But since I switched I very, very rarely have one, and it usually is tiny and disappears in a day or so with no treatment.
Canker sores are also a symptom of anemia. I keep a bottle of iron on my desk and take some extra iron for a day or two.
I get canker sores after using cough drops for too long – i.e. when sleeping
Wow, thanks Mrs. Salber for saying that. That is exactly what I have been doing, sleeping with cough drops. I did not know if the little spots in my mouth were related to my cold or the cough drops.
I get them from sodas, teas, and orange juice. After two weeks of just drinking water I will finally clear up, and if I start drinking any of those beverages daily again, after about a week, the canker sores come back.
The only thing that has worked in stopping a breakout and quickly healing any sores that I already have is this prescribed mouthwash PerioRx (Chlorhexidine Gluconate), ask a dentist.
I think it has something to do with the beverages keeping the PH level in my mouth at some non-nominal level. If I quickly chugged whatever I was drinking a couple of times a day I don’t think I’d have a problem but I typically sip on something all throughout the day.
It’s extremely annoying.
I’d heard of Lysine for cold sores but not for canker sores. I’ll have to give that a try next time I get one.
As for using it for cold sores, my cousin use to get them all the time where her whole mouth was scabss. She started taking 1/2 Lysine (she was only 5 at the time) a day and and it greatly decreased the occurance of cold sores to almost 0. If she stopped taking it the sores would come back.
I’m wondering if Lysine would work the same for canker sores, as a preventative measure?
I will normally get them when eating or drinking to much vitamin C. rinsing with PerioRx (Chlorhexidine Gluconate) helps – your dentist will prescribe it. If I am out of that or on vacation (which always seems to happens), Scope works well too. Either way it takes about 2 days for the sting to go away and then a week for the redness to fade. Thanks for all the great tips, I will try some of these also.
I use alum it stings like crazy but works very well
Oh my goodness, you guys are all doing it the hard way! Plain old cane sugar. dab it on (coat the sore) and let it desolve. Usually once or twice will do it. Doesn’t sting or taste bad. Been doing this for wellll over 50 years.
I just rinse my mouth with Hydrogen Peroxcide 3%, and it does wonders. Don’t swallow of course.I wear dentures and sometimes they cut into my gum or cheek. after rinsing with the above mentioned item , next day it is healed. Anyhow that is my expierence.
All my life I had Canker Sores and after I started using Scope 2-3 times a day, they never came back. My whole family suffer from the Canker Sores and now my kids and my husband.
My son has suffered from canker sores all of his life.Some of the best advice we have ever received was from his first pediatrician. He taught us to mix up a “magic mouthwash” consisting of about a 50%/50% mix of Mylanta Supreme and liquid Benedryl. Swish it around, and spit it out. Use it several times a day. It speeds up the healing by lowering the acid levels in the mouth, and reducing inflammation. It has a soothing effect as it coats the area. We have been able to heal up some pretty bad sores in just a couple of days with this.
Once on a camping trip in Tennessee my mouth and throat swelled with canker sores. When I got back to civilization I did research online and found that sodium lauryl sulfate(SLS) may be the culprit because I had changed my toothpaste to a travel size Colgate. The only toothpaste I found that didn’t have SLS was as generic Sensodyne from the Dollar Tree. After switching, my canker sores all went away and stayed away. Every now and then when I travel and forget my toothpaste and have to use a different one with SLS my mouth will breakout after 2 or so uses. But they begin to go away with once I switch back and as long as I use that toothpaste I don’t get any canker sores. For the pain of canker sores I usually just use the aspirin method.
My brother was plagued with canker sores when he was young and our old-time family doctor has us put a bit on the end of a cotton swab and press on the sore. He hated doing that because it hurt, so he started swigging pickle juice, which, contains alum! And it worked!
On the out side of your lips, I use any liquid antibacterial hand soap, put it on straight then pat dry with a wet cloth , best to do it when you first feel it coming on.
If you’re going to mention that vinegar and salt water sting, you might want to mention that honey is excruciatingly painful when applied.
I find it soothing and not painful at all! I haven’t had a canker sore in ages (knock on wood), but that’s a treatment I know I’ve tried with good results.