The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Alum
Posted by Bonnie (Magalia, California) on 07/22/2008
★★★★★
Hello, I was on your sight last night and was reading your cures and remembered my Mom's.Since I currently have a huge ulcer under my tong I got out the alum(a pickeling product used to make pickles) and wet a Qtip and dabed it on everytime I thought of it for about 12 hours and my sore is gone. Good ol Mom! Not sure where you can get alum because mine is from 1965 and it still works and still tastes terrible! Hope this helps someone.
Alum
Posted by Kellye (Long Beach, CA) on 06/07/2008
★★★★★
Wow, thank goodness for this website. I had been suffering for 3 days with two annoying cankers. I researched online and it seemed there was no cure or relief. I stumbled upon this website and I am happy to say with a combination of alum crystals rubbed gently on the sores followed by a light paste of aspirin, literally within 4 hrs the cankers no longer hurt and they are subsiding. Yeah! I highly recommend this combo.
Alum
Posted by Lyn (Springfield, Vermont) on 08/31/2011
★★★★★
Exactly that is what I did too.. A few friends over the years have suggested the Alum.. About a year ago I went as far as to buy a small container of it.. The powdered kind.. It tasted terrible and burned like crazy so that was that.. I have been having these darn cankers ever since I gave up smoking 4 1/2 years ago.. I get them off and on.. And when I do get them they last for months.. Tonight I forced myself to deal with the pain and eat my supper.. It was very painful.. But I got thru it..
I have been reading this site and decided that the alum couldn't hurt anymore then the acid from my spaghetti had.. So I got brave and wet my finger and held it on the sore under my tongue.. It burned wicked bad.. I thought ya right this is going to work.. Still hurting and throbbing I tried the aspirin.. Held it to the sore till it disolved and didn't rinse my mouth.. Still just letting it disolve and swollowing as needed till the aspirin is gone..
Its amazing after doing this the pain had gone.. I can't believe it.. Will report back tomorrow and see how it is then.. All I can say is its worth a try.. It seems to have worked for me so far.. Good luck..
Alum
Posted by Hailey (Chilliwack, Canada) on 05/14/2008
★★★★★
YES alum really works! My braces will often give me canker sores. My wires would always split the canker in two AS it grows, so whenever I open my mouth it pulls on the canker. I put alum in it and the next day it had completely decreased in size and no longer hurt. After two days it was completely gone!
Alum
Posted by Joy (Oklahoma City, OK) on 10/09/2006
★★★★★
I've suffered with canker sores for 40 years and have tried almost everything. i read about alum on your website and decided to try it on the 4 lesions i had that were as large as a pencil eraser. 3 hours after applying the alum, i experienced complete pain relief. the sores still took time to heal but i was able to eat anything i wanted and had virtually no pain during the healing period. a week later i felt another sore starting. i applied the alum and it was gone the next morning.
Alum
Posted by Jennifer (USA) on 08/11/2006
★★★★★
I tried the alum as suggested for my canker sore. It was really sore and I couldn't take it so I decided to give this a try. I got it at the grocery store for about a dollar. I got the granulated stuff and just put a little pinch on the sore. I felt immediate relief after I rinsed. The pain has definitely lessened a lot overall and I am able to eat with little pain. It has only been about 12 hours since I did it. Another try and it might be completely better! Thanks!! PS it tastes bad and stings a little but definitely worth it.
Alum
Posted by Debbie (Toronto, Canada) on 06/09/2008
I have not tried alum as yet but was told that it"s good for tightening the skin. I just don't know were to get it to buy in Toronto so this is my question, were do I get alum to buy? so that I can comment back on how it works. please write back to let me know.
EC: Alum is sold in the spice section of grocery stores.
Alum
Posted by Farooq (Cornwall, Ontario, canada) on 02/06/2012
★★★★★
I have been getting cankers since I moved to Canada. Have seen many many Doctors but nothing helped.
But then I read about sodium lauryl sulfate found in most of toothpastes was one of the reason for Cankers. I stopped using those toothpastes and thank God I do not get it very often, as I was use to get it about twice a month.
But once in a while I will get it. This time it was on my tongue I read it on this website about Alum and bought it from Food basics. Used it once and seems to be very helpful.
Alum
Posted by Lj (Seattle, Wa) on 08/17/2015
I just bought some alum and dabbed a q tip in water and the alum. Held it on sore for 5min. Hurt like hell. Rinsed it out. Still hurts... I can see that it looks less red and more white. I think it's making it heal faster. Not doing much for pain relief though
Alum
Posted by Teri (Denham Springs) on 08/09/2006
★★★★★
okay... I tried the ALUM yesterday for a canker sore I have on my upper lip and YES it burned like a mother but today it hardly hurts at all!! I have one on my tongue too but that one seems to still bother me... I am going to put the alum on it again today.. so with my fingers crossed I hope it will help that one too. I did have my drug store order me some Rembrant toothpaste without that SLS in it. The net rated that one the #1 choice. I'll try anything!
Alum
Posted by Dan (Dayton, Ohio) on 04/21/2006
★★★★★
I have used alum for canker sores for nearly 3 decades. The alum is usually found in the spice section of grocery stores. I have found from experience that the granulated version is much better than the powder, which often dissolves too quickly in your mouth to do the job properly. I have found the best method is to wet the end of a finger, then dip the finger into the alum granules. This should get quite a lot of them to stick to your finger. Then make sure that the canker sore is thoroughly wetted, and press the finger with the alum crystals against the sore. Hold it there for approximately 3 to 5 minutes. It also helps if you lay down while doing this, and orient the cold sore so that it is up, and not down. This helps keep the inevitable saliva from washing away the alum too quickly. I have found that if I don't lay down and do this, I often have to do the treatment twice. However, by doing this, often a single treatment causes the sore to go into remission within 12 hours. I have often treated the sore when going to bed, and woke up to find it no longer hurting, and on the mend the next morning. This seems to be the most reliable and cheapest way to get rid of canker sores.
Alum
Posted by Eddy (Springfield, VA) on 04/14/2006
★★★★★
I have used alum ever since I was a child. I had a lot of canker sores during childhood. It tastes terribly and does burn a little but the canker sore is usually gone with a couple of days. I have not been able to find it lately but I will check the spice section in the grocery store as suggested. I have tried everything over the years, and this works the best! The only thing is to make sure you put the top on tight as it will dry out!
Alum
Posted by Stacey (St. Paul, Minnesota) on 07/14/2005
★★★★★
I use a cooking spice called Alum on my canker sores and it helps heal them really fast and takes away the pain. It tastes awful and you must let it sit for a min to absorb but it really does help.
