Treating a canker sore; what works?
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Jude (
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March 1st, 2010
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13 Answers
i’m really prone to them and when i get one i rinse my mouth out with saltwater (with lotsss of salt in it)......usually its gone within a day. its a miracle.
I haven’t had one in a while, so I don’t remember the name of what I used, but you can get a product that’s a gel you put on top of the sore and it dries into a protective covering. That helps majorly in reducing pain and I would think it would speed healing, since the sore isn’t coming into contact with food or your gums/teeth/etc.
I use hydrogen peroxide. Just a little bit from a q-tip 2–3 times a day.
I second Kanka! I get one every other month and it helps the pain. I also try to rinse my mouth with Listerine as often as possible, it helps speed up the recovery time. Haven’t tried saltwater yet though. I’ll give it a try next time.
I usually just suffer through ‘em, unless I’ve got a mouth full of the things. When it’s too much to take, I gargle with salt water and/or diluted hydrogen peroxide (you can gargle straight H2O2, but you will hate yourself afterwards). You can buy a topical anesthetic, too, like @Cruiser posted. Be warned that it wears off long before you can apply more.
One episode was so bad that for two weeks I could only drink warm salt water and eat things that could be swallowed without chewing; anything else and it felt like I was dumping razors into my mouth.
Anybody know a good preventative?
My mother told me to use powdered alum. Moisten a fingertip, get a little bit of alum powder on it, and apply it directly to the sore. Not a pleasant feeling or taste, but they did seem to heal faster. Don’t swallow until you’ve rinsed your mouth out.
Lysine pills and Lysine ointment
Also, there are some medicated q-tips that are wonderful, but I don’t know what is in them.
Tea tree oil has helped dry some of my up faster.
Clove oil – recommended by a pharmacist
Kanka is good, too.
Swish very strong black tea in your mouth.
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