Canker Sores..ouch!
I have always been plagued with canker sores. (For anyone that may not be as blessed as I am, canker sores are almost any sore you get on the mucous membranes of your mouth. They are white-ish craters and hurt like hell.) I have tried many rememdies for these in the past, like: rinsing with salt water, peroxide, listerine, dabbing on numbing medicine like Campho-Phenique or Zilactin (which is good for temporary relief) and even down to the holistics of sucking on a black tea bag. Nothing is really fool proof.
But I have found a great remedy that seems to cut the pain and promote healing...baking soda. Pack baking soda right on the sore at first sign. It will sting but try to leave it on for about 5 minutes before rinsing. This has been a wonderful find for me. I read that it has something to do with balancing the pH in your mouth, turning it from acidic to basic which helps the sore to heal.
Let me know if it works for you, or if you have a remedy to share.
Labels: baking soda, canker sores, heal, remedy
4 Comments:
are there food triggers that seem to invoke cankers?
Raw tomatoes will give me little mouth ulcers. if the tomato has been pasteurized or cooked it's no problem.
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I usually just suffer until it's gone, I haven't had one in ages.
Sometimes a food allergy can cause them. Or since tomatoes are acidic, it may be enough to upset the pH in your mouth.
the neat thing about the tomato thing (which seems to have been inherited) is that even low acid tomatoes will do it. My dad is much more reactive than I am, and has found that only cooked or canned tomatoes are safe. I hypothesize that there's an enzyme in the tomato that gets denatured during the pasteurization process.
This supports the hypothesis that I've read stating that cankers are an auto-immune thing. Probably like celiac disease.
acid does make it worse though, ouch.
I just remembered another tidbit from biology class, PH levels also will denature enzymes. Hmm. I don't think acidity causes cankers but it certainly seems to play a role, especially considering how well the baking soda treatment works for you.
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