Mouth Ulcers
While mouth ulcers normally aren't a serious condition, they can cause quite a bit of pain. They can occur for a variety of reasons and they can interfere with normal eating and drinking. These sores can appear on the tongue, the gums, the lips or inside the cheeks.
Symptoms
Early symptoms may include a tingling or burning sensation in the mouth. Ulcers, also called Canjer sores, may appear white or yellow, surrounded by red halos. They may appear singly or in clusters. It usually takes 7 to 10 days for them to heal.
Causes
Mouth ulcers can be caused by nutritional deficiencies like iron, trace minerals and vitamins, poor dental hygiene, food allergies, stress, biting the cheek, bowel disease, hormonal imbalance, skin disease and infections like herpes simplex.
Cautions
If you find yourself with frequently recurring mouth ulcers, see your doctor. They may be a symptom of anemia or other more serious ailment.
Herbal Treatments
Internal Applications
- Holy basil chew 4 or 5 leaves every morning and night with water to cure mouth ulcers and bad breath.
- Mulberry drink the juice made from mulberries for relief from this condition.
External Applications
- Peppermint apply the essential oil to the ulcers to relieve pain and irritation.
- Coriander boil 1 teaspoon of seeds in a cup of water. Use the warm but not hot water to gargle 3 or 4 times per day.
- Calendula make a tea from this herb and use it to gargle. It will heal canker sores and ulcers.
- Myrrh the high tannin content in this herb makes it very suitable to treat ulcers. Add 200 to 300 mg of extract or 4 ml of tincture to warm water and swish it around in the mouth 2 or 3 times per day.
- Black tea another herb that is high in tannins, place a used tea bag directly on the ulcers in your mouth.
- Canker root this herb was used by the Native Americans and early settlers to treat canker sores. The raw root can be chewed for relief or made into a tea.
- Sage this herb is good for inflammation of the mouth and throat. Make a tea using 2 teaspoons of dried sage per cup of boiling water. Let it steep until cool. Use it as a gargle as needed. Do not take too much sage tea, as this herb contains thujone. If you are nursing a baby, sage can also dry up milk if ingested in large quantities.
- Wild geranium steep the leaves of this herb to use as a wash inside the mouth to heal canker sores.
- Fenugreek boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of fenugreek leaves. Remove from heat. Keep the pan covered and let it steep until cooled. Strain out the leaves and use the resulting liquid as a gargle 2 to 3 times per day.
- Turmeric add a pinch of turmeric powder to 1 teaspoon of glycerine. Mix well. Apply directly to the mouth ulcers.
- Tea tree rinse the mouth out with 3 drops of tea tree oil diluted in water. Twice a day after brushing the teeth, apply a few drops of oil with a cotton swab directly onto the ulcers.