Does anyone else suffer from severe canker sores?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

akshatp

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 1999
8,349
0
76
I use a medicine called Rinstead which is available in England. It is a little lozenge type of med, put directly on sore. Usually after 3 or 4 treatments it is gone.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,550
940
126
I've had them ever since I was a child. I've found that foods rich in tomato (highly acidic) and eating red meat frequently tend to flare them up. I've also found that stress flares them up as well.

Orabase is a good temporary pain reliever...I highly recommend this. It has benzocaine in it which numbs the pain and it coats the area so you can at least eat and live without pain for a little while and you can just squeeze it out of a tube and rub it on the area.

Zilactin is a product I've had mixed results with. If you don't dry the area first it is useless.

There is a mouth rinse by Oral-B called Amosan which is also quite good to take before bedtime. This stuff helps speed healing quite a bit and is great at relieving pain and helping you sleep through the night.
 

AbAbber2k

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2005
6,474
1
0
Originally posted by: mordantmonkey
mmm canker sores. Maybe cause i rarely get them, but am i the only person that likes the pain sensation when you bite them. yeah, i know, i'm ****** up.

I don't bite them, but I tongue the sh1t out of them. :eek:

Edit: I also do the salt thing. Hurts like a b1tch, and who knows if it actually helps (probably a myth) but I do it anyway. Placebo effect perhaps?
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
Huh, well, never heard a technical name for them.


I've had them for years. They come in spells, though they've toned down in recent years. Throughout school, I would rarely go a week without having at least one. At the worst, I had 7 at once, and it was so painful to eat anything. Braces were awful too. It was like having one large sore stretching the entire length of the braces. My mouth never really fully toughened up to them either. That, combined with the constant dull aching of the movement of my teeth just made for a miserable time.
Best one was when I bit my tongue on the tip hard enough that my incisors contacted each other. Went clean through. That was about as pleasant as it sounds.

I have yet to find anything that helps with them. They don't always even require a bite to start them - sometimes they start in places where my teeth simply can't get to.
The only thing that "helps" at all is Orajel, to numb the pain for a few minutes so I can eat or talk. It also doesn't burn like hell like a lot of the other similar products on the market.
 

moshquerade

No Lifer
Nov 1, 2001
61,504
12
56
Originally posted by: Baked
Damn, talk about nasty. No, I don't have any VD in my mouth.
canker sores are not caused by the herpes virus like cold sores are.

but i'm glad the penicillin took care of your mouth VD. ;)

 

Chunkee

Lifer
Jul 28, 2002
10,391
1
81
RAS - Recurrent Apthous Stomatitis...do a google on it, there are some good remedies, via diet etc...however, when i went through a period of severe stress and had them for a few months...the only salvation was a concoction gargle of kaopectate, Liquid benedryl and xylocaine (hurricaine) spray...20% and hardcore 800 mgs of ibuprofen every 6 hours....the xylocaine(hurricaine spray) was the god send... you can get some 20% benzocaine and it should help some but did not seem to help...it has been like 15 years since i have had it...

i know the pain you are going through...it is horrible...zinc tincture i seem to recall helps...

http://www.users.uswest.net/~dallas7/aphthous.html

http://www.whocollab.od.mah.se/expl/ras.html

http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?ss=15&doc_id=4368&nbr=3290
 

monk3y

Lifer
Jun 12, 2001
12,699
0
76
I only tend to get canker sores when I'm stressed. No clue why but it almost always happens.
 

LanceM

Senior member
Mar 13, 2004
999
0
0
Yep, Zilactin for short-term relief. Hurts like heck at first, but it'll help you eat.

Since you're really not supposed to use Zilactin frequently, alternate it with a 1:1 mixture of Benadryl liquid for kids and Maalox. Swish it (don't swallow) around the affected area for a while. Be sure to buy the red Benadryl and the mixed berry Maalox, because it tastes better than most. This doesn't work as well as the Zilactin, but it works.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
i occasionally get canker sores when i am extemely stressed. peroxyl (a mouth rinse at the drug store) is the way to go for me. it just helps keep everything clean.

and luckily, canker sores != cold sores (teh herp!).
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
L lysine usually helps them heal faster, usually within 3-4 days. It's just an amino acid suppliment. If you are getting them a lot you may be allergic to your toothpaste. I suffer from dry mouth and get canker sores every so often and I switched to Biotene and haven't had a canker sore since. You can get it at walmart (although it's usually hidden pretty well) or CVS.
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
I have this dental paste...

Triamcinolone Acetonide Dental Paste SP (0.1%)

it tastes like sh1t and feels like wet sand in your mouth... but it heals most of them overnight.
 

randalee

Senior member
Nov 7, 2001
683
0
0
I get them from time to time. This last week, I was suffering GREATLY from one right near my tonsil, in the back of my throat. VERY PAINFUL.

My doctor wrote a VERY strange prescription to me. He told me I'd need to find an "old school" pharmacy or apocethary to mix it up for me. It was a combination of 5 different chemicals mixed in different amounts, to make up a bottle of "swish". Up to 4 times a day I could swish/gargle the stuff then let it sit in my mouth for 2-3 minutes then spit or swallow it (whichever I preferred.) I'm a spitter.

Stuff looks like green slime when it's all mixed up, and a very thick consistency. You only take 1 teaspoon and swish it. After spitting, no food or drink for 30 minutes. (I asked about that, the pharmacist said it's because of the lidocaine -- makes your swallow reflex not work properly sometimes.) Said if I went to drink water right after, because things are all numbed, I might send that water down the wrong way.

The bottle says: NYS/TCN/HC/LID/PROMETH

If I remember from the instructions/prescription, it was Nystatin, Tetracycline (I think for TCN), Hydrocortisone, Lidocaine, and Promethazine. My doctor called it his "Aptheous Ulceration Cocktail"... Again, I had to find a old school pharmacist to mix it up for me.

The guy was THRILLED that I came to his Apocethary when I showed up. He started pulling out his beakers and vials and went to work! He said he doesn't get a chance to "mix up drugs" very often, so you may find a doctor who can write a scrip for it and a GOOD old-school pharmacist who can make it for you.

It was miraculous for me. I swished a couple times a day for 2-3 days and was cured. Not kidding.
 

loup garou

Lifer
Feb 17, 2000
35,132
1
81
Originally posted by: Shawn
L lysine usually helps them heal faster, usually within 3-4 days.
Sh1t, why didn't I think of that?! I still have some lysine from when my cat has ulcers on her lip...duh! Let me go find it.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
I get one at the base of my gum about twice a year...generally when I get overstressed from something going on in my life. Other than the pain and the annoyance when I'm eating or drinking some foods...it doesn't cause me too much trouble. I do hate when they show up though.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
You have to nurish your body by eating good food. Nothing acidic, no chocolate, no milk, no caffeine. If you can, try to get some lidocane. It is extremely hard to swish becuase it is a gel, but you have to swish it without puking (its so thick that it can promote gag reflex) and after about 15 seconds of swishing it and spitting it out, your whole mouth will be numb enough for you to eat food.

At one time, I had an allergic reaction to myself and had more than 30 canker sores in my mouth, along with multiple GI ulcers, and inflamed joints etc. It was a bad time for me.
 

RaiderJ

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2001
7,582
1
76
I just swish Listerine a couple times a day, or more as needed. Hurts at first, but then the pain is gone for awhile.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
Originally posted by: loup garou
Originally posted by: Shawn
L lysine usually helps them heal faster, usually within 3-4 days.
Sh1t, why didn't I think of that?! I still have some lysine from when my cat has ulcers on her lip...duh! Let me go find it.

does it matter which variety? or all of them heal the canker faster?

edit:
hm... Advanced Listerine® Antiseptic?
All other types are just different flavors
 

MrsBugi

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2005
2,481
5
0
Originally posted by: Tiamat
You have to nurish your body by eating good food. Nothing acidic, no chocolate, no milk, no caffeine. If you can, try to get some lidocane. It is extremely hard to swish becuase it is a gel, but you have to swish it without puking (its so thick that it can promote gag reflex) and after about 15 seconds of swishing it and spitting it out, your whole mouth will be numb enough for you to eat food.

At one time, I had an allergic reaction to myself and had more than 30 canker sores in my mouth, along with multiple GI ulcers, and inflamed joints etc. It was a bad time for me.

HOLY CRAP, 30 at once!??!!! :Q I feel faint just thinking about that.

How did you have an allergic reaction to yourself? I'm sorry that you had to go through such a painful experience. :(
 

MrsBugi

Platinum Member
Aug 19, 2005
2,481
5
0
Originally posted by: randalee
I get them from time to time. This last week, I was suffering GREATLY from one right near my tonsil, in the back of my throat. VERY PAINFUL.

My doctor wrote a VERY strange prescription to me. He told me I'd need to find an "old school" pharmacy or apocethary to mix it up for me. It was a combination of 5 different chemicals mixed in different amounts, to make up a bottle of "swish". Up to 4 times a day I could swish/gargle the stuff then let it sit in my mouth for 2-3 minutes then spit or swallow it (whichever I preferred.) I'm a spitter.

Stuff looks like green slime when it's all mixed up, and a very thick consistency. You only take 1 teaspoon and swish it. After spitting, no food or drink for 30 minutes. (I asked about that, the pharmacist said it's because of the lidocaine -- makes your swallow reflex not work properly sometimes.) Said if I went to drink water right after, because things are all numbed, I might send that water down the wrong way.

The bottle says: NYS/TCN/HC/LID/PROMETH

If I remember from the instructions/prescription, it was Nystatin, Tetracycline (I think for TCN), Hydrocortisone, Lidocaine, and Promethazine. My doctor called it his "Aptheous Ulceration Cocktail"... Again, I had to find a old school pharmacist to mix it up for me.

The guy was THRILLED that I came to his Apocethary when I showed up. He started pulling out his beakers and vials and went to work! He said he doesn't get a chance to "mix up drugs" very often, so you may find a doctor who can write a scrip for it and a GOOD old-school pharmacist who can make it for you.

It was miraculous for me. I swished a couple times a day for 2-3 days and was cured. Not kidding.

Fascinating. Where can one find an apocethary and "old school pharmacist" around these days?
 

fatdragondzc

Senior member
Oct 3, 2005
391
0
0
old remedy, it gonna be painful though. Put salt on canker sore and hold salt in while it stings. It'll disinfect the thing and it'll start healing. Really painful though. Keep repeating =P.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
Originally posted by: fatdragondzc
old remedy, it gonna be painful though. Put salt on canker sore and hold salt in while it stings. It'll disinfect the thing and it'll start healing. Really painful though. Keep repeating =P.

why would the salt heal the canker faster?

wont the salt make the sore bleed, thus making it worse?