Do You Outgrow Mouth Ulcers?

I used to get painful ones in grade school. Then their frequency seemed to slow and for a few decades, I rarely had an ulcer -- years would pass between them. Now I seem to get one every few months. I just turned 50. When are these irritating mouth sores going to quit? Argh!

• You have digestive problems, usually due to walnut or other allergies.

• No, you never outgrow them 60 y/o eldergay and I have a couple right now. I've been told they are stress related.

• Have you considered consulting a medical professional?

  common%20sense

• Ulcers??? Don't you mean garden variety canker sores?

• I would get canker sores, but then I read they could be caused by vitamin b deficiency. I took B+C vitamin and didn't have them anymore.

• What about eating citrus and spice gumdrops?

  OP

• Supposedly doctors still don't know why people get them. I had them growing up. Don't tend to get them any more. You have my sympathy. They're no fun. Dab Cream of Tartar on it and leave it. It will burn slightly, but only for a moment. Not sure how it works chemically, but it's an old home remedy that is truly effective. It makes them heal right up.

• When you change your diet & stop eating foods that create them in the first place

• The ulcers can be related to food allergies. When you have them avoid acidic foods--no citrus! When I got them from my braces irritating my mouth the orthodontist's remedy was Gly-oxide which is available at most pharmacies. It worked like a charm...

  Anonymous

• OP, are you afraid to give oral because of your open sores?

• op = mouth breather

• Suck on mandarin orange sections.

• I use alum on the rare occasion that I get a mouth ulcer. It'll make your mouth water for a short time after application, but the ulcer will be gone in a day or two.

• OP, I read an article that said sodium laurel sulfate, a harsh cleanser found in most toothpastes can cause it. I switched to Sensodyne and stopped getting them. ( Check the ingredients, some of their varieties have it)

  Glad%20to%20help

• I am careful about the amount of acidic food I eat. I can eat some citrus fruit, but not every day. One thing I have found to be helpful is dissolving baking soda in water and using it to rinse out my mouth after meals. I also drink a glass of baking soda dissolved in water every day

• At the first sign of a canker, i take L-lycine. gone almost in half a day or over night. It encourages healing. Alum and tartar shrink the ulcer. Cankers have various causes, food alergies, intake of foods high in Argonine (nuts) and of course stress.

  A vitamine believer tip.

• I used to get them all the time as a kid. When I started smoking I never had them, then years later when I quit smoking I got them again big time! Very strange. The non SLS toothpastes do help ( though hard to find) I use G-U-M Paorex

• I never had them until I quit smoking. Now I get them a lot.

• I think it may be citrus. This is grapefruit season, and I usually have a grapefruit a day when they have my favorite Texas Ruby Reds at the grocery. I'm not currently eating walnuts, and my stress level is low (retired), so I'm going to put the blame on those grapefruit. Thanks for sharing what you know, DLers.

  OP

• gargle with hydrogen peroxide once a day, You will never get them again.

• Check your toothpaste for Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. This is also the chemical used in many household cleaning items (such as stripping wax from floors) I changed my toothpaste to one that does not contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate have not had any canker sores to speak of. When I used to get them (as someone else mentioned) I would take Lysine which seems to make them heal faster.

• They can also be related to inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. I was like some others on this thread; I never got them when I smoked. When I quit, I started to get them again. Eventually I got really sick and was diagnosed with colitis. Nicotine is protective against u.c. which is why I didn't get canker sores when I smoked. If anybody has canker sores and g.i. trouble, please see a doctor.

• I had them because I was taking too much of a particular prescription medication. When I halved the dose, no more mouth sores.

• I used to get them all the time when I was a kid, but now only get them when I accidentally bite the inside of my mouth while chewing. I think most of them are caused by abrasions, and since the mouth is full of germs, those cuts get infected easily and cause canker sores.

• I bet they are from stress...I never get them but I had an extremely stressful day on Friday and I got one.

• In my day they were called Herpes. You Millenials are so darn plucky and clever!

• My whole family suffered from them. I used to get them terribly, but I spotted the problem and now never get them. However, what worked for me won't work for everyone. That's the way with dermatological problems. I asked my dentist who said that anything that stresses the tissue inside the mouth could be the cause. I eliminated hard candy (immediate relief), limited hard foods such as peanuts, popcorn, and potato chips -- anything that might cause a slight irritation in the mouth. Smoking may be a factor. The way I confirmed the cause for me was when I had surgery and a tube down by throat, I had a terrible outbreak located in my throat. I also had trouble with braces as someone else mentioned. I suspect people who blame a walnut allergy may have had problems with the hardness of them damaging the tissue, but it could be an allergy. When ever I get the feeling that one is starting, I can usually pinpoint what food the day before may have started it -- real tortilla chips from a restaurant are really bad. I stop all hard foods immediately, and I can usually ward off the sore(s) developing. I also think getting my body's acid/alkaline levels out of whack may do it. Those of you who got them when you stopped smoking. Did you do anything to your mouth to help quell the desire? Toothpicks, hard candy, etc? My mother got them very bad when she had chemotherapy.