Natural Remedies for Canker Sores | Home Treatments For Relie

Oil Pulling

Posted by Jon (Pueblo, Co) on 03/12/2011
★★★★★

I am a 69 year old male, and have suffered most of my life with canker sores. I've treated them with many things, including alum... "ouch!!! " and H2O2, but found relief using echineasa / golden seal in a liquid herbal solution, applied with a cotton swab.

AND the BEST solution: oil pulling! I have been using this technique once daily now for well over a year, for the general health benefits. OP leaves your mouth clean and promotes rapid healing after "biting your cheek" or upon noticing a canker sore coming on. When I think I have a canker starting, I will add a session of OP. I think that I have only had one canker sore this past year that lingered past two or three days. I recommend using either sunflower oil or virgin coconut oil, available at natural grocers or health food stores.

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.

Manuka Honey

Posted by Corinna (London, Kent, England) on 02/05/2010
★★★★★

I sometimes get very painful mouth ulcers. I simply put a bit of manuka honey on it and they disappear within a day or two.

Goldenseal

Posted by Sarah (Vancouver, BC) on 07/14/2009
★★★★★

I read a LOT of the suggestions to get rid of canker sores as I get them every once in a while and they are awful. I agree that bacterial cultures and oil pulling can keep the mouth in a healthier state on a daily basis...but a remedy I didn't see anywhere is goldenseal. It can be found at any health food store and sometimes is combined with echinacea. Now this is a natural remedy that should be used sparingly as it could one day be unavailable because of overharvesting... It can be taken in pill form or tincture to boost the immune system in times when it is low but in the case of cankers, using the pill form and opening one of the capsules up and carefully putting the powder on the canker works amazingly to kill the infection. I tried using the tincture and rinsing with it and it just turned my mouth and teeth bright yellow....not cool! so get the pill form for sure... Hope this helps others in pain from those nasty canker sores!

Coconut Oil

Posted by Candy (Hobe Sound, FL) on 01/24/2009
★★★★★

I have been using Organic Coconut Oil for 2 years now as a "skin lotion". When I started using it I was 43 and already using a top product for anti-aging. The product had worked some to reduce wrinkles but in just a couple of days the CO worked so much better. now at almost 45 I have very little wrinkles. I use just a little bit on my fingers and spread so thin that no one can tell that I use an oil on my face. My 17 year old daughter uses it also.

I started using the CO for other things and one of the best is on a canker sores. It does not hurt unless you rub it too hard. I had no pain all day and did not have to put more on until bed time. I put a dab of CO on a Q-tip and applied it to the sore.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Randomhelpguy (Colorado) on 03/22/2014
★★★★★

Take an ice cube with frost still on it over the canker sore and it will rip off the white part, and numb it at the same time. Then take hydrogen peroxide and hold it on the sore mixed with Apple Cider vinegar for up a minute or two. This will sting like a bitch. After all this take a Q tip and activated charcoal and scrape the crater from the former sore. Then take just the charcoal and make a paste and leave it for a few minutes. Problem solved overnight or at least smaller. Or alternatively you could use alum which also burns like hell.

Tea Bags

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.

Baking Soda and Salt

Posted by Yolanda (Atlanta, Georgia) on 08/10/2008
★★★★★

Salt and Baking Soda cured my canker sore in mouth in three days! I had never had one before. I came here and saw the many remedies. I first tried the aspirin and actually it irritated the sore and the surrounding tissue in my mouth. I read about salt and baking soda. I started Wednesday night rinsing my mouth with the warm to borderline hot salt water (about a tablespoon of salt with about 6 oz of water) this will burn/painful at first. I swished around in mouth until all was gone. When I woke up I saw that the epithelial tissue almost like a scalb had formed over the sore in my mouth. Though still painfull, I repeated the same thing accept this time I used baking soda. Same amount as I used with the salt. I used baking soda twice and salt once during the course of the day. About every 3 1/2 hours. The soreness begin to go away.I repeated same thing on Friday. By Sat afternoon the soft tissue scalb was completed detached from sore and the sore was healed! Amazing!

Green Tea

Posted by Kayla (Spokane, Washington) on 07/25/2008
★★★★★

A couple of days ago I had some dental work done. I recieved topical anesthesia, a couple pain killing shots, and laughing gas. The shots made my mouth very swollen, and the topical anethesia and the laughing gas made me unable to feel the entire left side of my mouth. While I was out of it, I chewed up that whole side, leaving large, raged canker sores.

After a couple days of pain which required me to take leftover Valiums from previous dental work, I tried drinking green tea, iced. It's cooling, soothing, and offers a great deal of relief.

Unlit Match

Posted by Donna (Garnerville, NY) on 06/26/2008
★★★★★

I tried this last night and I'm shocked at how well it works!! When you hold the match head on the sore, it HURTS like you want to SCREAM, but when you're done, the pain practically disappears. The next day, the sore is significantly less painful and it has started to heal.

L-Lysine

Posted by Bill (Orem, UT) on 05/28/2008
★★★★★

I've had massive dime-sized canker sores for years and had tried just about everything by the time I had finally found this website. I tried the recommended L-Lysine tablets 2 times a day (morning and evening) and have been doing so for about 6 months now. I am happy to say I have finally found the cure for canker sores, trust me, L-Lysine works! I never get canker sores anymore.

Cloves

Posted by Chriswar666 (25 Y/o) (Rio De Janeiro, Brasil) on 01/27/2010
★★★★★

Cloves also worked for me, at least in eliminating the pain. I got one whole and chewed it, alleviated for a while (half an hour or more). I don't get ulcers that often, so I can't judge if it helped speed the healing, but it definitely helped the pain! Ginger also has the same effect :)

Baking Soda

Posted by Tania (Mercier, Quebec, Canada) on 03/10/2008
★★★★★

Baking soda cured my canker sore within 24 hours. I had major pain on the side of my tongue to find a canker sore it was so sore I couldn't hardly swallow. I took 1tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of water and kept it in my mouth as long as possible. I did this 3 times within an hour went to bed and did the same the next morning by dinner time the canker sore was gone! Thank you for this site its a great help.

Toothpaste Without Sls

Posted by Randi (LA, CA) on 02/07/2008
★★★★★

I suffered from the time I was a child. My mother has the same and now my kids also suffer. about 5 years ago my Dentist told me about recent findings on the link between Sodium Lauryl Sulfite and canker sores. This is a preservative found in almost ALL name brand toothpastes including some of the natural ones. I started using a SLS free Toothpaste and now I get one maybe once or twice per year (and that is usually if my hubby has brushed right before I kiss him). One brand I use is called ____. Very expensive, but worth it. You must be loyal and never use any toothpastes or mouthwashes with S.L. Sulfite. Good Luck

Baking Soda

Posted by Heather (Boston, MA) on 11/15/2007
★★★★★

Thank Goodness I found this page. I started with two small canker sores a week after my flu shot. I hardly ever have a canker. So, I used Ambesol Max Strength. It burned, numbed, but things got much worse today. Almost two inch long canker on the side edge of my tongue. And three more scattered on my inner front and side lips. I rinsed with the pure apple cidar vineger. It didn't releave the pain. So I tried the baking soda paste. The paste started to tone down the pain. I was at a 10 most of the day. After the baking soda treatment, I am currently down to a 4. maybe less.ahhhhhh

Baking Soda

Posted by Heather (Van Nuys, CA) on 11/14/2007
★★★★★

I ran a quick search over the weekend on treatments for chronic canker sores on behalf of my boyfriend who has suffered these painful occurrences since childhood. I came across this site and he decided to try the baking soda paste. It stung at first, but it helped him heal within five days and he's so happy to have found this treatment. Thanks.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Lee (Salem, NH) on 03/17/2007
★★★★★

I have always used hydrogen peroxide for skin infections, insect bites, cankers, cold sores & deleting blood stains. Results are quick & inexpensive. I dab it on my finger, straight from the bottle, to apply to a cold sore or canker. I have never had a cold sore for more than a day. When I was a teenager, I also applied some to any pimples that might crop up.