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.
Baking Soda
Posted by Jennifer (Gilbert, AZ) on 11/17/2008
★★★★★
I have these last couple of months been getting canker sores. I have never had them in my life, but have just started getting them out of the blue. I found this website and i have tried everything on here, all but the baking soda i tried that last. Let me say NONE of the other things worked for me, but oh my gosh the baking soda works wonders!!!!
The pain was very VERY bad and i didn't know what else to do, i even tried over the counter things and they didn't work in anyway, but the baking soda did.I also found the baking soda helps if you have a toothache too, in short baking soda is amazing and i would try it before anything else.
Multivitamins
Posted by Jill (Ashland, OR) on 11/14/2008
★★★★★
I have always had Canker sores. All of my life I have been dealing with having and getting rid of Canker sores. Finally I have found a solution, and I am very happy for it. All I have to do now is make sure I take a multi-vitamin every three days and I am totally fine. If I start to get one, I know I have missed my dose and take a vitamin and soon, it goes away. I am not sure what it is in the vitamin, I goggled vitamin and Canker on the web and found that it might be Vitamin B, B-12, Iron, Folate or Vitamin C. Either way, I have been deficient and now I will be sure that I have all my vitamins. Give thanks. And thanks Earth clinic and everyone who writes in, the posts here with ACV helped me get over my sore throats and stay healthy!
Salt
Posted by Morgan (Dekalb, Illinois USA) on 11/02/2008
★★★★★
Yes, salt does work....but it hurts like crazy!!!! I get canker sours DAILY.. i try numming it but that doesnt make it go away....salt does...i would not put on a small childs canker though......as i said before..it hurts! i have not tryed baking soda..i will and then i will see if it works! :):)
Turmeric
Posted by Debbie (East Moriches, NY) on 10/21/2008
★★★★★
Turmeric for Canker Sores/Cold Sores
Recently read in Rebecca Wood's "The New Whole Food Encyclopedia" about using turmeric for canker sores. I have low iron which occassionally gives me canker sores so I was searching for a home remedy. Take an 1/8 tsp. of turmeric and just enough drops of water to make a thick paste. Put directly on canker sore before bed and it will be gone by morning. Works well on cold sores too. Beware that turmeric will stain the skin a little (no big deal). I've been referring to this website for years and am glad that I have something to offer back.
Oral Care
Posted by Mike (Sofia, Bulgaria) on 10/02/2008
★★★★★
I suffered with mouth ulcers for 20 years or more. Recently I realized I wasn't rinsing well after brushing my teeth, and I know that sodium lauryl sulphate in toothpaste is an evil chemical known to cause mouth ulcers. So I decided to rinse my mouth out thoroughly several times (and gargle) with water after brushing. Since I've been doing that I have been free of mouth ulcers. We're talking about months, so I am very pleased.
I've also been eating a lot more omega 3 (in tuna/salmon/lamb). I see some people here recommend flax oil, so that might also be responsible.
Distilled White Vinegar
Posted by Kam (San Carlos, Ca) on 09/20/2008
★★★★★
I had an annoying and painful canker sore way back on my tongue, too much info..., but searched and found this site, only had distilled white vinegar, gargled twice for one minute twice and the sore really calmed down in 5 minutes, (stinging of course) then the next day gone. Assume apple cider vinegar is effective as well, but have used alum, peroxide, warm salt solution, ambesol and other OTC meds, the vinegar is the best.
Silver Nitrate Sticks
Posted by Chelsea (Bloomington, IN) on 08/23/2008
★★★★★
I work in a dentist office and whenever I get a horrible canker sore I use Silver Nitrate Sticks. It burns for a little bit but then forms a wet scab over the area. I asked one of the Dentist at the office I work in why this works; and he said he had heard at in a CE class that it's because the canker sore is cause by a virus and the body does not heal the virus it just runs its course, so the Silver Nitrate injures the area, causing the body to heal itself. Although it stings and makes your mouth taste a little like an ashtray for about five minutes, it's totally worth it.
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.
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.
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.
L-Lysine
Posted by Bill (Orem, UT) on 05/28/2008
★★★★★
I've had massive dime-sized canker sores for years and had tried just about everything by the time I had finally found this website. I tried the recommended L-Lysine tablets 2 times a day (morning and evening) and have been doing so for about 6 months now. I am happy to say I have finally found the cure for canker sores, trust me, L-Lysine works! I never get canker sores anymore.
Alum, H2O2, Aspirin
Posted by BC Boy (Smithers, Canada) on 05/17/2008
Remedy Side Effects for Canker Sores: I found Earth Clinic while googling for a canker sore remedy. I was relieved to find so many positive responses to these remedies. So I went and picked up several of the remedies hoping at least one would work as good as stated. I started with Alum. I dabbed a wet finger into the powder and applied it to the 4cm canker sore inside my bottom left gum. At first it stung like salt on an open wound. Then it subsided to the feeling of a butcher knife cutting into my gum. After a half an hour of this I rinsed my mouth out with water and spend 15min in front of the bathroom mirror applying H202 with a q-tip. The pain of applying the H202 eventually subsided to a pounding throb. My mouth was watering so bad I had to stuff kleenex inside my gums to dam the flood. The H202 eventually stopped sizzling so I rinsed and tolerated the dull throbbing ache for 1/2 hr. Finally I applied crushed aspirin to the sore. the aspirin burned but not as much as the alum. My mouth was now feeling like I'd been punched in the face.... twice. My bottom lip was puffy and my gums were numb everywhere except for the sore. I tolerated that for another 15min and finally rinsed the aspirin out with a cold budweiser. It's now been 2hrs later and I'm on my 7th beer and the pain has almost completedly subsided in the past 10min. So far the side affects of the treatment has been tolerable. Hopefully my head won't hurt as bad as my mouth in the morning....
Cloves
Posted by Litsa (Fairbanks, Alaska) on 05/14/2008
★★★★★
CURE FOR CANKER SORES: Hi i try many remedies but the best i try was ground cloves. Use your finger or q/tip take a small amount and put it in your mouth where is the canker sore is, hold it for 5 minutes, it will sting little bit , then wash your mouth with plain water.it will heel about 4 to 6 hours. I never see anything like this happen with me or my friends, try it and you will see, By the way thanks for this site i recommend it to everyone i know. Thank you.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Maddy (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK) on 05/09/2008
★★★★★
I was suffering with mouth ulcers for some time and my GP gave me some cream to put on my tongue. The stuff was awfull and left a dry residue on my tongue. It did nothing for the pain. So I started using coconut oil. 1 Tablespoon, melted in microwave in a plastic cup (if you use glass the oil explodes and covers the inside of your microwave). Leave to cool enough so you can hold it in your mouth for approx. 1 minute, then swallow. I did this 2x a day for 2 days and my mouthulcers where gone. Maddy, UK
