Canker Sores

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Canker Sores

Out of sight, out of mind. Tucked away inside your mouth, some canker sores are easy to ignore. But bite into the wrong food—usually something acidic, such as an orange or a tomato—and these small, round ulcers make their presence known in the most painful way possible. Other sores can hurt because they’re in areas that brush against your teeth. Yeeowch!

White or yellow in color and surrounded by red halos, canker sores often pop up when you’re under stress or after you’ve eaten an irritating food (pineapple, nuts and chocolate are common culprits). Experts believe canker sores are contagious; if you’ve recently kissed someone who has one, you’ll soon find out if the experts are right. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with the approval of your doctor, may help relieve the symptoms of canker sores or may prevent sores from recurring, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When... Your sore persists for more than two weeks. You get sores once a week or more, especially when they appear in bunches.

Food Therapy

Eat more yogurt, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California. Dr. Whitaker says the active acidophilus cultures in yogurt can both prevent and heal canker sores. If you’re prone to canker sores, he recommends eating at least four tablespoons of yogurt daily to prevent outbreaks. To heal an outbreak, he recommends eating at least one eight-ounce container a day.

Herbal Therapy

Gargle with calendula tea or goldenseal tea to help canker sores heal, says Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He says to make the tea by pouring a cup of boiling water over one to two teaspoons of the dried herb (both are available in most health food stores). Let this mixture steep for ten minutes, says Dr. Tyler, then strain it so that there is no herb left in the liquid and use it as a mouthwash three or four times daily.

Homeopathy

Take a 30X dose of homeopathic Borax every one to two hours until the pain is relieved, says Richard D. Fischer, D.D.S., a dentist and homeopath in Annandale, Virginia, and president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology.

Borax can be purchased in many health food stores. To purchase homeopathic remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Imagery

Visualize a soothing light shining on your sore. For the next five minutes, see the light slowly penetrate the sore and begin healing it from the bottom up (that’s how canker sores heal naturally). Do this twice a day until the sore has healed, says Dennis Gersten, M.D., a San Diego psychiatrist and publisher of Atlantis, a bi-monthly imagery newsletter.

Juice Therapy

“Frequent canker sores can signal that you’re not getting enough iron or folate,” says Cherie Calbom, M.S., a certified nutritionist in Kirkland, Washington, and co-author of Juicing for Life. She recommends a daily dose of her nutrient-rich Folic Acid Special juice: Bunch up two kale leaves and a small handful each of parsley and spinach. Process the greens with four or five carrots, using the carrots to push the greens through the juicer. “This is also a good source of beta-carotene, which has been shown to heal mouth sores,” says Calbom.

For more information about juicing techniques, see page 93.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

Take 1,000 milligrams of the amino acid lysine at each meal during an outbreak and then 500 milligrams at each meal for a week afterward, says Richard D. Fischer, D.D.S., a dentist and homeopath in Annandale, Virginia, and president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. “Another thing that works for some people is to take a vitamin E capsule, poke a hole in it and then rub the liquid directly on the sore,” he says. He suggests using the vitamin E three times a day during an outbreak until the sore heals.

You can also take between 4,000 and 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily during outbreaks and at least 500 milligrams daily as a way of preventing canker sores, says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and president of the Whitaker Wellness Center in Newport Beach, California.