Canker Sores
Natural Remedies

Cure Canker Sores with Inexpensive Home Remedies

Salt

8 User Reviews
5 star (8) 
  100%


Posted by Carlie (Dallas, TX) on 11/23/2006
★★★★★

I think that if you put on enough salt at night, by the morning it should be gone. I use sea salt though!:-) if you use table salt it might be different.


Salt
Posted by Bea (Philippines) on 11/10/2006
★★★★★

I had several canker sores on my tongue and cheeks which made eating difficult. It was painful! I tried the salt-water remedy and in 3 days, the sores are gone! Thanks


Salt
Posted by Al (Staples, MN) on 01/07/2006
★★★★★

two words: salt water! Don't believe me, try it


Salt
Posted by Jorge (Altoona, IA) on 10/13/2005
★★★★★

What you do is get a cotton swab with salt it won't cure it for a while but it will make it stop hurting. Also you can light up a match, blow it out and then put it on your canker sore and it will be gone in one to two days.


Silver Nitrate Sticks

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%


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.

Replied by Grandadu
(Chillicothe, Ohio)
01/05/2012

Where can I obtain silver nitrate sticks?


Silver Nitrate Sticks
Posted by Mary (Houston, Texas) on 04/25/2008
★★★★★

When I underwent chemotherapy, I would also get mouth ulcers. The doctor gave me a prescription for a mouthwash, but it was useless. Rather than suffer for days with mouth ulcers, I decided to cauterize them using silver nitrate sticks. Yes, this is painful but only for seconds as compared to 10 days of daily suffering with mouth ulcers.


Slippery Elm Lozenges

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by Mama to Many (TN) on 01/26/2022
★★★★★

I bit my cheek and ended up with a terrible mouth sore on the inside of my cheek. The inflammation made it so I kept biting it, too. Even the lymph node on that side of my neck was swelling.

I found a recipe for Slippery Elm Lozenges and modified it. (They are typically used for coughing or sore throats.)

  • 1/2 cup slippery elm bark powder (I get mine from Frontier or Mountain Rose Herbs - it is a wonderful herb to keep on hand.)
  • 4-6 Tablespoons raw honey
  • 1 teaspoon ground clove powder

I mixed the slippery elm bark powder and the clove powder together. Then I added in the honey until and mixed until it made a dough. It reminded me a lot of gingerbread dough.

I used a dough scraper to divide it up into about 4 dozen little pieces. I rolled each on and put it on wax paper in a small container. Should be good for a week or so. (Could be frozen if need be to keep them longer.)

These would be great to suck on for cough or sore throat. The slippery elm is soothing to mucous membranes. The clove is antiseptic and relieves pain by numbing the area. The honey is also antiseptic.

For mouth sore, I placed the little ball/lozenge against it. It sort of softened and molded to my teeth somewhat. (I suspect this would be a good remedy for tooth pain, too.) If I left it alone it stayed for hours. I even kept it in overnight.

My one concern has been holding a sugar in my mouth that long. Interestingly, even though I have done this all day and have not brushed my teeth in hours, my teeth don't feel like I have been eating sugar. (If I eat sugar my teeth start to feel fuzzy after a while.)

My mouth sore is much less painful today. I will be making these again for different things in the future.

~Mama to Many~


Sore Throat Spray

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by Christian (Morristown, MN) on 02/09/2009
★★★★★

I used a generic sore throat spray with antiseptic in it. Sprayed it right on my canker sore, and it stopped hurting right away, a few hours later, it was slowly shrinking... about 24 hours later, it was completely gone. It also helps that the pain goes away almost instantly with it too, since it is a numbing solution.


Supplements

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by Connie (Slc, Utah, Usa) on 12/12/2011
★★★★★

Hi All ; It's been a 45 yr. search for me. I hope to shorten your suffering. I'll just give you the answer first, or the one that worked for me. Folate/Folic Acid. I need extra, more than the RDA of 400 mcg. , I need 800 mcg. daily in a supplement.

Canker sores are a common sign of B12 deficiency, so that's another supplement to consider, especially when one takes Folate, because they are interdependent. Sublinguals are easier for the body to use than oral types. I take large quantities, but I believe most people may need less. Supplements work best when we find our own numbers. My guess is that most people will respond to 500-1000 mcg. daily.

Zinc is another supplement that is suggested for canker sores. The RDA is approx. 15 mg. Daily. When I look at the zinc content of foods, it seems difficult to consume that amount, so I supplement with it, 15mg. 2-3 times weekly. But I'm considering a test just to see if I'm in the range somewhere.

Folate may also help with other lesions/ulcerations along the GI tract, I've read.

I wish I could give this information to my 10 yr. old self, when I lay crumpled on the bathroom floor with a stick of silver nitrate that only made the pain worse....


Tea Bags

3 User Reviews
5 star (3) 
  100%


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.


Tea Bags
Posted by Brijette (Bettendorf, Iowa)
★★★★★

My husband told me to put a tea bag on my canker sore. It definitely took away the pain! As for curing it, I think it speeded up the process. The tea bag remedy is good for any type of mouth sores because of the pain relieving effect. I usually use black tea, simply because that's what I have around most of the time. Green tea also works, and I'm sure any kind will probably do the trick. It is not necessary to steep the tea first, however it does work better if the bag is already wet before applying. If the strong taste is too much for you, drinking brewed tea also works if you swish it around over the canker sore while you drink it. However, it's been my experience that the tea bag directly on the sore is much more effective.


Tea Bags
Posted by Brenda (USA)
★★★★★

First, the tea bag, was very helpful in the healing process it definitely made the pain disappear in minutes as for the peroxide,i would use this as a last resort, but it does work! The tea bag was very successful! try it! it most definitely works! Use the peroxide as a last resort!


Tea Tree Oil

1 User Review
4 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by Heidi (Van Nuys, Ca, Usa) on 09/09/2010
★★★★☆

Yay - My second painful canker sore just showed up yesterday, and last night it woke me up from my sleep. I tried dobbing some tea tree oil on it with a q-tip, and the pain was immediately eased enough to get back to sleep. I don't know if it will help speed the healing, but it does certainly help a great deal with the pain!


Thc

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%


Posted by Chris (Minneapolis, Mn)
★★★★★

Stop a herpes outbreak: THC, the active ingredient in marijuana kills the herpes virus. It stops the pain of a canker sore on contact. You do not need to smoke or get high at all, just put a pinch into rubbing alcohol and apply with a q-tip.


Toothpaste

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%


Posted by Dale (Arroyo Grande, California) on 08/13/2009
★★★★★

I have suffered all my life with constant canker sores in my mouth. I have found a prevention. I have tried everything - all the over the counter treatments - canker sore toothpaste - canker sore mouthwash - paste - patches - perscription meds - ALL OF IT and none really worked untill I stumbled on a real answer. THE REAL ANSWER is to use _____ MINT TOOTHPASTE for sensitive teeth. I found this totally by accident. After 55 years I found it by asking my dentist about a tooth that was sensitive to cold and he advised that I use ____ toothpaste. I did and since I had always had canker sores I noticed within a week that they were all gone. I haven't had a canker sore in over a year now. I do all the bad things you can't do with canker sores now. I enjoy soft drinks, eat citrus fruit, chew gum, eat walnuts, eat pinapple. I contacted the makers of _____ and they aren't interested in promoting their product for this application - I was so mad. No wonder people suffer with different things - no one is really interested in a cure. I have promoted this idea to all my family and friends and all have the same success. PLEASE - PLEASE - PLEASE pass this on. From someone that suffered all my life - this really changed my life.

Replied by Cathy
(Maryland)
06/19/2018

Thanks, I will try this. Do you put it directly on the cancer sore or do you just brush your teeth with it? I already use a sensitive teeth type tooth paste and I get them but not often.



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