Canker sores (medically known as aphthous ulcers) are found in the wet tissues of your tongue and cheek. A small, red wound at first, canker sores quickly grow into a white, red-bordered, painful ulcer. It's not possible too speed up the healing process but you can help it heal steadily and relieve pain.
Time to tingle
When you feel the first tingle of a canker sore, break open a vitamin E capsule and squeeze a little oil on the sore.
Take 500 milligrams of vitamin C with bioflavonoids three times a day for the next three days to speed healing.
Use a stypic pencil
A stypic pencil, often used for shaving cuts, can be used to stop the development of a new ulcer into a larger one.
The active ingredient in a stypic pencil is the astringent alum, which dries out the sore.
Try and catch the sore as early as possible and dab it with the pencil.
Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide are both antiseptics that kill germs and help canker sores heal.
Available over-the-counter as Glyoxide liquid, apply it several times a day to prevent the sore from growing.
Be careful not to use too much as it can cause burning.
Soothe with warm salt water
Mix a teaspoon of salt into a cup of warm water and rinse the solution around in your mouth for a minute.
This cleans the tissue around your sore, helping it heal, and temporarily relieves pain.
Water mixed with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) also works.
Numb it
Over-the-counter anaesthetic gels containing benzocaine, phenol, camphor, or menthol can temporarily numb the pain.
As your saliva keeps washing them away, keep applying them as needed.
Try tea
Ordinary tea helps ease burning and itching. Soak a handkerchief or piece of gauze in cool tea and hold it to your sore for a few minutes or until the discomfort subsides.
Alternatively use a cool, wet tea bag.
Make sure it's real tea, not herb tea, as it's the astringent effect of black tea's tannic acid which is beneficial.
Rinse with milk
If eating is not possible because of canker pain, rinse your mouth with a bit of milk before eating.
The milk will coat the sore and make eating easier.