Natural Remedies for Canker Sores | Home Treatments For Relief

Oil Pulling

Posted by Jon (Pueblo, Co) on 03/12/2011
★★★★★

I am a 69 year old male, and have suffered most of my life with canker sores. I've treated them with many things, including alum... "ouch!!! " and H2O2, but found relief using echineasa / golden seal in a liquid herbal solution, applied with a cotton swab.

AND the BEST solution: oil pulling! I have been using this technique once daily now for well over a year, for the general health benefits. OP leaves your mouth clean and promotes rapid healing after "biting your cheek" or upon noticing a canker sore coming on. When I think I have a canker starting, I will add a session of OP. I think that I have only had one canker sore this past year that lingered past two or three days. I recommend using either sunflower oil or virgin coconut oil, available at natural grocers or health food stores.

Manuka Honey

Posted by Corinna (London, Kent, England) on 02/05/2010
★★★★★

I sometimes get very painful mouth ulcers. I simply put a bit of manuka honey on it and they disappear within a day or two.

Ginger

Posted by Casper3047 (Surfers Paradise, Queensland) on 10/25/2009
★★★★★

Having been a long time sufferer of mouth ulcers in which they lasted for 3-5wks and often so bad, eating and talking were almost impossible I seem to have found "my" cure, and I hope it can help someone else. Simply chew and "let soak" with crystalline ginger 3-4 times a day. If you catch them early enough, they just seem to fade away. I haven't tried any other variations such as ginger tea because I like the eating the ginger.

Goldenseal

Posted by Sarah (Vancouver, BC) on 07/14/2009
★★★★★

I read a LOT of the suggestions to get rid of canker sores as I get them every once in a while and they are awful. I agree that bacterial cultures and oil pulling can keep the mouth in a healthier state on a daily basis...but a remedy I didn't see anywhere is goldenseal. It can be found at any health food store and sometimes is combined with echinacea. Now this is a natural remedy that should be used sparingly as it could one day be unavailable because of overharvesting... It can be taken in pill form or tincture to boost the immune system in times when it is low but in the case of cankers, using the pill form and opening one of the capsules up and carefully putting the powder on the canker works amazingly to kill the infection. I tried using the tincture and rinsing with it and it just turned my mouth and teeth bright yellow....not cool! so get the pill form for sure... Hope this helps others in pain from those nasty canker sores!

Toothpaste Without Sls

Posted by Kristin (Salt Lake City, UT) on 05/20/2009
★★★★★

SLS-free toothpaste eliminated my canker sores. I was getting numerous canker sores each month, sometimes several at a time.

I tried canker sore gels. They eliminate the pain temporarily but not the sore itself.
I tried baking soda. That seemed to help shorten the duration a bit was very painful for about 5 minutes. Similarly, apple cider vinegar was painful and seemed to cause a slight improvement in symptoms but didn't eliminate the sores.

I tried a pinch of alum, which also stung to apply and really pickled my lips. I coudln't determine whether that helped much either.

Finally, I bought SLS-free toothpaste 6 months ago. I haven't had a full-blown canker sore since! I think 1 or 2 may have thought about starting during that time, but each time they went away without forming or causing pain.

Mustard

Posted by Rodney (Fort Wayne, IN) on 01/04/2009
★★★★★

For whatever reason if you put Mustard directly on your canker sores it burn then the pain is gone. Instant relief. I don't know if it heals anything but it sure feels better for a while and you don't have to run out and buy anything special.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Randomhelpguy (Colorado) on 03/22/2014
★★★★★

Take an ice cube with frost still on it over the canker sore and it will rip off the white part, and numb it at the same time. Then take hydrogen peroxide and hold it on the sore mixed with Apple Cider vinegar for up a minute or two. This will sting like a bitch. After all this take a Q tip and activated charcoal and scrape the crater from the former sore. Then take just the charcoal and make a paste and leave it for a few minutes. Problem solved overnight or at least smaller. Or alternatively you could use alum which also burns like hell.

Tea Bags

Posted by Craig (PORTLAND, OR) on 12/09/2008
★★★★★

Has anyone ever heard of using tea leaves to resolve a canker sore? I have tried it in the past and it has worked and I was wondering if anyone else had used this technique.

Baking Soda and Salt

Posted by Yolanda (Atlanta, Georgia) on 08/10/2008
★★★★★

Salt and Baking Soda cured my canker sore in mouth in three days! I had never had one before. I came here and saw the many remedies. I first tried the aspirin and actually it irritated the sore and the surrounding tissue in my mouth. I read about salt and baking soda. I started Wednesday night rinsing my mouth with the warm to borderline hot salt water (about a tablespoon of salt with about 6 oz of water) this will burn/painful at first. I swished around in mouth until all was gone. When I woke up I saw that the epithelial tissue almost like a scalb had formed over the sore in my mouth. Though still painfull, I repeated the same thing accept this time I used baking soda. Same amount as I used with the salt. I used baking soda twice and salt once during the course of the day. About every 3 1/2 hours. The soreness begin to go away.I repeated same thing on Friday. By Sat afternoon the soft tissue scalb was completed detached from sore and the sore was healed! Amazing!

Green Tea

Posted by Kayla (Spokane, Washington) on 07/25/2008
★★★★★

A couple of days ago I had some dental work done. I recieved topical anesthesia, a couple pain killing shots, and laughing gas. The shots made my mouth very swollen, and the topical anethesia and the laughing gas made me unable to feel the entire left side of my mouth. While I was out of it, I chewed up that whole side, leaving large, raged canker sores.

After a couple days of pain which required me to take leftover Valiums from previous dental work, I tried drinking green tea, iced. It's cooling, soothing, and offers a great deal of relief.

Gluten-Free Diet

Posted by Arthur (Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin) on 07/15/2008
★★★★★

I am age 83. I suffered from canker sores continuously my whole life until 2 years ago when by accident I discovered that I had celiac disease, that is gluten intolerance. Since going on a gluten-free diet I have not had even one canker sore. NADA! Also the acid reflux that I had all my adult life has also almost completely gone away.

Unlit Match

Posted by Donna (Garnerville, NY) on 06/26/2008
★★★★★

I tried this last night and I'm shocked at how well it works!! When you hold the match head on the sore, it HURTS like you want to SCREAM, but when you're done, the pain practically disappears. The next day, the sore is significantly less painful and it has started to heal.

Cloves

Posted by Chriswar666 (25 Y/o) (Rio De Janeiro, Brasil) on 01/27/2010
★★★★★

Cloves also worked for me, at least in eliminating the pain. I got one whole and chewed it, alleviated for a while (half an hour or more). I don't get ulcers that often, so I can't judge if it helped speed the healing, but it definitely helped the pain! Ginger also has the same effect :)

Baking Soda

Posted by Tania (Mercier, Quebec, Canada) on 03/10/2008
★★★★★

Baking soda cured my canker sore within 24 hours. I had major pain on the side of my tongue to find a canker sore it was so sore I couldn't hardly swallow. I took 1tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of water and kept it in my mouth as long as possible. I did this 3 times within an hour went to bed and did the same the next morning by dinner time the canker sore was gone! Thank you for this site its a great help.

Toothpaste Without Sls

Posted by Randi (LA, CA) on 02/07/2008
★★★★★

I suffered from the time I was a child. My mother has the same and now my kids also suffer. about 5 years ago my Dentist told me about recent findings on the link between Sodium Lauryl Sulfite and canker sores. This is a preservative found in almost ALL name brand toothpastes including some of the natural ones. I started using a SLS free Toothpaste and now I get one maybe once or twice per year (and that is usually if my hubby has brushed right before I kiss him). One brand I use is called ____. Very expensive, but worth it. You must be loyal and never use any toothpastes or mouthwashes with S.L. Sulfite. Good Luck

Flax Seed Oil

Posted by Jennifer (Northern, Idaho) on 01/28/2008
★★★★★

I was having chronic canker sores, usually 3 at a time. I tried everything I'd ever heard of with little success. I started taking Omega 3 in the form of flax seed oil for general health reasons. Within a week or so my sores were gone and I haven't had one since. I alternate between flax oil capsules (6 a day), ground flax seeds (2 tablespoons) and eating about 1/4 cup of walnuts.

Flax Seed Oil

Posted by Mary (New York, NY) on 06/30/2008
★★★★★

Many thanks to Jennifer from Northern Idaho. I tried the flax seed oil capsules and my canker sores have not appeared since. I had taken lysine capsules for two years when one day the canker sores reappeared. The flaxseed capsules have worked beautifully. Highly recommended.

Baking Soda

Posted by Shawna (Eugene, oregon) on 01/25/2008
★★★★★

Out of the blue 4 days ago I got a canker sore that was 1.5 inches large on the side of my tongue. It was excruciating! Last night before bed I tried putting a baking soda paste on it and I woke up this morning and it's almost gone! I am so glad I found this website!!!