Canker Sores
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Natural Remedies for Canker Sores | Home Treatments For Relie

| Modified on Mar 02, 2025
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Apple Cider Vinegar

Canker sores, also known as aphthous ulcers, are small, painful lesions that appear inside the mouth, causing discomfort and irritation. While they are not contagious, they can be quite bothersome. Fortunately, several natural remedies can help soothe pain, reduce inflammation, and promote healing.

Understanding Canker Sores

Canker sores typically present as round or oval ulcers with a white or yellow center and a red border. They differ from cold sores, which are caused by the herpes simplex virus and usually appear on the lips. Common triggers for canker sores include:

  • Stress and anxiety
  • Minor mouth injuries (biting your cheek or dental work)
  • Acidic or spicy foods
  • Vitamin deficiencies (B12, iron, folate, or zinc)
  • Hormonal changes
  • Certain medical conditions like celiac disease or Crohn’s disease

Natural Remedies for Relief and Healing

1. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Apple cider vinegar has antibacterial and disinfectant properties that can help heal canker sores. Dilute one tablespoon of ACV in a half cup of water and apply it to the sore using a cotton swab. You can also use it as a mouth rinse, but avoid overuse as its acidity may cause irritation.

2. Alum Powder

Alum, commonly used in pickling, has astringent properties that can shrink and dry out canker sores. Apply a small amount directly to the sore and leave it on for a minute before rinsing with water.

3. Aspirin

Crushed aspirin can act as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory when applied directly to the sore. Be sure not to swallow the aspirin while using it topically.

4. Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is known for its soothing and healing properties. Apply fresh aloe vera gel directly onto the sore several times a day to help reduce pain and inflammation.

5. Salt Water Rinse

A saltwater rinse is a simple and effective disinfectant. Mix one teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water and rinse your mouth for about 30 seconds. Repeat several times a day for best results.

6. Baking Soda Paste

Baking soda helps neutralize acidity and reduce irritation. Mix a small amount of baking soda with water to form a paste and apply it directly to the sore. Let it sit for a minute before rinsing.

7. Honey

Honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Apply raw honey to the canker sore several times a day to speed up healing and reduce pain.

8. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a natural antimicrobial that can soothe pain and prevent infection. Dab a small amount onto the sore using a cotton swab.

9. Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil has antiseptic properties. Dilute a few drops with water and apply it to the sore with a cotton swab.

10. Chamomile Tea

Chamomile is known for its soothing and anti-inflammatory benefits. Rinse your mouth with chamomile tea or apply a damp chamomile tea bag to the sore.

11. Sage Rinse

Sage has antibacterial and astringent properties. Rinse your mouth with a cooled sage tea infusion to relieve discomfort and promote healing.

Prevention and Care

To reduce the occurrence of canker sores, consider the following tips:

  • Maintain good oral hygiene and use a soft-bristled toothbrush.
  • Avoid foods that trigger irritation, such as acidic and spicy foods.
  • Reduce stress through relaxation techniques like meditation or yoga.
  • Ensure a balanced diet rich in essential vitamins and minerals, especially B12, zinc, and iron.

When to See a Doctor

Although canker sores usually heal within 7-14 days, consult a healthcare professional if you experience:

  • Canker sores lasting longer than three weeks
  • Large sores or multiple sores at once
  • Severe pain or difficulty eating and drinking
  • Recurring sores or additional symptoms like fever or swollen lymph nodes

Conclusion

Natural remedies like aloe vera, salt water, baking soda, honey, and apple cider vinegar provide effective relief for canker sores. These treatments help soothe discomfort, reduce inflammation, and accelerate healing. Maintaining good oral hygiene and avoiding triggers can also prevent future outbreaks.

Share Your Experience

Have you tried any of these remedies for canker sores? Let us know which treatment worked best for you! Continue reading below for feedback from our readers who have successfully used these natural treatments.

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.
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Activated Charcoal

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Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 11/12/2013
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A few weeks ago my daugther bit her cheek when chewing. You know how that is...you end up biting the same spot over and over and it is uncomfortable. I know when that used to happen to me, I always ended up with a canker sore. I realized the reason it kept happening is because the mild trauma of having been bitten causes some swelling, so it is easy to keep on biting the same spot. I had my daugther place a charcoal tablet against the spot until the charcoal dissolved. (This actually can take 10 minutes or so.) By the time the charcoal had dissolved, her problem had resolved.

Yesterday, I did the same thing! I bit my cheek and it was irritated. I could feel a little bubble. I put a charcoal tablet on it and let it dissolve. By the time it dissolved, I no longer felt irritation and the bubble was smaller. Within an hour or two, I realized the little bubble was completely gone.

Charcoal is anti-inflammatory, so I think that is why this worked. Charcoal tablets are also good for canker sores, the earlier caught, the better. I suspect this treatment would keep a canker sore from forming where the mouth has had trauma. Too bad I didn't know this long ago, but better late than never!

Have a great day!

~Mama to Many~

Replied by Sandy
(IL)
07/15/2022

Need help. I do not know what is canker sore. But I had tooth pain for two days, (actually dentist suggested me root canal). After I took pain killer, the tooth pain has gone, but I can feel that there is swelling inside my cheek and sometimes the pain is felt in the ear too. it is painful. Please help

Mama to Many
(TN)
07/16/2022

Hi Sandy, A canker sore is an ulcer in the mouth but isn't caused by an infected tooth. It sounds like you may be dealing with infected teeth which can also cause an ulcer on the gum and the pain you describe. Charcoal is something you can use for infected teeth, but I would look on this page (https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/tooth_abscess.html) for more details about treating infected teeth. You can use pain medication to help, but that won't help to cure it, just help you bear it. I'm sorry! I know it is so painful. I hope you can get relief from the remedies on that page soon. ~Mama to Many~

Alkalize

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Posted by Cheese Head (Madison, Wisconsin) on 07/01/2011
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Alum etc are cures for an outbreak of canker sores. The underlying factor is an acid ph. Try your Apple Cider Vinegar with a half teaspoon of baking soda 3 times per day or use a highly alkalizing food such as green magma.... 2 tsp in water 3 times per day and you will get rid of the current outbreak and not get them any more. Stay off of acid foods like white flour, sugar and you'll be rid of them for good. Thanks to Ted and all at earth clinic, , , , The cheese head..

Aloe Vera

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Posted by jen (corning, NY and Italy ) on 02/27/2009
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aloe is what did it for me. i have some ingestible pure aloe gel, and put it on there probably 10 times yesterday when I had a nasty canker sore on the underside of my tongue that had been developing already for a few days. I was desperate cuz it was SO painful I could hardly talk. maybe Im a wimp. Anyway, that's all I did and had a good night sleep. Today I hardly feel it at all.

Aloe Vera
Posted by Jordan (Binghamton) on 08/19/2005
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Aloe Vera is very helpful in the healing process for canker sores, as is sodium lauryl sulfate elimination.

Alum, H2O2, Aspirin

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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....

Replied by Lorik
(Blacksburg, Va, USA)
11/22/2008

WOW talk about an overachiever.. I'm not sure why one would do all three remedies at once.. good grief Charlie Brown!!!

Replied by Juanita
(N.O. , La. USA)
11/28/2008

I really believe you over did this, my friend!

I always use Alum at the first sign of a fever blister. All I need to do is wet my finger then touch it to the Alum and apply this mix to the sore for about 15 seconds. It stops the sore in its tracks. You can also use this if you bite your tongue or get a 'lie' bump (swollen taste bud)... It works for me everytime! My neice who is prone to fever blisters found she can keep her outbreaks at a minimum by taking an L-Lysine supplement daily! Juanita

Replied by CC
(Las Cruces, NM)
07/01/2009

You are too funny! I know what you mean when you just can't take it anymore and you are willing to try anything! You really ARE willing to try anything! Cheers to you!

Replied by Tricia
(Ireland)
07/02/2009

I can't stop laughing. Next time try hitting 7 beers before you start your remedies.

Replied by Susan
(Mcloud, Oklahoma, US)
12/08/2009

THIS was my LAUGH for the day; SO hilarious! Please forgive me for getting my pleasure from your pain...(literally) but talk about DETERMINATION!!! Seriously, only one who has suffered with cold sores can testify to the utter miserableness. I'm THINKING mine might have come from drinking too much orange juice along with 1 or 2 oranges daily w/my 1-2 TBL ACV. I used to be plagued w/them in my younger years quite frequently (inside the mouth is the worst). However, this one is inside my nose and right below it. I'm going to try the SLS free toothpaste and see how that works. This is my first post on this site that I have been lurking on for the last year or so; this is a great place to come for whatever ails you. I appreciate this site and all its contributors. The "posts" AFTER the story were so funny, too.

Replied by Jessica
(Jefferson City, Mo, Usa)
08/07/2010

Gargling with a shot of Jamison has helped mine, along with alum & gargling with peroxide. Jamison worked better than the OTC numbing spray.

Tacy
(Washington State)
08/08/2024

What is Jamison, please?

EC: A brand of whiskey.

Replied by Kay
(In The Valley, Ca)
09/04/2010

Hey, I'm thinking 7 beers might be the cure for a lot of things, maybe we should start a new catagory here........... Maybe......... Party animal pain relief remedies! I'm sure it would be a relief for insomniacs! It would sure put me to sleep!!! Very funny post, thank you so much for making us smile!!

Avoid All Products With Citric Acid

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Posted by Jon (Defiance, OH) on 03/03/2007
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I don't see how Apple Cider would help canker sores, because it is acidic. What I do is I watch how much citric acid I take in. Soda is terrible! It has a very high concentration of citric acid! Milk Chocolate contains it, from what I hear, though they are not required to list it in the ingredients. I have noticed that I get them after eating chocolate, but I have to eat quite a bit of chocolate to get a sore. I have dealt with the pain of canker sores since I was a kid, often times having one right after another. I used to carry around medicines such as Kanka, only to find the stuff made them worse or made them last longer. Come to find out, I was putting citric acid directly on the sore, as many of these medications contain it! So I started with eliminating soda (I was hooked on diet pepsi at work). Bingo! I drastically reduced the number of canker sores I was getting. Next, I started watching what I was eating. I noticed that anything with citric acid in it would give me the beginnings of a canker sore within an HOUR after eating or drinking it. Then I applied some common sense to the situation, and remembered that an old cure for stomach indigestion and acid reflux was baking soda. So, whenever I eat something or drink something with citric acid in it, I immediately rinse my mouth with a mixture of baking soda and water (look on the box or on the arm and hammer website for their recommendation for using it as a mouth wash). I think the answer to canker sores is prevention, not curing it once it's in your mouth. Once it's there, you basically have to wait it out. I still get them, but only once in awhile now instead of all the time...However, when I do get one, it's my own fault now!

Avoid Gluten

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Posted by Gs In Va (Richmond, Va) on 06/16/2011
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I read Steve's post about the canker sores and totally thought about Gluten. I learned I was Gluten Intolerant in Oct 2009. I had read on Celiac dot com that canker sores will go away after going gluten free and I was like " yeah right" because I have had them ALL MY LIFE. If I eat anything that nicks my cheek or gum, a huge painful canker sore would appear and take 2 weeks or more to go away. I was buying Kanka all the time to help ease the pain. If I bit my cheek, same thing would happen.

After going Gluten Free I have not had a single canker sore, since 2009. I've nicked my cheek, bit my cheek, all by accident and a little cut would be there from it and be gone over night... Never ever turns into a canker sore. I am proof and I've told my entire family and friends. Amazing!

Avoid Hot Dogs

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Posted by Jesse (Wasilla, Alaska) on 03/27/2007
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I am currently trying ACV remedy for my canker sore. I only have one small canker sore right now. However, over a year ago I had a bad outbreak with one canker sore the size of a dime was literally eating through my cheek. I tried everything and it took over a months to heal. My glands were swollen and I considered seeing a physician.

One thing I have noticed however, is that my outbreaks usually accurr after eating too many hot dogs(2 a day or more for a 2-4 day period). This outbreak is no different, I ate a few hot dogs a few days in a row and here comes a canker sore. However, When I had my horrible outbreak over a year ago, I was living in North Carolina and didn't have much food to eat. My diet consisted of 5 hot dogs a day and I had my worse outbreak then. Perhaps there is something contained in hot dogs that could cause this. I'm going to research hot dogs and check it out. I've also noticed that eating brocoli can sometimes cure a canker sore in just days.

Replied by Susan
(Portage, Pa)
05/30/2012
★★★★★

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.

Avoid Milk

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Posted by Sharon (Naples, Fl) on 12/08/2014
 ★★★★★

hi, my son is 17 and has been suffering with cankersores since he's been 3yrs old.

He gets them weekly up to 10 in his mouth. Went to every singal doctor/department known to man. Ended up in Rheumatology department only to be put on drugs that were for cancer!!! I was so done with this. Finally I took him to a holistic doctor who did a food intolerance panel. (not allergy) and it came up that he was intolerant to milk, cheese, and eggs. As soon as we eliminated those foods, he is cankersore free-----except of course when he wants pizza with cheese and ends up with sores 2 days later:)

Avoid Milk
Posted by Chris (Clifton Park, Ny, 12065) on 12/06/2007
 ★★★★★

For most of my life I was a regular (and during my younger years) heavy drinker of cow's milk. I suffered from horrible canker sores (3-4 at a time, each a half inch or longer) my whole life, right up until approximately 6 years ago when I eliminated milk from my diet. For me, it seems to only be related to the liquid form: I don't seem to have problems with cheese or even ice cream. However, a couple of times I've tried introducing milk again by having it on my cereal in the morning -- after about three days, I got a canker sore. Upon again stopping ingestion of milk -- no more canker sores. I was diagnosed when younger with an allergy to milk, and I wonder if this is related. I'm convinced science will catch up with this theory eventually and it will be shown that canker sores are closely related to allergies. Anyways, if you suffer from canker sores, try eliminating milk from your diet for 30 days and see what happens; I bet you'll be glad you did!

Avoid Milk
Posted by Win (Gainesville, FL) on 01/31/2007
 ★★★★★

Avoiding milk and milk products cured my canker sores. Both my mother and I suffered from sores in our mouths and we had tried many different remedies hoping to prevent them. Mom discovered that if she reduced her milk intake, she got fewer sores. Now, we both drink only soy milk and have been canker-free for years. Soy ice creams are getting better and better, too. I occasionally have some regular cheese and this doesn't seem to cause any problems. Cheese made from soy is still pretty awful.

Avoid Mouthwash

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Posted by Kevin (Seattle, Wa) on 11/24/2009
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Found out that I kept getting canker sores and versions of thrush from using mouthwashes. If you have c- sores and gargle with off the shelf mouth washes, try stopping for a few days. worked for me.

Avoid Nuts

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Posted by Charlie (Mason, New Hampshire) on 11/25/2008
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I have had episodes of canker sore since I was a child. After suffering for about 35 years I figured out that my canker sores were triggered by certain tree nuts. I am not otherwise allergic to tree nuts. If I eat walnuts or hazelnuts, or products containing them or their oil, canker sores will develop in 24-48 hours. I also think that seasonal pollen allergies may trigger them, and found that a prescription antihistamine (I know, not a folk remedy) completely prevents them in pollen season. As for "cures" I have never found one, but am intrigued by the alum testimonials and will try that.

Avoid SLS Toothpaste

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Posted by Mar (New Zealand) on 07/29/2019
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Avoid Sodium Laurel Sulphate in foaming toothpaste, cleansers etc. I am a 58 year old female and have suffered on and off with canker sores (aka mouth ulcers) since my teens, although sometimes going for long periods with none. However I have recently had two cankers on the gums of my lower front teeth which just will not go away. Normally a canker sore would last about a week, but I have had these for approximately six weeks. I have been doing extensive research and believe I have discovered the cause : sodium laurel sulphate (SLS). I was using hydrogen peroxide on the sores for healing and also using a purchased baking soda toothpaste,, but did not realise the toothpaste contained SLS. I have also been using a foaming cleanser with SLS on my face which may or may not contribute to the issue. I believe I have developed a sensitivity to SLS and will now need to avoid it. Just thought that might help someone.

Avoid SLS Toothpaste
Posted by Homero (New York) on 04/25/2016
 ★★★★★

I had suffered for more than 20 years with moth sores or canker sores. I talked to so many doctors. Some of them talked to me about drinking more water or taking some vitamins. I tried everything. Nothing worked until one day I read somewhere about SLS (sodium laureth sulphate) which is a chemical that makes the toothpaste more foamy. I switched to sls free toothpaste, and guess what? I have never got them again.

Replied by Jhawaii
(Hawaii)
10/16/2016

What toothpaste did you switch to? I'm looking for a good toothpaste, and if it can help us stop having canker sores, that would be great!

Replied by Salomon
(New York)
10/20/2016

I don't know if I am allowed to say here, but it is Swanson toothpaste. It is really good and affordable. The taste is much better than other I have tried.


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