Natural Remedies for Canker Sores | Home Treatments For Relie

L-Lysine

Posted by Thesa (Colorado Springs) on 11/15/2005
★★★★★

My 5 year old daughter came down with a horribly serious case of canker sores. Her mouth had several sores on her tongue, cheek, and gums. Her gums were so red and swollen you could barely see her little teeth. Her breath was absolutely terrible and she barely ate or drank a thing. Finally after a week of different attempts, we had her gargle with 6 drops of tea tree oil in 4 oz. of water three times a day, gave her half an adult dose of L-lysine crushed up into water once a day, gave her a homeopathic every hour and had her drink 16 oz. of water with acidophilus/FOS throughout the day. We kept her completely off of sugar, dairy and meat and mostly she ate cottage cheese and plain yogurt. Within one day she was so much better and finally eating and within 3 days totally better!

L-Lysine

Posted by Lynda (Durham, NH) on 10/20/2005
★★★★★

My nurse practitioner recommended L-Lysine for my debilitating canker sores. They would last for weeks and were so bad that the pain extended to my neck and lymph nodes. I couldn't even eat without excruciating pain. When I feel a canker sore coming on, I take 1 gram 3 times a day and the sore is gone within a day or two.

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!

Cloves

Posted by Juliana (Edmonton, Canada ) on 06/18/2021
★★★★★

I used many different things for the big sore on my tongue. Nothing would work, until I started to use the clove powder.. It started to work immediately.

I've learned that canker sore can be caused by bacteria or many other causes. In my case, it was bacterial, from a tooth infection. In 2 days it shrunk 80%..another 2 days later it was gone.

Peppermint Oil

Posted by Anon (Anon) on 07/02/2020
★★★★★

Peppermint oil seems to have shrunk the canker sore I had. I was putting a drop of the oil in my mouth once a day. That was three days ago, the sore is gone. It had been there about three days before I used the oil.

I mixed several drops with tea tree oil in a capsule and inserted it to see if it would get rid of what appears to be hpv on my cervix. That was 12 hours ago and my period has just started a week early.

CBD Oil

Posted by Chris (Atlanta, Ga ) on 08/29/2019
★★★★★

I had nasty canker sore on the roof of mouth. I tried everything on here for relief. It all helped some. Then I remembered that I have some cbd oil balm. I loaded up a Q-Tip with it and placed it everywhere I felt pain or tenderness. Went to sleep. Woke up pain free. Like it went away over night. That stuff is the best for any type of skin lesion.

Folic Acid

Posted by Dude (Sliver Spring, Md) on 12/20/2016
★☆☆☆☆

Folic Acid doesn't work for canker sores. Makes them sorer.

Oil Pulling

Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 05/28/2016

Hmmm Arnezi, coconut oil had always only given me temporary relief. But this past outbreak disappeared after drinking Oregano tea for a few days. Just 1 teaspoon of plain oregano from the spice jar in a glass of boiling water.

Garlic

Posted by Paolo (Midland, Tx) on 12/05/2015
★★★★★

I had a canker sore in mouth right where my gums and cheek meet. I chewed one garlic clove in the morning and once at night and within three days it was non-existent.

Avoid Milk

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:)

Folic Acid

Posted by Melissa (Veracruz, Mexico) on 04/24/2013
★★★★★

Take folic acid. Mouth sores go away very quickly! It's fantastic!

Probiotics

Posted by Jnell (Lumby, Bc, Canada) on 04/14/2013
★★★★★

Probiotics for Mouth Ulcers: This is so painful at first, if you're dealing with a large ulcer, but it works everytime. Open up your probiotic capsule(s) 1 or 2 is good, pour onto a dish, add only a few drops of water at a time to form a kind of paste, then, using clean hands, use your index finger to scoup up some of the paste and push it up into the sore. Try and keep from swallowing for a bit (you'll get a little drooly) between 2 and 5 minutes is good, but the longer the better I suppose. You want to do this 3 or 4 times/day.... but I've never had to do it for more then a day, once I had one about the size of a quarter on the roof of my mouth and that was nearly gone after the second treatment! It does hurt terribly bad, but only while your pushing the probiotics into the wound.

Supplements

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....

Gluten-Free Diet

Posted by Shaun (York, Uk) on 11/01/2011
★★★★★

My partner (female, 57) has suffered with mouth cankers for as long as she can remember. These are/were incredibly painful. They looked like mini volcano's! They came 'round on a regular basis on gums, tongue and inner lips. We tried just about everything, but with no joy. Then I thought maybe she is gluten sensitive (I had heavily researched gluten sensitivity for my own [now cured skin condition[s], see elsewhere on Earthclinic), and other other 'odd' and seemingly incurable autoimmune-like issues of various friends. The result? Bam! No more mouth cankers. What a joy! To those who do not suffer this issue you just cannot believe the sheer relief that this has brought her. 50 years of doctors efforts had come to nothing. It has now been 2/3 months with no sign of mouth ulcers.

As an aside I would suggest to ANYONE that if you have some sort of seemingly incurable issue (candida, cankers, anaemia, IBS, ear pain, brain fog, rheumatoid arthritis etc., etc. , or indeed... Whatever) that you very, very strongly consider some form of gluten sensitivity. Sadly my partners father also suffers from canker issue (and stomach problems), but as he is 85 and bread is something of a holy social and ethnic issue with him he will just not accept the fact that gluten is his problem. Nevertheless we will keep trying to convince him!

Baking Soda

Posted by Asw (Houston, Tx) on 10/07/2011
★★★★★

Using baking soda worked for me. I had a canker sore that kept getting worst despite the fact I was applying hydrogen peroxide. So I looked online and saw that baking soda also worked as a treatment for some. I applied baking soda once or twice a day for three days and it completely healed the sore.