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 Amanda (West Palm, Florida) on 11/08/2007
★★★★★
I had the worst canker sore on my gum right behind my last upper molar. It hurt to even swallow and actually woke me up at 2:00 am in the morning last night. Apparently the Zilactin-B I put on it was not working! I stumbled upon your website and decided to try the only 2 things I could get my hands on at that time of night: salt and baking soda. First I removed all of the Zilactin and rinsed my mouth with warm salt water. Then, I made a paste with baking soda and a few drops of water and placed it on the canker and let it sit for about a mintue. Then I rinsed my mouth with plain warm water. I also took 2 tylenol to help get back to sleep. I still had some pain when trying to get back to sleep, but just woke up completely pain free!! I can swallow without pain and actually enjoyed my breakfast! I can't believe it! I plan to put another "paste" on today just to make sure, but will attest that this remedy really works!
Baking Soda
Posted by Fabio (Brazil) on 05/24/2024
★★★★★
Brush With Baking Soda for Canker Sores
There is an actual phisical layer of pathogens in the canker sore. If you just put the products like baking soda there, you will not be able to penetrate through this layer. Hence the best approach would be to brush your canker sore with your baking soda, or whatever product you want to use to kill the pathogens. Using this technique will kill your canker sore instantly.
Dry Sage Leaves
Posted by Tim (Georgia) on 06/05/2018 21 posts
★★★★★
Dry Sage leaves are also great for canker sores. It's a cheapest way to get rid of cancer sore and related bb. Just chew a pinch of dry Sage leaves all day long. Place this mass on canker sore for an hour. Can swallow it easily without any side effect. Just avoid scratches - chew only leaves. You'll get rid of canker sore just in a day/or 2-3 days in severe and multiple cases. Also wash your brushes with soap everyday especially they stay as a bouquet in glass in your families.
Colostrum
Posted by Megan (White Plains) on 06/03/2018
★★★★★
I get mouth ulcers but years ago someone told me to try colostrum. Now whenever I feel one coming on, I take a capsule and it usually disappears.
Honey
Posted by Audrey Walker (Us) on 02/03/2017
★★★★★
Raw natural honey worked very fast for me. I had a very painful canker sore for over a week. I tried salt, baking soda and collodial silver with no improvements. I read on here to try raw honey and I noticed relief the very first day. Within two days of dabbing raw honey on it several times per day the sore was almost gone. It was a huge relief and a yummy remedy!
Honey
Posted by Jane (Canada) on 02/15/2016
★★★★★
Honey will get rid of cankers almost over night everytime, works for me.
L-Lysine
Posted by Aisling (Galway, Ireland ) on 08/18/2015
★★★★★
Lysine, an amino acid, is brilliant to alleviate mouth ulcers, just use recommend dose on pack, usually about 2 X 1000 mg tablets. You can use them continuously to help prevent ulcers if you are prone, or else just when you get an ulcer. I've tried everything, including soluble steroids but listen works brilliantly. Within two days the ulcer will have virtually gone. Corsodyl mouthwash is also quite good for bringing instant relief.
Baking Soda
Posted by Mama to Many (Tennessee) on 11/25/2014
★★★★★
I had a canker sore in my mouth last night. It was red and inflamed and had a white patch in the middle. But my son had just put a coat of finish on my kitchen floor and I couldn't access any of my herbs, charcoal, etc, since they were in the kitchen. I was looking around my bathroom for something I could try and saw my home made tooth powder. Baking soda!! I put some on the spot three times before bed. Tonight I realized it must have worked. I looked in my mouth and saw no sign of the sore! For the record, my tooth powder also has bentonite clay and peppermint essential oil in it. But I think it was the baking soda.
~Mama to Many~
Sage
Posted by Tim (Georgia (Republic of)) on 03/30/2014 21 posts
★★★★★
Hi, from Georgia (Rep. of).
Here is the best and only remedy for canker sores in your mouth - dry Sage leaves. Chew just a few of them each time and all day long if you like and all year long if you like with no side effects. Don't use a dried stem of Sage to avoid scratches that can worsen situation and prolonged healing. You WILL get rid of canker sores from a few hours to several days in severe cases. Repeat treatment if any. Good luck!
Unlit Match
Posted by Sleighb7 (Ontario, Canada) on 10/18/2013
★★★★★
Unlit Match for Canker Sores: Oh thank the lord someone put this remedy up.... The to the point story.... Large mouth ulcer with white crust forming, lots of pain, put unlit match on the white part for around 20-30 seconds, not to long in case of further irritation which causes them to grow. Woke up 50% better, repeated same process this morning, ulcer is around 85% gone, will repeat tonight and be done with it, fastest ive ever gotten rid of an ulcer, no more white crust, warning this will sting but the relief it provides after is well worth the pain.
Chronic Canker Sore
Posted by Louwrence (Rustenburg, North West, South Africa) on 04/04/2013
Hi Ana, Seeing that everything you have tried has failed, try rinsing your mouth with your own urine, it is an antiseptic, whenever I bite the inside of my mouth that is what I use. You can also try salt but it burns & doesn't heal as quickly as with urine.
Black Tea
Posted by David (New York, Ny) on 10/18/2011
★★★★★
Tannin is a good remedy for canker sores, it's found in black tea. If you put a black tea bag on your tongue and let it sit for like 5 min or so you take it off and the pain is nearly all gone and the effect stays for quite awhile.
Gluten-Free Diet
Posted by Jon (Defiance, Oh) on 10/06/2011
★★★★★
For years I suffered from canker sores, joint pain, sudden weakness, sharp pains throughout my body, and acid reflux. When the stomach cramps set in, that was the red flag: I was gluten intolerant. For those of you suffering from chronic canker sores, it is a food allergy and one of the symptoms of gluten intolerance. As damage occurs to your intestines, your ability to absorb certain vitamins (like vitamin B) can cause your immune system to attack the inside of your mouth because it responds to certain substances that may be left behind after eating.
For me, the trigger was citric acid, but the primary cause was gluten. Now I don't get canker sores unless I eat something with gluten in it. I can even have drinks and foods with citric acid in it and not get them if I'm avoiding gluten. If you are only getting them infrequently then I would suspect that you are just low in vitamin B, but for those of you getting this painful mouth ulcer regularly, you might want to get tested for gluten intolerance. Just thought I'd put in my experiences and two-cents since I see so many myths circulating around about canker sores since there is no definite answer on what causes them.
Yogurt
Posted by Whitney (Livonia, Mi) on 01/01/2011
★★★★★
Years ago a friend of mine had a mouth full of canker sores. Everything the dr gave her never worked includin lanicaine, she couldn't talk or function. After months of going through this we tried natural home remidies and found out it was great. Yogurt, the kind that has fruit on the bottom, the kind you stir to mix up, this activates the live cultures in it to soothe the pain and get to the real problem. Which is a intestinal flura upset. Yogurt balances all this out and within eating 1 to 2 or three a day all canker sores will be gone within 24 to 48 hours. I have recomdend this to other friends and even did this with my girls when they were little, worked everytime. The best thing about this is anyone from babies to adults can eat this, and is so much cheaper than a dr appointment and perscriptions that aren't always going to work. Good luck to everyone. And I hope you find this helpful.
Water Pulling
Posted by Msg (Somewhere, Europe) on 03/20/2010
★★★★★
i tried oil pulling with water instead of oil. i have been having recurrent canker sores for the past 3 years. after a week of "water pulling" they are greatly reduced. i spit out the water when it gets too much volume, and just continue with new water. i drink after cleaning my mouth when i'm done pulling.
Goldenseal
Posted by Diana (St. Charles, Mo, USA) on 01/13/2010
★★★★★
I wanted to pass along some information for those that suffer from frequent canker sores. My granddaughter get's canker sores all of the time. It seems she gets a couple and just about gets those healed and there's another outbreak in her mouth. At times they are so bad that she can't talk and has trouble eating/chewing. I've researched this for years as well as talk to her dentist, her pediatrician and tried different rememdies. The first thing I did was take her off regular toothpaste and have her start using a natural toothpaste without SLS and that seemed to help only slightly. I've continued researching and having her try different rememdies. I think we've finally found the "magic bullet". I'd read that Goldenseal Root was great for healing canker sores. Buy the tincture (liquid) and apply it directly to the sore with a Q-tip. She noticed immediate relief with the pain and the sore healed very quickly. She also had a new one that hadn't fully developed, but she knew that in the next day or two it would be a full blown canker sore, so she started applying Goldenseal Root to that as well and by the very next day it was completely gone!
When I went to the local health food store to buy the Goldenseal Root, the clerk told me that alot of times mouth sores are caused because there's a problem in the intestines and she advised me to get a good probiotic and have my granddaughter take it daily. She started a daily regimine of a good probiotic first thing in the morning about 30 minutes before breakfast, then dabbing the sores a minimum of 3 times a day. Her outbreaks have really slowed down and when she feels one forming she starts this regimine right away and it either stops it in it's tracks or heals them very, very quickly. Just wanted to pass this along to everyone who suffers the same fate as my granddaughter. I know how much she suffered and how badly these things effected her life so I hope that this information will help others as well.