Canker Sores

Canker Sores

Early American settlers introduced myrrh to the New World. Although most of us associate myrrh with the Christmas tale of the Three Wise Men's gifts to the baby Jesus, these early settlers weren't carrying myrrh for religious purposes. They used it as a treatment for canker sores and other kinds of mouth sores, according to Walter Lewis, Ph.D., and Memory Elvin-Lewis, Ph.D., both professors at Washington University in St. Louis and co-authors of the classic book, Medical Botany.

Canker sores are painful, craterlike ulcers that form in the mouth or on the inner lips. Also known as aphthous ulcers, canker sores usually clear up by themselves within a week or so, but they often recur, sometimes in the form of multiple sores. Estimates vary, but somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of Americans know the pain of canker sores.

Folk Treatments: The Way to Go

Doctors don't have much to offer people with canker sores. They often prescribe antibiotics or corticosteroids, medications that help relieve pain and inflammation. But neither of these treatments helps much. So even doctors tend to recommend traditional relief--ice to alleviate the pain and rinsing the mouth with warm saltwater several times a day.

Doctors also suggest eliminating things that sometimes trigger or aggravate canker sores, such as alcohol, chewing gum, citrus fruits, coffee, dairy products, meat, pineapple, spicy foods, tomatoes, toothpaste and vinegar and other acidic foods. (If you're not sure which foods are acidic, just put anything that tastes sour on the list.)

Doctors also suggest avoiding anything that you happen to be allergic to. People often indulge in "just a taste" of something to which they know they have a mild allergy, but nibbling these "forbidden" foods is a notorious cause of canker sores.

Green Pharmacy for Canker Sores

I'm all for using ice and rinsing your mouth with saltwater. And I think it's a great idea--as well as obvious--to avoid possible canker sore triggers whenever possible. I myself would also try these herbal alternatives.

Myrrh (Commiphora, various species). Myrrh is more than just a folk remedy for canker sores. Germany's Commission E, the body of scientists that provides advice on herbal matters, has endorsed powdered myrrh for the treatment of mild inflammations of the mouth and throat because it contains high amounts of tannins.

Tannin, the common name for tannic acid, is a constituent of many plants and gives foods an astringent taste. An antiseptic with broad-spectrum antibacterial and antiviral action, it's especially helpful for treating mouth sores, which could be caused by a bacterium, a fungus, a virus or an allergy.

To use powdered myrrh, just open a capsule (available at health food stores) and dab a little directly on the sore.

Tea (Camellia sinensis). Myrrh isn't the only herb that's high in tannin: Regular beverage tea also has a rich supply. Try placing a spent tea bag on your canker sores. Or make tea from some of the other herbs that are high in tannin, such as bearberry, eucalyptus, St.-John's-wort, sage, raspberry, peppermint and licorice.

Cankerroot (Coptis groenlandica). This plant got its name because of its traditional use as a treatment for canker sores. American Indians and early settlers alike used cankerroot as a tea to treat both sore throat and canker sores. Penobscot Indians chewed raw root for canker sores and fever blisters.

The plant, which is also known as goldthread, shares many of the active ingredients and healing properties of the more familiar goldenseal, barberry and Oregon grape.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). This herb was an American Indian favorite for treating all sorts of wounds. When scientists looked at this herb, they found that the Indians were on to something. It turns out that goldenseal contains astringent, antiseptic chemicals that help treat wounds and infections.

To make a canker sore mouthwash, use two teaspoons of dried goldenseal per cup of boiling water and steep until cool. Use it as a mouth rinse three or four times a day. Barberry and Oregon grape have similar constituents and healing effects.

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra). In one study that looked at the power of licorice to heal canker sores, a mouthwash containing this herb provided relief for 75 percent of the people who used it. Those who got relief noted substantial improvement within one day and complete healing by the third day. This study was cited by Melvyn Werbach, M.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine, in his insightful book Nutritional Influences on Illness.

In addition to tannin, licorice has two other things going for it: the compounds glycyrrhetinic-acid and glycyrrhizin, both of which help speed the healing of sores. You might sweeten the teas recommended here with licorice.

Sage (Salvia officinalis). Although it is not among the richest sources of tannin, many herbalists suggest making a strong sage tea to treat inflammations of the mouth and throat. To make this tea, use two teaspoons of dried herb per cup of boiling water. Let it steep until cool and then gargle with it.

You should not drink too much of this tea. Sage contains a fair amount of thujone, a compound that in very high doses may cause convulsions. Although sage is an excellent healing herb, and weak sage tea preparations are recommended elsewhere in this book, sage is just one of those things--like aspirin--that is good in small amounts and not so good in large amounts.

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum). The root of this common plant was well-used medicinally by American Indians and early settlers. The Cherokee, for example, used it as an astringent to stop the bleeding of open wounds and as a wash to treat canker sores. Given its wide folk use to treat mouth sores, I think this high-tannin herb is worth trying.