Get Rid of Canker Sores
I’ve been wondering how to get rid of canker sores for quite sometime now. I can’t tell you I have a lot of canker sores, or that I get them all the time, but when I do, they’re usually on the tip of my tongue and they hurt like hell. Well, I went and done me some of that there researching they talk about in school and what I came up with is found in this article. True, there isn’t a cure for canker sores, and perhaps there never will be–you’d think they’d have found it by now–but there are methods you can employ to reduce the number of canker sore episodes you experience and the length of time you have to endure a canker sore. Local anesthetics, antibacterial mouthwashes, yogurt, and SLS-free toothpaste are your frontline defenses. The rest is a matter of folklore and gimmicks.
March 17th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Hey there!
I can’t thank you enough for this website. It’s practically a life saver!! I have had reoccuring cankers that come in 2’s every couple weeks!! And your website has been the easiest and most user friendly by far!! KUDOS!
thanks again
Erica Fuselli
March 17th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Dear Erica,
Thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot to us. I’m glad my advice was helpful. I know how painful canker sores can be, so it was a pleasure to write this article.
- Jonathan
May 28th, 2007 at 5:41 am
Hey!
Erica is right! your site is awesome! I can add though, i get canker sores sometimes and i can tell you what i do to help. When i first notice a canker sore forming (normally they start out small), i take a Q-tip and wet it…then i dip the wet end in salt (regular table salt). After that, i put the salt covered Q-tip on my canker sore and let the salt “dry it up.” It alwasy seems to work because within two days it is gone and never gets big like canker sores normally do when left alone. Well, that’s what I do and i thought i would share it with you.
-Anthony
June 20th, 2007 at 2:24 am
Dear Erica and Anthony
I suffered from canker sores off and on for too many years. Horrible! But I have found a mouthrinse that also happens to be an unbelievable bad breath preventer (like nothing else I have ever used). However, as a huge side benefit, is its ability to prevent canker sores. It is sold on QVC as TriOral, and that is where I first found it. Now, I get it in stores as SmartMouth Mouthwash. Since using it, I have not had one canker sore in over 4 years! I mean none! I do not think it is a fluke as I have turned 2 friends on to it with the same problem and the have had the same amazing result of no cankers since using. I don’t know why the product doesn’t claim this benefit, but they should. My dentist also told me that the product has a zinc component that might well explain its prevention of sores. He also recommends it because it has no alcohol. I use it once in the morning and once before I go to bed as indicated. While quite expensive, well worth every single penny! Goodluck!
- Jan
July 31st, 2007 at 3:00 pm
hi there guys. i hope you can help me out. i’m really so frustrated already. i have this thing in my tonsils. i first went to see a specialist because all the symptoms of a canker sore are all present. anyway, my doctor said that it’s not a big problem. it’ll just go away eventually. he gave me this anti-inflammatory spray. i was really not satisfied with what he said and with his prescription. i searched the web and read a lot of books. well,my canker sore(if it is one) doesn’t hurt at all. but i started smelling something different and sometimes i can even taste something too. i’m a very health-conscious person so this thing really affects me big time. i’ve tried so much already. by the way,what i have looks like a canker sore. but when i use a Q-tip to scrape some of the dry puss-like substance, a lot will come out. i mean after the first one, there’s going to be another one. then the next one will be on the following day. i always look at it in the mirror checking if there’s any improvement, unfortunately nothing’s happening. my left tonsil looks irritated already(a little reddish in color and if my eyes have fine vision,a thin tissue on my tonsils are damaged/broken as well). i really don’t know what to do anymore. help me please. i really like your site and the way you help people who are in need. and i know you guys could give me some good advice. tnx so much… i’ll wait. tnx again.
October 14th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Aquafresh whitening toothpate! it took me 12 years to find out that was the trigger to my canker sores! i have tried crest vivid white and biotene since and had good luck with them. They say that SLS is a trigger for some but crest has SLS so I don’t know what it is. I hope this helps people and if not directly, maybe help people realize that there are triggers. I now believe that trigger foods are the cause of most canker sore outbreaks. If you can, maybe track everything that you ingest and for me, that toothpaste will trigger an outbreak within about two days.
hope it helps
December 14th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Top notch information!
I would just like to add that limiting citrus fruits - oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc. - and other acidic foods, such as cooked tomatoes will help keep those awful little mouth ulcers away.
I can attest to changing toothpastes being beneficial for warding off canker sores. I switched several years ago and I rarely get them any more. Plus, on the rare occasion I do get them, they disappear in a day or two instead of staying for weeks at a time as they used to.
One thing to note, however: After switching toothpastes, it usually takes SEVERAL MONTHS before you’ll see a significant difference. Your mouth tissues have to heal apparently.
These days, there are several good toothpastes available that don’t have SLS. I’ve tried them and most are pretty good, although more expensive than the usual commercial toothpastes.
December 30th, 2007 at 5:10 am
For years I had recurring severe canker sores and tried everything and I mean everything. Adding to the problem was that I am an orchestral clarinetist and after long hours of playing my gums develop micro-cuts from my teeth. My cure was found purely by accident. I started using listerine for 10-15 minutes in the morning and the evening to help reduce the swelling in my lips from all the playing. Weeks passed and then months and I thought well, maybe somethings changed and I no longer get them. Boy was I wrong. After a two week vacation they were back. Ever since I’ve been religious about it and I can’t tell you how happy I am they’re gone. When I asked my dentist he guessed that by soaking for so long I was in essence killing the cankers before they had a chance to develop. This would seem to jive with all the topical treatments that recommend treatment as soon as you can feel one coming. I sincerely hope this works as well for others as it has for me. I can still vividly remember the pain. Best,
EM
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Joy - look up the word Tonsilloliths. That should answer your question.
As for my tongue canker sores and some that pop up on the inside of my cheeks, I attribute them to my citrus intake because when I have one and I eat anything citrusy, it irritates it, but nothing else does.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hi…I have seen exactly what Joy described. I have that from time to time. Presently, I have several of those ordinary canker sores, just like the above picture! Has anyone ever heard of the amino acid Lysine helping at all?
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Here we go. This was interesting.
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/613.html
April 1st, 2008 at 1:30 am
I used to think that lysine helped but it am convinced that it’s a placebo for canker sore treatment. You’ll hear it recommended for canker sores because many people believe canker sores are a form of herpes which lysine does help with. from the research i have done, and i have done a lot, canker sores seem to be caused by certain triggers which would normally be some kind of food (as I mentioned above, my trigger seems to be AquaFresh whitening and maybe some other toothpastes) and it is your immune system attacking it’s own healthy cells. If I use “the” toothpaste, within two days I’ll get canker sores and they’ll continue to show up, sometimes for two weeks or more and then…. boom, they will all go away within a couple days, completely disregarding the order in which they appeared which makes me believe that once your immune system realizes the problem, it stops the silly attack it made you a bystander of. again, I believe a trigger such as food, stress, trauma etc… triggers your immune system into attacking certain healthy cells in your body. I’m no genius but i would imagine that some kind of steroid or other drug which shocked your immune system a little may help early-on but I have tried the salt thing and everything else and for me, it does not work. How could it, salt isn’t going to make your immune system change. Lets assume that canker sores are a localized attack by your immune system on mucosa cells within your mouth. If you took that area and subjected it to a trauma such as a burn, would that cause the nature of the sore to change from what is essentially being treated by your immune system as cells to be killed into a wound to be healed? In other words, can you change a canker sore into what would be a somewhat naturally occurring wound simply by burning it? i don’t like soldiering irons much so I’ll leave it to someone else but a burn would heal a helluva lot faster than some of my canker sores that’s for sure. Interesting experiment anyway.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Yes, banderson. When they are really bad, it is common for a doctor to apply silver nitrate in order to cauterize the sore and get rid of the infection. Ths makes it heal more quickly, as now it is a burn rather than an infection.
Honestly, when I get canker sores that won’t heal, i take a deep breath and scrape the hell out of them, then apply hydrogen peroxide to kill any remaining infection. This hurts a whole lot, and honestly I wouldn’t blame anyone who couldn’t handle it, but I tend to feel a huge relief about an hour or so later (yes, it still hurts, but not nearly a much). After that, they are usually gone within 48 hours. But seriously. It hurts. A lot.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Banderson, good points on the toothpaste theory. Maggie, do you use a toothbrush to do the ’scrape’? I might give that a try. Might work too on those areas where you bite the inside of your mouth. They can be very painful. Thanks.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
you need to get Gelclair. it’s like a liquid bandaid that helps with pain for 4-6 hours and you can rinse with it or dab it on
October 16th, 2008 at 10:52 am
try it. it works it has for me: Buy PINE APPLE JUICE IN SMALL CAN SIDES. As you know pine apple has acid in it, Drink the juice and you will not even notices when was the last time you had them
October 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
also for all of those that have white stones in the tonsils go to http://www.therabreath.com FOR MORE INFO.
October 19th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
The best thing to shorten the duration and severity of a canker sore by 60-70% is this steroid dental paste my Dr prescribed. Triamcinolone Acetonide (Dental Paste USP, 0.1%) I have tried everyhihng under the sun, and this is the only thing I have ever found to help SIGNIFICANTLY!
October 25th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
HELP! I have always had some canker sores from time to time, but after have some major dental work 3 months ago, I have only had a few days between outbreaks. I currently have one under my tongue that has made it difficult to eat. And TODAY, I find I have a small cut next to it that I got last night trying to chew. I have tried salt, Squiggle toothpaste, lidocaine (dentist prescribed) and all manner of mouthwashes. Previous ones have always lasted at least two weeks. I am going to try to get an RX for the dental past suggested above. Thanks for the suggestion. In the meantime do the new Canker Sore patches work under the tongue? I am a little afraid to try it.
December 10th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
WAIT A SEC! Please Please Please, before trying home remedies, if you EVER smoked or chewed baccy–GET THAT WHITE THING, RED THING, ANYTHING CHECKED!!!!! One of my “boys” (little brother I raised had a zilliion friends and they all called me mom or sis) had a white bump and continued to treat it like a cancer sore, until it was to late! At 19, he had to have one side of his jaw removed. Since they were all tough guys on the foot ball team, they chewed. Thank God there was only who has developed cancer-SO FAR.
Listen to Sis!