7 Canker Sore Remedies You Need to Know

It’s irritating, yes. Whether it’s a small, grayish-white round ulcers of canker sores that appear inside your mouth or the highly contagious cold sore clusters, anything that bothers your mouth or lips is really frustrating. 

Canker Sores

Although Canker Sores or aphthous ulcers, aren’t likely to occur on the surface of your lips, they can painfully inflame your mouth and make your eating or talking difficult. Canker sores are not caused by herpes simplex virus or rupturing form crusts unlike cold sores, no treatment is necessary for minor appearance. However, you may still want to run tests to check for other health problems – especially if the localized sore spot create an unusual pain for weeks. 

Since treating cold sores with essential oils are highly effective, there are some remedies you can apply to aid your canker sores too. If you’re experiencing an erosive sore spreading on your mouth and wondering how to treat them, let’s delve right in! 

Mouth Cleanse

Mouth rinsing or flushing, mouth with liquid (such as water) is often prescribed by doctors if you have canker sores. Mouth rinse with steroid dexamethasone (dek-suh-METH-uh-sown) content help reduce bothering pain and inflammation. Lidocaine containing mouth rinse also, reduces pain. 

Topical Products

There are  several over-the-counter and prescription products that can help reduce pain and encourage speed the healing process if applied to erosive individual sores. Be it in pastes, creams, gels, or ointments gels, even, liquid products that have active ingredients of Fluocinonide (Lidex, Vanos), Hydrogen peroxide (Orajel Antiseptic Mouth Sore Rinse, Peroxyl) and Benzocaine (Anbesol, Kank-A, Orabase, – Zilactin B) may work best for you. Seek your doctor’s advice to know what you need. 

Oral Medications 

If the canker sore spreading is severe and not responsive to topical treatments, you may go for specific intestinal ulcer treatment sucralfate (Carafate) used as a coating agent and colchicine, and normally treats gout. Oral steroid medications often don’t react to other treatments, but some use it as a last resort remedy though it bears serious side effects. 

Sores Cauterization

Cautery of sores means making the affected area insensible or deaden. An instrument or chemical (such as caustic agent) is used to burn, sear, or destroy tissue. Topical solution like Debaterol is formulated for canker sores or gum problems treatment – this medication may do speed healing process to more or less than a week. Silver nitrate also is another chemical cautery option foe canker sores, it may not heal as quickly as debaterol but it sure helps pain relief. 

Supplements 

Nutritional supplements may be advised by your doctor if you’re lacking essential nutrients that your body necessarily needs like folate (folic acid), vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 or zinc.

Home Remedies 

Habitual practices or lifestyle can be a huge trigger factor for erosive and spreading canker sores, apply these tips for speed healing process and instant causing pain relief of canker sores:

• Rinse your mouth properly. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda or saltwater in ½ cup warm water, and gargle it. Aggressively washing the sore will definitely make it worse. 
• Dab a small volume of milk of magnesia on canker sore affected area few times a day.
• Keep away from causing irritation and pain substance such as abrasion, spicy or eating acidic food. 
• Apply ice chips or cubes over the sores and let it dissolve slowly for cold therapy. 
• Practice brushing your teeth gently, you can use a foaming-agent-free toothpaste such as Biotene or Sensodyne ProNamel or simply soft brush. 
• Avoid touching an open sore or attempting to pop or pick at the scab. 

Natural Cures

There are a number of home remedies that can shorten the life span of canker sores and help reduce the it causes, these are:

• Essential Oils. Although it’s a lesser known option for the treatment of cold sores, eucalyptus oil and peppermint oil have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agents that prevent infection. They both have calming scent and soothing sensation that cools and bring some relief. To use, simply add drops in a small glass or jar and dab it on your canker sore with a cotton swab as needed, you can combine some too.
• Sage Rinse. Given that sage belongs to the mint family, it explains how its cooling and healing properties bring relief to the canker sore area. Boil 4 ounces of water, add 2 tsp. of sage that’s dry, and let it steep for a couple of minutes before cooling. Swish it around in your mouth for a minute, spit, and rinse with cold water. Repeat as needed. 
• Coconut Oil Salve. Coconut oil’s anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties can help you aid your canker sore. Simply dab it directly on the sore for relief. 
• Clove Oil. Clove essential oil has prevalent content of eugenol – a powerful pain reliever that’s been used in dentistry for eons. Soak a cotton ball in clove oil solution, and put it directly on the canker sore. Leave it for 10 minutes. 
• Live-Culture Yogurt Snack. Live-culture Live-culture yogurt content is best to rebalance bacteria in your mouth, it effectively heals cold sores too.