Canker Sore Treatment...
You've Come A Long Way, Baby!

Have you ever been in dire need of a succesful canker sore treatment as the result of a severe outbreak? You know what I'm talking about. It's one of those outbreaks where you have two or three of them that stretch out from the lower part of your inner cheek, through the crevice between cheek and gum, and up onto the gum itself. Every movement of your mouth brings another wave of agonizing pain. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. And social life? You can forget about that, too.

For many years, the only canker sore treatment I used was to swish a warm salt-water solution over the affected area. Although this probably helped them heal more quickly by drying them out, I'm sure I caused myself more pain than if I had just let them heal on their own. Today, canker sore treatment methods are much more advanced, so let's take a look at a few.

One method of treatment that's both simple and affordable is to carry a small tube or bottle of an oral anesthetic product such as Ora-Jel, Numzit, or Anbesol. These product are quickly and easily applied. They're easy to apply without drawing a lot of attention to yourself in public. The best part is that they do provide a fair amount of relief from pain.

Another canker sore treatment method is to use products developed specifically for canker-sore relief. Canker Cover is one such product. It's a small tablet-like patch that covers and protects the canker sore. It sticks to any canker sore easily and spreads out to form a clear gel patch. The patch delivers pain relief medicine while protecting the mouth ulcer from irritants such as food, drink, and braces. Canker-Rid is another product in this group. Made from a proprietary blend of honey bee products, it appears to deliver speedy relief, especially if applied at the first sign of an outbreak.

Pharmaceutical companies are also jumping on the canker sore treatment bandwagon with products like Aphthasol. Available by prescription only, this is the first FDA-approved drug created to treat recurrent aphthous ulcers (mouth ulcers), more commonly known as canker sores. In clinical trials, Aphthasol has been shown to promote 90% faster pain resolution and 72% faster healing than doing nothing for your mouth ulcer. It will sting and/or burn more than any other product, but hey... no pain, no gain. Right?

Finally, the best method of canker sore treatment is prevention. How do you prevent them? Start by replacing your toothpaste if it contains sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). SLS is a surfactant used to combine oil-based and water-based ingredients and to provide your toothpaste's foaming action. In order to do its job as a surfactant, SLS has to be able to break down cell walls. The down side is that tests have demonstrated that SLS can do the same thing to the cells that make up the soft tissue in your mouth. This allows the bacteria which cause the ulcers to penetrate more easily. As a side note, SLS plays a major role in the development of chronic bad breath and halitosis.

You should also avoid crushing injuries to the soft tissue. A single, accidental bite to the inside of your lip or cheek would do it. Irritation from dental appliances such as braces can also bring on an outbreak. The injury that's most overlooked, however, is the one caused by the syringe the dentist uses to inject a topical anesthetic before beginning a procedure. Growing up, I needed a lot of dental work. Inevitably, a few days to a week after an injection, I'd develop one or more mouth ulcers around the injection site. There's a lot to be said for practicing good oral hygiene from your very earliest days.

So... How much better would your life be if you never again had to put up with one of these nasty little ulcers? I can't promise you that's what's going to happen. There is some evidence that genetics plays an important role in determining who will suffer repeated severe outbreaks and who will not. But the fact of the matter is that nearly everyone experiences them to some degree at one time or another. I was one of the less fortunate ones. My mom suffered with them as did my brother. Whenever I got them, there would be several at a time, and they were huge. If you're in this situation, too, I do have some good news for you. The frequency and severity of attacks will diminish significantly as you get older. Given this and the fact that there are so many canker sore treatment methods to choose from, you should have a pretty good life after all.

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