I have some canker sores on the inside of my lip and on my gums that are very painful. My mom told me to put cream of tartar on them. Well, it's working; they're a lot less painful. But I've never tasted that stuff straight before, and it's nasty! Ick.
She did say that her parents used to make her put salt on hers, but that it burns more. I had been using hydrogen peroxide, but it wasn't helping much. Any other ideas?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I'd go with salt water rinses. The burning lets you know it's working.
Dagonee
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
The local pharmacist should have some suggestions. I seem to remember that they sell little bottles (they look like superglue bottles) of canker sore medicine. It's nice because they have a small tip, so you don't have to fill your mouth with something chalky/salty/gross.
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
I ususally gargle with toasty warm salt water. My grandma got a little tube of that stuff that's supposed to make them go away. It did, but it was like $15. Myself, I'll stick to the salt water.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Should I mention here that my husband has the car, and besides, I don't really want to spend money on the buggers?
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I put baking soda on mine, I like the taste of it too, but that might be just me.
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
Often decreasing refined sugar intake helps, but sometimes it's just a reaction to stress. For some reason, I really did get a whole lot fewer canker sores when I started using a little honey in my tea. An anecdotal suggestion from someone else that seemed to work for me (now it's maybe once or twice a year, if that, whereas before it was certainly at least monthly).
Rinsing your mouth with milk of magnesia helps decrease the acid that can be part of the pain.
I've heard and used this trick, but it is not really medical advise (just anecdotal) -- holding a sulfur-tipped match against the spot can help. Adults only, please. ( )
Way back when mercurochrome contained iodine, I used to put a tiny drop on a canker sore and it would burn like fire for a minute, then no more. But iodine isn't recommended for oral use, as you could absorb a toxic amount in theory, and mercurochrome is iodine-free now.
Good luck!
Let us know if something works for you.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Salt-water gargling, or just salt, straight.
I had a comp suggest alum once, but I don't think it did anything.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Sara: I think it's a combination of stress, the baby raking and digging inside ny lip with her fingernails, and a little virus. I'd try switching to honey in stuff, but I have a sensitivity to it.
I guess I'll try salt or saltwater. Any ideas which is better?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Gargling with warm saltwater was always as or more effective than anything else I've tried. That and avoiding raw pineapple or pineapple juice in any major quantity.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Okay. What strength do you use?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
If I have an open mouth sore I usually gargle with salt and warm water then I put honey on it. It burns, but it works.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Sadly, no honey for me.
What does the honey do, out of curiosity?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I use about 6 ounces of fairly hot tap water - a little more than lukewarm - and add salt until the solution is saturated. Then I gargle with it two or three times in a row (using different mouthfuls for each gargle, of course). Don't rinse afterwards for as long as you can stand it.
Dagonee
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
I've never measured. I just pour table salt into warm water and make sure it's dissolved. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say maybe a tablespoon of salt for an 8 ounce glass of water. Then I'd just gargle/swish as many times as the water lasted.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Wait, by "saturated", do you mean "won't dissolve any more"? That's really strong...
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I usually just rinse my teeth with Listerine more often, and suffer the pain. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:ait, by "saturated", do you mean "won't dissolve any more"? That's really strong...
Yes - very, very strong.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Are you alergic to it? I believe it has anti-septive properties.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Ouch. Maybe I'll try a little less than that to start with.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
maybe you should. Any idea what causes these little buggers to begin with?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Yep. They tend to run in families, and stress, viruses, etc. can bring them out.
As for the honey, not allergic, but sensitive, and trying to avoid developing a full-blown allergy, as I have too many already.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Isn't it a form of Herpes or something? Mine flare up when I eat or drink something acidic -- especially pineapple. Sometimes orange juice or lemonade, too.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
No, the ones on the outside of your lip are caused by a herpes complex. The inside are hereditary.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Ok. Assuming you know what you're talking about, I now know more than I did earlier when I knew less than I do now.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
And I just did salt water. Very strong salt water. I first tried about a Tbsp. in 4 oz. water, but it didn't burn, so I doubled the salt. It burned. It still burns. But I haven't rinsed yet, and now they're starting to turn white and numb on top. Is that what's supposed to happen?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Pretty much, yeah.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Okay. Thanks, guys. Am I going to have to repeat this?
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Yes. Keep doing it until they go away.
I get cankers whenever I get stressed about something. My mind forces itself to become calm, so my body completely rebels.
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
Herpes can be inside the mouth, too, but it is less common than outside the lip. In order to be sure which is which, one must take a culture by digging around very painfully into an open sore. Viral cultures take forever, too.
Herpes inside the mouth tends to be on loose tissue (e.g., insides of cheek and lip), while canker sores tend to occur on tacked-down mucosa (e.g., gumline, hard palate), but this is not a hard and fast rule. I will always get a canker sore if I bite the inside of my cheek accidentally, exactly at the point of trauma (like ketchupqueen, sounds like).
Little kids with Coxsackie virus (one of the Herpes family of viruses) can get hand-foot-mouth disease with ulcers in the back of the throat and the palate.
Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I buy some medication called Kanka (or Canka) it stings like heck, but then numbs the area. The sores usually disappear pretty quickly after I start using it.
I hope they get better for you KQ!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Thanks!
Sara, I'm pretty sure I have the non-virus, caused-by-trauma type; I get them when I bite my cheek, too. Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
(((kq)))
Sucks, I know.
Posted by WheatPuppet (Member # 5142) on :
I get them when I'm under a period of perlonged stress. I've had a whole bunch at once earlier this semester when I was very neurotic about failing a class. I withdrew from the class and they were gone in a few days.
I always get them between my cheek and gum, down by the base of my gums. I have a fidgety tougue, so I poke them a lot.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
My mother swears that bananas help canker sores, so when I have them, I eat one. I usually press the peice of banana right up against the sore and leave it there for as long as I can stand. Maybe its a placebo effect, but I do think it eases the soreness a bit. Mom actually puts a peice of the inside of the banana peel right up against the sore and leaves it there for 5 to 15 minutes.
That's a bit too bitter for me, but she swears by it.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I chew on the inside of my cheek. Is that bad?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Only if it hurts you.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
I'm with you Mack... I just rip the durned things apart with my teeth and then they heal in no time. Hurts a bit when you first tear em out, but then they just scab over and heal in a day or two.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I had a great-aunt (who lived to be 103) that swore by using buttermilk to cure canker sores in the mouth. Whenever she got one, she would drink buttermilk.
Now, I've never really had the stomach or desire to try her cure, so I can't vouch for it myself....
FG
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I'm surprised Pop isn't glad that this isn't an onanism thread.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
quote:I just rip the durned things apart with my teeth and then they heal in no time.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
It doesn't hurt when I chew the inside of my cheeks. I guess they just aren't totally smooth. I can't explain it. It's just something I do.
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
are you some sort of demon that loves pain?!!! I would kill myself before I did that!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Aaaaaah, ouch!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Just wanted to let everyone who recommended salt water know that they're already almost healed. I'll do it again tonight if they're not gone, but there's a good chance they will be.
Didn't I read somewhere that the mouth heals faster than any other part of the body?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I think the cornea heals even faster.
Glad you're getting better.
[ December 13, 2004, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Dagonee ]
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
(((tomato by-product monarch))
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I do that with my inner lip, not so much my cheek.
When I get cankers I brush my teeth really well with lots of toothpaste even though it hurts like all get out. But it makes it way less sore. Maybe it's the peroxide in it?
Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
I guess. I do that too. I figure its because of germs and stuff.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I always get them right where my teeth hit the inside of my lip or cheek, so I irritate them everytime I try to eat or breathe or talk.
And I always seem to have one when I go to the dentist, and the hygenist always seems to hit it.
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