If you have canker sores..

[Allisonfaye]

I tried to bump the old thead but it wouldn''t work. I wanted to mention that I tried the lysine for the canker sores and it worked! Last year at this same time ( I know because we were on vacation and I was miserable) I had a mouth full of these things. I was miserable for about 3 weeks. That was my worst attack ever and I was determined I had to find something to help. So, about a week ago, I noticed I was getting one or maybe more. It felt like I was going to get a bunch of them so I started popping 3 of the 500mg lysines a day and it never got that bad. It lasted about 3 days and it went away before it got really painful. I am thrilled. These things were making my life hell.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I am actually the one who posted about them and I am so glad it helped someone else. I didn''t actually think it would work, but I was so desperate after a bunch of them (I get them when I am stressed) that I would try anything. Before I took lysine, I got 3-4 a month when I was stressed. I have gotten 5 in the very stressful 9 months since I started with the lynsine. Not gone, but much better than anything else I tried.

 

[Miranda]

I get one a month at the very back of my cheek near my wisdom teeth. These little buggers can be so painful. Are they viral like cold sores? I''ll have to try Lysine. Thanks ladies!

 

[Allisonfaye]

Supposedly, they are not viral. I have read and read to try to find out the cause but it seems unclear. I used to get them once a month like clockwork back about 10 years ago. I was in a very stressful relationship and the second I ended the relationship, I stopped getting them. But 10 years later, they started again. But I wasn''t under a lot of stress so I couldn''t figure it out. They are so incredibly painful.

 

[sumbride]

If the lysine works, they probably are viral. Lysine inhibits the viral reproductive cycle. I give it to my cats when they have a herpes flareup, which is also usually stress-induced. The virus is in their system and always will be, but when they are stressed, the virus becomes active and starts to reproduce... the lysine stops it and it goes back into remission. Canker sores are usually caused by a similar virus.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

No one knows what causes them which is part of what is so frustrating. They do run in families but are not contageious. I have heard viral, bacterial, autoimmune issues and food allergies among others, are there is good evidence for each and evidence against each, they simply don''t know.

For that reason, there is no really good cure. I had one caused by a training dental assistant that was HUGE and extremely painful. I put alum on it which did help, but was very wierd. It did reduce the pain and shortened the time of it by about 2 days, but it was a very strange experience, I much prefer lysine.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Canker sores can be caused by food allergies. I use to get one about once every 6 weeks on the tip of my tongue and it sucked because it made me talk like I was drunk. My son''s friend''s mom gave me a weird look as I think she thought I had downed a few in the middle of day! lol Anyway, after I got food allergy tests and quit eating eggs and all dairy, I stopped getting that same one right there and haven''t had a problem since. Thank goodness.

 

[angel_nieves]

I am going to try this. I have a food allergy to ginger and the other day I had Thai noodles and they must have had ginger in them. I now have a dime sized canker sore in my mouth and can only tolerate room temp liquids no solid food and it driving me nuts.

 

[ksinger]

Well, I used to get them as a child and young adult, but haven''t had them in ages. Thank god. The worst time was when I had one right next to my gum, where the gum had one too, and they were touching. OMG. I felt like my face was going to fall of, and quite frankly, it would have been a blessing.

I''ve also read that they are not viral, and that women get them more than men. And they''re called apthous ulcers...

Here''s a trick that I learned but it can only be done in the very early stages when you feel one coming on. (This is going to sound awful, but done early enough, it absolutely works...I have no idea why though....) Mix together a small amound of table salt and some cayenne pepper. Apply to the sore and hold there with a finger for about 3 - 5 minutes about once every 1/2 hour or so - oh, maybe 2 -3 hours of that? I know it sounds horrible, but as long as it is done fairly early before the sore really gets going, it''ll stop that thing cold. Just drys it up. Of course it''s not so good for work or public, where walking around with your finger in your mouth is considered poor form.

And of course once you go beyond that early stage, all you can do is ride it out, or try the non-painful remedies.

 

[miraclesrule]

I love home remedies!! The cayenne pepper mixture sounds amazing.

I suffered some extremely painful canker sores after oral surgery and Zilactin (an over the counter product) was a godsend. You spread some of the stuff over the canker sore and hold your mouth open for a second so it dries. It creates an adhesive shield over the canker sore for hours.

I didn''t think it would work, but it did. The pain went away and I could eat and drink and not walk around being miserable from the pain. I love that stuff.

 

[appletini]

In addition to the lysine, I have also used a product called canker-cover sold at walgreens, which is also helpful, however I would only recommend putting it on at night before bed depending on the location of the sore b/c it forms a big gel patch to protect it.

I get them when I eat sour patch kids or sour straws, or when I am really stressed out. They can also be caused by cuts in the mouth.

 

[Delster]

A friend suffers from these and he swears the only thing that helped him was using one of those all-natural toothpastes. I believe it''s the flouride-free aspect that he considers important.

My sympathies to everyone suffering, they sound awful!

 

[CrownJewel]

What a coincidence that this thread came up! I''ve been miserable the last few weeks because I keep getting these canker sores! Usually I get canker sores on the inside of my lip, or on my gums. But if it''s on your tongue, is it still a canker sore?

I use Zilactin when I get the canker sore on the inside of my lip or gums, but it doesn''t work on the tongue. Ugh, canker sores are so awful.

 

[FireGoddess]

I only get canker sores in my mouth when I seriously overdo it on citrus fruits. I''ll be curious to see if this helps those too.

 

[Aloros]

I read in a magazine somewhere that splitting open a raisin and putting on the sore is supposed to help. I had one about a week ago, and tried this. The next day the canker sore had turned into a big ''ol blister! Of course, once I popped the blister I felt better... (sorry for the TMI!

)

Thankfully I get maybe one every year or so.

 

[katebar]

I have been a life long sufferer of mouth ulcers (that''s what we call them here) and i have found my holy grail. Toothpaste without sodium lauryl sulphate. Apparently some people are allergic to this ingredient. DH who is a dr was listening to a science program when they were talking about this as being a cause. I have been to many physicians etc to find out the cause but no avail.
So when we were in the USA last year I found some sensodyne toothpaste that didn''t have this ingredient. I did not get another ulcer for 6 months!!!!
Last month whilst on holidays I forgot my special toothpaste and used regular. Guess what? Within 4 days I had 5 ulcers 2 on my tongue which were exquisitely painful. So it has to be the toothpaste.
Please try try!!!

 

[iheartscience]

I''m writing all these remedies down! I get canker sores occasionally-thankfully not too often. I recently discovered the Canker Covers that someone else mentioned, and they''re great, but they get BIG, so definitely only use them for night time.

Once I got this horrible one on the inside of my bottom lip that was also on my gum there. It was awful-so painful, and I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. No real reason for that story-just thought I''d share, I guess!

 

[Patiently_Waiting]

I have the tendency to get cold sores every now and then, most likely during especially stressful times (I''ve had cold sores since I was a wee child

). I have also gotten the occasional canker sore. A few months ago, I started taking Lysine on a daily basis and it works really well for me - no more cold sores or canker sores!