I am passing on the information given to me by my doctor and my dentist. Their advice has helped me to be almost free of this misery. Of course, others may have a different experience.
What do you do for canker sores?
by daniel-p 30 Replies latest social physical
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leavingwt
The very best thing I've used to treat the symptoms is DEXAMETHASONE 0.5MG/5ML. This is a steroidal mouth wash, available by prescription. You swish it around in your mouth for two minutes, then spit it out. (The bottle cost me $38 -- with insurance. It's not cheap.)
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Spike Tassel
Of course, some (like me) are allergic to steroidal products, as well as fluoride toothpastes and various artificial colourings; these may also cause canker sores. Thus I must be careful which mouthwash I use, etc. When I practice my oral hygiene, I brush not only my teeth but also my gums, the roof of my mouth, and my tongue (i.e. my entire oral cavity [to the extent possible]). This I do in 3 stages. First stage: I dip my toothbrush in mouthwash and brush throughout. Secod stage: I dip my toothbrush in baking soda and brush throughout. Third stage: I dip my toothbrush in water and brush throughout. After brushing these 3 ways thoroughly, I floss-pick between my teeth. I do this each time I begin my daily routine. I keep a floss pick with me at all times so that I can clear out food debris after meals or snacks as necessary.
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sweetface2233
I feel your pain. I was plagued w/ canker sores for the majority of my life that got worse about 6-7 years ago (age 26-27). I would get up to 10 at a time and could only ride out the pain until they healed. Nothing would give me any relief. Right now, I can't remember the last time that I had one. I don't know what causes them, but whatever it was is not afflicting me anymore. Hopefully, you will experience the same.
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Spike Tassel
perhaps it was a change of diet that you didn't recall when you posted, I suggest.
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daniel-p
THanks for all the replies, everyone.
It's getting a lot better now--I guess it just has to take its course. There were about two days though, where the pain was fairly unbearable, as every once in a while I'd get these waves of pain that gave me flushes and everything. Eating was pretty much undoable.
I'm pretty sure I'm one of the luckier ones, in that I don't get chronic sores. I think this one was caused by me trying to be fastidious in my dental hygiene, as I still have my wisdom teeth and was trying to clean one of them. I think I irritated the cheek tissue above the tooth, and my immune system must have just freaked out. I don't think I was nutritionally deficient... I've been taking the exact same supplements for about 5 months now without missing a day (A, B-complex, C, E, Niacin, Zinc, Garlic, Multi, etc.). Of course, vitamin absorption is another thing, but I am pretty healthy.
As far as what helped, I'm not too sure. For the actual malady, I took lots of acidopholus, and only did anti-bacterial mouthwashes in the morning and at night, with baking soda and/or salt. One of the first things I did when it really started to hurt was to grind in some salt into the sore, and man oh man, that was some serious pain. Just waves and waves of pain. I'm not sure if it did any good. For the ongoing pain, I tried putting baby aspirin tablets directly on the sore (crushed tablets), but that didn't really help. I took tylenol and that helped the general pain around my head and neck. THe best thing, I think, that eased the pain at the site of the sore was cold ice water, and maybe a little piece of ice held up against it. That would at least numb it for a while when I ate.
Anyway, it seems to be going away now, the inflammation is receding, and the general pain is greatly subsiding.
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daniel-p
perhaps it was a change of diet that you didn't recall when you posted, I suggest.
That's possible. Also the stress thing. In the past few days my wife and I have had a rather shocking bit of "news" that will, if it "plays out", change our lives permanently.
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White Dove
Egg gets them all the time. She uses Ambisol.
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Spike Tassel
alum powder is what my grandpa taught my mum to use, so that what she had me use when I was a youth, she reminded me.
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greenie
Hey Daniel P,
(I didn't read all the other posts so I don't know if this has been said) You should also know that the stuff they put in shampoo and toothpaste, etc to make it foam is an industrial detergent that is SUPER irritating to cankersores. My cousin had major trouble with them and switched to a line a products that are made without the stuff (I think the detergent is called sodium laurel sulfate). Now she uses this stuff all the time. It's called Biotene and they make mouthwash and toothpaste that can be bought in a drug store (not big chain like Wal-Mart or Target). You should switch to using those all the time. She says it's amazing how much better her mouth feels.
G