CANKER SORES..wtf do I do?!?!?!

ucsbledbetter

So I have pretty much been getting these little bitches since I was a young lad. I get them inside the mouth and I have been tested for STD's and that came back negative. People have told me that they may be related to food allergies. When eating things with salt or citrus it burns like crazy. My dentist gave me some antibiotic way back when, but that crap did not work. I have heard many different ways to try and make them feel better, so I am wondering if anyone out there gets them and what you do to deal with them. I have tried Zelactin to numb them and that seems to work pretty well. I have also tried Listerine and Hydrogen Peroxide. Any ideas???

Fighting Hellfish

There's a toothpaste that's supposed to control them. I belive it's made by Tom's of Maine. Not sure if it's any good.

tara

i've only ever had 1 or 2, can't remember why either, so i can't personally help you, but my mom gets them from eating walnuts, so it could be an alergy

South of Seattle

-Salt Water
-Or a painfull way it to put something superhot on it. Hurts like a bitch, but it goes away.

mca47

You should rub salt on them.

soulsinging

i get them pretty regular too. they're a pain. defiinitely cut back on anything acidic or citrus-y when you feel one coming on. in the meantime, yogurt helps. cottage cheese. there's something about the cultures in those two foods that helps put them away apparently. it's not foolproof and wont work instantly, but it will do the job. i felt one coming on recently and ate yogurt about 2-3 times a day and managed to stop it before it got going.

Gary Carter

oralgel

South of Seattle

soulsinging wrote:

i get them pretty regular too. they're a pain. defiinitely cut back on anything acidic or citrus-y when you feel one coming on. in the meantime, yogurt helps. cottage cheese. there's something about the cultures in those two foods that helps put them away apparently. it's not foolproof and wont work instantly, but it will do the job. i felt one coming on recently and ate yogurt about 2-3 times a day and managed to stop it before it got going.

I forgot about that one. Those crazy cultures will help.

Scubascott

I started a thread here once on this very subject. I get them occasionally too. They suck bigtime. They can even get to the point where the constant pain makes you cranky and irritable and depressed. You can't enjoy any kind of food, you can't talk without pain, you can't sleep at night. . .

I wish I had a solution. Nothing works for me except to just wait for them to go away. Usually takes a week or two.

Ahnimus

ucsbledbetter wrote:

So I have pretty much been getting these little bitches since I was a young lad. I get them inside the mouth and I have been tested for STD's and that came back negative. People have told me that they may be related to food allergies. When eating things with salt or citrus it burns like crazy. My dentist gave me some antibiotic way back when, but that crap did not work. I have heard many different ways to try and make them feel better, so I am wondering if anyone out there gets them and what you do to deal with them. I have tried Zelactin to numb them and that seems to work pretty well. I have also tried Listerine and Hydrogen Peroxide. Any ideas???

Just got to a pharmacist and tell them what you have and they will give you what you need. Unless you live in a country with stupid laws that require prescriptions. A dude I work with recently did this and they sold him a cream that cleared it up, cost him like $40 though.

My friend is training to be a pharmacist, she says they have to know everything. So if you go in and say "I have a bad cough from smoking" they got something for you. Pretty much anything.

DinghyDog

-

redrock

Could be genetic and nothing you can do about it but.... to help, make sure you have plenty of vitamin C and loads of all the B vitamins. Other nutrients that are helpful are zinc, folic acid, iron, selenium, calcium. Good supply of all of these in your diet can really help with the recurrence of these ulcers. They really get you when your immune system is down (stress, illness, etc.)

Also use a toothpastes and mouthwash that it free from sodium lauryl sulfate. Studies have shown that sls can increase the rate of canker sores. Using sls free toothpaste can reduce recurrence and, when you do get them, they are less painful.

Always worth a try....

redrock

DinghyDog wrote:

is it some kind of virus in you that causes it or what?

It's not a virus... it's some kind of reaction of your immune system. From what I understand your immune system thinks there are some weird foreign molecules that it thinks it needs to 'attack' when actually nothing is there and thus the white blood cells create havock and this forms the ulcers. Sorry.. not a very medical way to describe things!!

Ahnimus

This is funny, let's see, malnutrition, check, poor hygeine, check, low vitamin C, check. And I've never had these canker sores.

http://familydoctor.org/613.xml

I guess that leaves, food allergies and menstrual periods. I eat MSG which I am allergic to, and red food dye as well. Well, I guess it does say, they don't really know why people get them.

You could always google "canker sores"

Canker sores usually go away without any treatment. For pain relief, you can try taking ibuprofen (brand name: Advil) or acetaminophen (brand name: Tylenol). Other medicines, such as Anbesol, Oragel, Orabase and Zilactin-B, might keep your canker sores from becoming irritated by eating, drinking or brushing your teeth. You put these medicines right on the sore.

You can also mix equal amounts of Milk of Magnesia and Benadryl Allergy liquid. After it's mixed, you can swish a teaspoonful in your mouth for about 1 minute and then spit it out. If you do this every 4 to 6 hours, your canker sores may hurt less.

Some people think that sucking on zinc lozenges, taking vitamin C or vitamin B complex, using a sage-and-chamomile mouthwash or taking a lysine supplement helps their canker sores heal faster.

Crazy, Pharmacist told dude I work with they are oral herpes. So basically your SOL, just take some Benzocaine solution like Oragel to numb your mouth.

redrock

Ahnimus wrote:

Crazy, Pharmacist told dude I work with they are oral herpes. So basically your SOL, just take some Benzocaine solution like Oragel to numb your mouth.

Pharmacist is wrong (or the dude you work with did not have canker sores). Canker sores are mouth ulcers on the inside of the mouth, not caused by a virus and are NOT contagious.

On the other hand...

Cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex virus and are usually on the outer edge of the lip or mouth. These ARE very contagious.

Ahnimus

redrock wrote:

Pharmacist is wrong (or the dude you work with did not have canker sores). Canker sores are mouth ulcers on the inside of the mouth, not caused by a virus and are NOT contagious.

On the other hand...

Cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex virus and are usually on the outer edge of the lip or mouth. These ARE very contagious.

Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification. I've never had either.

Interesting that this dude would have herpes, dudes the most religious guy I've ever met.

redrock

Ahnimus wrote:

Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification. I've never had either.

Interesting that this dude would have herpes, dudes the most religious guy I've ever met.

This virus can lay dormant for years... most probably has been exposed to it as a child (like a lot of us!). It's not automatically sexually transmitted.

I've never had either and I certainly lack in all kind of nutrients and vitamins! An up to now (touch wood), cold sore virus hasn't woken up yet!

Ahnimus

redrock wrote:

This virus can lay dormant for years... most probably has been exposed to it as a child (like a lot of us!). It's not automatically sexually transmitted.

True dat, guess he could have got it any way.

Ahnimus

Dude, can you vouche for me, the next time someone says I never budge, or admit I'm wrong. Cause I'm pretty sure I just did.

redrock

Ahnimus wrote:

Dude, can you vouche for me, the next time someone says I never budge, or admit I'm wrong. Cause I'm pretty sure I just did.

:D:D:D:D

I'll have to remember that for the next 'discussion' on the MT! :D:D

Ahnimus

redrock wrote:

:D:D:D:D

I'll have to remember that for the next 'discussion' on the MT! :D:D

See, clearly, my knowledge of this was limited, so I didn't push very hard. You sound well versed on it, so I'll take your word on it, for the sake of argument. If I ever cared enough, I'd look it up.

Good Work Redrock!