Subject: Re: Canker Sores

From: Eric Wedemeyer <[email-masked]>
Date: 30 Aug 1995 01:27:13 GMT

>In article <[email-masked]>,
>[email-masked] (Northstar Com) wrote:
>
>> Has anyone heard of a herbal cure or relief for canker sores?
>> Traditional over the counter medications seem to be only topical in
>> nature... Any help would be appreciated.
>> 
 Some years ago in Taiwan, I was prescribed an infusion of genseng 
heads (the top of the root, not the main root body) and told to stay 
away from "heaty" foods like fried foods, spicy foods, sheepmeat, 
bananas, etc, etc.  More of a preventive than a cure or treatment, 
however.  Later, in Japan, I was given a product called Kenalog in 
Orabase (Bristol Myers Squibb), which is over-the-counter in Japan 
(although not apparently in the U.S.) and has been working like a 
charm for my cankers for over ten years.

[email-masked]

---

From: Eric Wedemeyer <[email-masked]>
Date: 30 Aug 1995 01:26:18 GMT

[email-masked]

---

From: [email-masked] (Dawn Petersen)
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 08:56:13 -0500

I use L-Lysine, an amino acid that I purchase at the health food store. 
It's in the vitamin section.  I find that I almost always get a tingle in
my lip right before a cold sore starts, and if I load up on 1000mg of
Lysine then and a few times/day for a day or two, I don't get one.  Or, if
I know I'm going to be in the sun a lot, or I have a cold, I take it as a
preventive measure.

Dawn

---

From: [email-masked] (John Geraci)
Date: 5 Sep 1995 04:48:45 GMT

Eric Wedemeyer ([email-masked]) wrote:
: >In article <[email-masked]>,
: >[email-masked] (Northstar Com) wrote:
: >
: >> Has anyone heard of a herbal cure or relief for canker sores?
: >> Traditional over the counter medications seem to be only topical in
: >> nature... Any help would be appreciated.

The best remedy I know of is to gargle with sage tea.  Make it plenty strong.
My canker sores usually cleared up very quickly when I did this.  I don't 
get them anymore, for some strange reason.

J.Geraci

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 6 Sep 1995 14:12:21 GMT

>get them anymore, for some strange reason.

i got sick a few months back and an aftereffect was horrible sores on
the underside of my toungue.  i couldn't eat, and no over the counter
medication would have any effect except for several minutes of
excrutiating pain that would force me to lay down where i was to prevent
injury from falling.  nasty stuff.

eventually i read that golden seal root powder, applied dry with a q-tip
could have an overnight effect on canker sores, so i gave it a try.
yep, just like the over the counter medications, it hurt.  in fact, it
hurt a little less, but for a good 20 or 30 minutes instead of the
normal 3-5.  man-o-man did that suck.

next morning, after the application of golden seal root powder, the
surface texture of the sores had changed.  i touched the sore with a
q-tip and part of it came off easily.  within two days, the entire sore
was gone with only one more small application of the powder.

every year i get fever blisters or mouth sores and i kick myself for not
taking the lysene supplements that i keep stocked.  lysene indeed does
help my body fend off the onslaught of fever blisters and canker sores,
but i eventually tire of taking it daily and stop, only to be reminded
again later.

i'm back on lysene again, needless to say :)

---

From: [email-masked] (CathyDM)
Date: 6 Sep 1995 12:02:41 -0400

In <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (John Geraci) writes:
>: >> nature... Any help would be appreciated

I just joined this discussion, so this may have been mentioned already:
Try hydrogen peroxide (not herbal, I know, but simple and cheap).  Dip a
Q-tip in it, prepare for pain, and apply to the sore.  The pain for me is
brief and the benefits almost immediate.  Apparently the H202 eats away
the nasty tissue and dries up the sore.  And it has no vile taste (I tried
goldenseal and couldn't stand it!).

Cathy Moore

---

From: Eric Wedemeyer <[email-masked]>
Date: 4 Sep 1995 08:44:39 GMT

[email-masked] (Northstar Com) wrote:
><<wbh

In Taiwan, I was once given 'ginseng head' (not the main part of the 
root), but this was more of a preventive, I think, than a cure.  In 
Japan, I was given a topical product called Kenalog (Bristol-Myers 
Squibb), which is OTC in Japan, but not, I think, in the U.S.  It's not 
herbal, but it's been working for me for ten years.

---

From: Eric Wedemeyer <[email-masked]>
Date: 4 Sep 1995 08:45:12 GMT