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.
Avoid SLS Toothpaste
Posted by Dave (Columbus, Usa) on 04/28/2013
★★★★★
I have had canker sores for a while and had tried a lot of different things to help them. My daughter started to get them at a young age too. We looked around and found that SLS can cause canker sores and we found that it is in a lot of toothpastes. We started using Baking soda for toothpaste and we have not had any more canker sores for over 6 months except for my daughter 1 more time. She missed the toothpaste flavor and she used some of a gel mint flavor toothpast that had SLS in it and the next day she got a canker sore. She went back to the baking soda and it was gone in 2 days and didn't come back. Before she was getting 1 -2 every week now none in 6 months. We just get a small bowl and put some baking soda in it and wet the toothbrush in water and dip it in the paste 1 time and then brush. I learned about it from my grandpa many years ago but never used it. He past away at 94 years old and had almost all of his teeth.
Folic Acid
Posted by Melissa (Veracruz, Mexico) on 04/24/2013
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Take folic acid. Mouth sores go away very quickly! It's fantastic!
Probiotics
Posted by Jnell (Lumby, Bc, Canada) on 04/14/2013
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Probiotics for Mouth Ulcers: This is so painful at first, if you're dealing with a large ulcer, but it works everytime. Open up your probiotic capsule(s) 1 or 2 is good, pour onto a dish, add only a few drops of water at a time to form a kind of paste, then, using clean hands, use your index finger to scoup up some of the paste and push it up into the sore. Try and keep from swallowing for a bit (you'll get a little drooly) between 2 and 5 minutes is good, but the longer the better I suppose. You want to do this 3 or 4 times/day.... but I've never had to do it for more then a day, once I had one about the size of a quarter on the roof of my mouth and that was nearly gone after the second treatment! It does hurt terribly bad, but only while your pushing the probiotics into the wound.
Chronic Canker Sore
Posted by Ky Mama (Clinton, Ky) on 04/06/2013
★★★★★
A charcoal tablet held against it, once or twice a day for a couple of weeks may make a great difference. Charcoal is cheap, easy and amazingly helpful.
Chronic Canker Sore
Posted by Louwrence (Rustenburg, North West, South Africa) on 04/04/2013
Hi Ana, Seeing that everything you have tried has failed, try rinsing your mouth with your own urine, it is an antiseptic, whenever I bite the inside of my mouth that is what I use. You can also try salt but it burns & doesn't heal as quickly as with urine.
Chronic Canker Sore
Posted by Ana (Usanc) on 04/03/2013
mouth sore: I have a white sore inside my cheek since years. It does not hurt. I had it checked by a doctor and he told me nothing to worry about. But how can I get rid of it ? It makes me nervous.... Oh, I am a smoker... Thanks!
Constipation Link to Canker Sores
Posted by Cody (Fort Worth, Texas) on 11/27/2012
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Wow that's crazy, everytime I can ever think of the canker sores I got and currently have is all when I was not on a regular bathroom schedule. Vacation- canker sores appear, too busy... Canker sores appear. You're on to something, because the last 4 times would if this is true, all be for the lack of regular bowel movements!
Constipation Link to Canker Sores
Posted by Spiderhawk (Houston, Texas) on 10/31/2012
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Interesting! I was wondering why I had a painfull canker sore appear under my tounge and after reading your post, it dawned on me that as a result of taking pain medication, I have been constipated for about two weeks now. I am going to rinse with baking soda and drink some baking soda as well. I have always had success drinking baking soda to relieve constapation.
Avoid Hot Dogs
Posted by Susan (Portage, Pa) on 05/30/2012
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YES!! I have been suffering for 4 days with what I consider the largest worst canker sore I've ever had. On the tip of my tongue. Soooo Sore!!
I remember thinking.. What did I Eat to make this appear? HOT DOGS! Specifically Oscar Meyer beef franks. But, Anything with tomatoes, pickles, vinegar, and toothpaste with sodium laur. Sulfate, will trigger them. I now use sensitive toothpastes. By the way, letting an ASPIRIN dissolve on the sore, Majorly helps the pain. I used one 325 mg, pill.
Oil Pulling
Posted by Eileen (Exton, Pa, Usa) on 05/03/2012
★★★★★
Yesterday I awoke to a painful bump on the inside of my right cheek. It felt like a pimple/ulcer and I knew this could get worse. So, I remember when I had a small white painful bump on my tongue a while back I tried oil pulling which healed it overnight. Why not for the inside of my mouth?! I used olive oil, swished for 20 minutes, rinsed w/ the warm salt water solution and I kid you not, when I went to feel the bump with my tongue, it was gone--and so was the pain--that instantly! (I actually could feel the pain subsiding as I was swishing. ) Oil pulling is now my go-to for ANYTHING concerning the mouth!! :)
L-Lysine
Posted by Mary G. (Santa Cruz, California, Usa) on 03/25/2012
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About 8 years ago my daughter (then in her early 20's and my husband both were plagued with canker sores. A co-worker of mine at the time suggested L lysine, 500 mg tablets. It totally cleared up the canker sores and they didn't need to keep taking it after the sores were gone. They both keep a supply handy to take at the first sign of a recurrence.
L-Lysine
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 02/19/2012
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Finally, after 5 years of constant struggle with canker sores, I hope I've found the solution, thank G-d! I had taken l-lysine on an off with varying degrees of success untill I was told to take it (with water, of course) ON AN EMPTY STOMACH, away from food. For me, that was the secret, and so far so good, not one new sore! Now I just take one capsule of 500g. once in the morning for maintenance.
Cayenne
Posted by Gavin (Manganui, Northland, New Zealand) on 01/17/2012
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I think cayenne must be a good antibiotic.. I had these sores at the side of my mouth and thought that I'd try a bit of creative thinking.. I mixed a third cayenne a third tumeric and a third coconut oil (ev. ) gave it a good stir. Then rubbed a bit either side of my mouth before bed.. It stung at first.. When I checked in the morning I noticed a blanched ulcer.. Which is a good sign as it means the infection or whatever it was, was nailed... After three dabs over a twenty four hour period, the stinging stopped and the ulcer was shrunk to half the size it started out at. And looks healthy. Its healing so well I thought I'd post.
Supplements
Posted by Connie (Slc, Utah, Usa) on 12/12/2011
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Hi All ; It's been a 45 yr. search for me. I hope to shorten your suffering. I'll just give you the answer first, or the one that worked for me. Folate/Folic Acid. I need extra, more than the RDA of 400 mcg. , I need 800 mcg. daily in a supplement.
Canker sores are a common sign of B12 deficiency, so that's another supplement to consider, especially when one takes Folate, because they are interdependent. Sublinguals are easier for the body to use than oral types. I take large quantities, but I believe most people may need less. Supplements work best when we find our own numbers. My guess is that most people will respond to 500-1000 mcg. daily.
Zinc is another supplement that is suggested for canker sores. The RDA is approx. 15 mg. Daily. When I look at the zinc content of foods, it seems difficult to consume that amount, so I supplement with it, 15mg. 2-3 times weekly. But I'm considering a test just to see if I'm in the range somewhere.
Folate may also help with other lesions/ulcerations along the GI tract, I've read.
I wish I could give this information to my 10 yr. old self, when I lay crumpled on the bathroom floor with a stick of silver nitrate that only made the pain worse....
Baking Soda
Posted by Darlene (Kewaskum, Usa) on 12/12/2011
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My husband has suffered from Canker sores for many years. They would pop up almost immediately with certain tomato products and raw red high acid tomatoes. When we learned about baking soda for balancing pH, the logical conclusion was to use it to fight the canker sores. I can testify that if he knows one is on the way, the baking soda water will stop it in its tracks.
Constipation Link to Canker Sores
Posted by Lars (Nyc, Ny) on 12/07/2011
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I have proven over the years that when I have been "irregular" (constipated) - within a day or two non-mouth-bite related canker sores will surface. I believe this is due to build-up of toxins in the body from inability to eliminate them due to the reason I wrote above.
The toxins seem to breakout in one of the softest tissues in the body - inside the mouth.
Next time you have a break-out of canker sores, take a stool-softener or some other method to induce bowel movements... I have never heard anyone else state that constipation=canker sores, but if my advice helps you, please post your experience.
I hope this helps everyone.
Toothpaste Without Sls
Posted by Whitmire8 (Whitmire, Sc - South Carolina) on 11/10/2011
★★★★★
Definitely a winner... My mouth ulcers decreased by 75%... Downside is the price however, it's worth the money to be free of the pain that comes with the ulcers.
Gluten-Free Diet
Posted by Shaun (York, Uk) on 11/01/2011
★★★★★
My partner (female, 57) has suffered with mouth cankers for as long as she can remember. These are/were incredibly painful. They looked like mini volcano's! They came 'round on a regular basis on gums, tongue and inner lips. We tried just about everything, but with no joy. Then I thought maybe she is gluten sensitive (I had heavily researched gluten sensitivity for my own [now cured skin condition[s], see elsewhere on Earthclinic), and other other 'odd' and seemingly incurable autoimmune-like issues of various friends. The result? Bam! No more mouth cankers. What a joy! To those who do not suffer this issue you just cannot believe the sheer relief that this has brought her. 50 years of doctors efforts had come to nothing. It has now been 2/3 months with no sign of mouth ulcers.
As an aside I would suggest to ANYONE that if you have some sort of seemingly incurable issue (candida, cankers, anaemia, IBS, ear pain, brain fog, rheumatoid arthritis etc., etc. , or indeed... Whatever) that you very, very strongly consider some form of gluten sensitivity. Sadly my partners father also suffers from canker issue (and stomach problems), but as he is 85 and bread is something of a holy social and ethnic issue with him he will just not accept the fact that gluten is his problem. Nevertheless we will keep trying to convince him!
Black Tea
Posted by David (New York, Ny) on 10/18/2011
★★★★★
Tannin is a good remedy for canker sores, it's found in black tea. If you put a black tea bag on your tongue and let it sit for like 5 min or so you take it off and the pain is nearly all gone and the effect stays for quite awhile.
Baking Soda
Posted by Asw (Houston, Tx) on 10/07/2011
★★★★★
Using baking soda worked for me. I had a canker sore that kept getting worst despite the fact I was applying hydrogen peroxide. So I looked online and saw that baking soda also worked as a treatment for some. I applied baking soda once or twice a day for three days and it completely healed the sore.
Gluten-Free Diet
Posted by Jon (Defiance, Oh) on 10/06/2011
★★★★★
For years I suffered from canker sores, joint pain, sudden weakness, sharp pains throughout my body, and acid reflux. When the stomach cramps set in, that was the red flag: I was gluten intolerant. For those of you suffering from chronic canker sores, it is a food allergy and one of the symptoms of gluten intolerance. As damage occurs to your intestines, your ability to absorb certain vitamins (like vitamin B) can cause your immune system to attack the inside of your mouth because it responds to certain substances that may be left behind after eating.
For me, the trigger was citric acid, but the primary cause was gluten. Now I don't get canker sores unless I eat something with gluten in it. I can even have drinks and foods with citric acid in it and not get them if I'm avoiding gluten. If you are only getting them infrequently then I would suspect that you are just low in vitamin B, but for those of you getting this painful mouth ulcer regularly, you might want to get tested for gluten intolerance. Just thought I'd put in my experiences and two-cents since I see so many myths circulating around about canker sores since there is no definite answer on what causes them.
