Posted by Kimkat (Hingham, Ma) on 04/27/2011
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
Alum for canker sores - I just applied to 4 cankers in my mouth and the smaller cankers on inside of lips felt a sting and then a little better instantly, achy but a little better---- BUT the almost centimeter size one on tongue- GOD HELP ME THE PAIN IS INTENSE. I couldn't keep the alum on for long for that one, 30 seconds and almost passed out. BUT I will try again~ I drooled like a fool but been doing that all day. I have eaten NOTHING today the pain got so bad and that is with double dose ibuprofen on board for 3 days. Anyone had luck with this stuff and large cankers of the tongue??
I might have to call my doctor for painkillers - this is almost unbearable (yes I have a low threshhold for pain)
Posted by Liz (Hudson Valley, New York) on 11/12/2009
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
I had a canker sore that was at the peak of inflammation and pain and I decided to try putting Alum on it last night as recommended here to stop the pain. I bought the crystallized kind from the spice section of the grocery store and licked my finger, dabbed it it the alum and then dabbed it on the sore and let it sit/dry/sink in for 5 minutes.
OH MY GOD - it hurt like nobody's business which I could tolerate, but then for the next hour it made my entire jaw, neck and ear area throb with terrible pain which I could not tolerate. I ended up taking pain relievers and going to bed several hours early just to stop the pain with sleep. I have not been in such agonizing pain for many years. It felt like a migraine and an earache and a toothache all at once.
However, today my canker sore has been very tender but noticeably less painful (i've also been on pain meds all day because I'm a bit scarred by what happened last night). The sore also seems to be healing. I honestly am not sure if I can recommend the alum or not, given the positive effects today and the horrible effects last night.
