Stubborn canker sore? What should I do?

I’ve been dealing with these damn afta since I was a little kid, and honestly, it feels like a never-ending cycle; they pop up several times a month, and just as one finally starts to heal, another one takes its place. There are hardly any days where my mouth isn't feeling the sting. It’s absolute torture—trying to eat anything, even just brushing my teeth or having my tongue accidentally brush against one, or switching between hot and cold food... everything triggers that sharp, localized pain.

My first instinct was to head to the doctor, and they gave me this blue liquid stuff that looks like ink. You dab it on a few times a day, but you end up walking around with blue teeth because the tint is so intense 😂 and even then, it barely helps; it might shave a day or two off the recovery time, but it's basically useless.

Then I went to see my dentist to make sure it wasn't some underlying issue with a cavity or something, but my teeth are actually fine. My dentist told me it wasn't coming from decayed teeth—he explained that while abscesses usually stem from bacteria and bad teeth, there isn't really a known cause or a definitive cure for these afta. He suggested using some kind of mouthwash, but that’s been a total bust too; if the rinse has even a hint of a bitter or salty taste, it just irritates the sore further and makes it linger longer.

Usually, one of these things hangs around for about 7 to 10 days before it finally clears up.

I actually just took a photo of the one I'm dealing with right now, so I wanted to ask: has anyone else here gone through this nightmare and actually found a way to fix it?



Thanks for any help you can give

Get a stomach exam. It’s entirely possible you're dealing with acid reflux bubbling up from your gut.

I have no clue what causes canker sores, but I do know propolis works wonders for them. Just stick to the alcohol-free baby versions. Using the standard stuff with the high alcohol content on an open sore? That burns like crazy.

wanderingdrifter15 said:I have no clue what causes canker sores, but I do know propolis works wonders for them. Just stick to the alcohol-free baby versions. Using the standard stuff with the high alcohol content on an open sore? That burns like crazy.

Look, I’ve tried just about everything under the sun, but nothing seems to be a guaranteed fix. Sometimes a remedy might shave a day or two off the healing time, but other times it backfires completely, making the whole situation even more of a nightmare.

Angela Wright said:Get a stomach exam. It’s entirely possible you're dealing with acid reflux bubbling up from your gut.

Look, I deal with some pretty intense acid reflux myself, but I honestly had no clue it could actually trigger this kind of stuff. Is there any actual medical consensus that stomach acid is the culprit behind afta outbreaks? And if it is, can you even fix the underlying issue? Because from what I've gathered, dealing with acid issues feels like a losing battle you just can't quite win.

Volon-H cream.

I'm not sure if you can just grab this at a CVS or Walgreens now—a few years back, I actually had to order it all the way from Austria. But seriously, there isn't a single mouth ulcer this stuff can't fix overnight... and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. My personal record was dealing with 14 ulcers at once, and one of them dragged on for 42 days straight 😉 .

Jose Miller3 said:Volon-H cream.

I'm not sure if you can just grab this at a CVS or Walgreens now—a few years back, I actually had to order it all the way from Austria. But seriously, there isn't a single mouth ulcer this stuff can't fix overnight... and trust me, I know what I'm talking about. My personal record was dealing with 14 ulcers at once, and one of them dragged on for 42 days straight 😉 .

Well, damn, clearly you weren't being careful with how you were eating. I usually deal with maybe two or three at most, and when they hit, it's absolute hell; I can barely even swallow a sip of water without feeling like I'm dying.

Man, there were days when I just couldn't take itla anymore. I actually ended up on an IV drip once—thankfully, just a one-time thing
.
It wouldn't budge. That’s why I ended up trying pretty much everything out there... which is how I found this specific cream that wasn't even available here in the States 😬
.
(Luckily, they just stopped out of nowhere. I guess my immune system finally won the battle. But while it was happening 🙄...
)

Man, these canker sores are the absolute worst!

Most of the time, they pop up because of stress—once you get them started, it’s like a nightmare trying to shake them off. For me, it’s a constant cycle; the more I’m stressed out, the more they flare up. It’s definitely tied to your immune system, too. Usually, I just grab some B-complex vitamins from the drugstore and take one tablet a day before eating. After about two days, they start to recede, but if I miss even a single dose, I’ll wake up with a new one staring at me the very next day. My routine is basically taking those vitamins for ten days straight, then stopping for two months until the next round hits. Honestly, if you really want to fight them, B Stress supplements—the ones with the massive B-vitamin doses—are better, but there's a catch: they make you gain weight because you feel hungry all the time 🙂. All that medicinal mouthwash, propolis, or specialized creams? Total waste of money. I've tried everything under the sun, and I always end up going back to the vitamins. 😉

Kimberly Sanders4 said:Man, these canker sores are the absolute worst!

Most of the time, they pop up because of stress—once you get them started, it’s like a nightmare trying to shake them off. For me, it’s a constant cycle; the more I’m stressed out, the more they flare up. It’s definitely tied to your immune system, too. Usually, I just grab some B-complex vitamins from the drugstore and take one tablet a day before eating. After about two days, they start to recede, but if I miss even a single dose, I’ll wake up with a new one staring at me the very next day. My routine is basically taking those vitamins for ten days straight, then stopping for two months until the next round hits. Honestly, if you really want to fight them, B Stress supplements—the ones with the massive B-vitamin doses—are better, but there's a catch: they make you gain weight because you feel hungry all the time 🙂. All that medicinal mouthwash, propolis, or specialized creams? Total waste of money. I've tried everything under the sun, and I always end up going back to the vitamins. 😉

Honestly, I've lived with them for sixteen years now, so I'm pretty much used to it; I just wish I could find a way to kill them off for good once and for all.

Raymond Ortiz89 said:Look, I deal with some pretty intense acid reflux myself, but I honestly had no clue it could actually trigger this kind of stuff. Is there any actual medical consensus that stomach acid is the culprit behind afta outbreaks? And if it is, can you even fix the underlying issue? Because from what I've gathered, dealing with acid issues feels like a losing battle you just can't quite win.

It’s common sense and medically sound. That acid is eating away at your oral environment, throwing off your pH balance and creating the perfect breeding ground for afta.
My boyfriend suffers from GERD, and he gets them constantly. The second he gets his diet under control and restarts his stomach medication, those sores just vanish.

Get your stomach issues sorted and the afta will follow suit.

Are we talking GERD or just standard gastritis here?
Have you been tested for H. pylori? If that bacteria is present, you have to treat the infection. If you let it slide, you're looking at serious complications down the road—we're talking full-blown stomach cancer if it isn't handled.

Angela Wright said:It’s common sense and medically sound. That acid is eating away at your oral environment, throwing off your pH balance and creating the perfect breeding ground for afta.
My boyfriend suffers from GERD, and he gets them constantly. The second he gets his diet under control and restarts his stomach medication, those sores just vanish.

Get your stomach issues sorted and the afta will follow suit.

Are we talking GERD or just standard gastritis here?
Have you been tested for H. pylori? If that bacteria is present, you have to treat the infection. If you let it slide, you're looking at serious complications down the road—we're talking full-blown stomach cancer if it isn't handled.

Look, I'm only 22. I haven't ever bothered with any kind of testing.

Hey Raymond Ortiz89... honestly, it might be time to get moving, just as a little preventative measure 😉

Kimberly Sanders4 said:Hey Raymond Ortiz89... honestly, it might be time to get moving, just as a little preventative measure 😉

Man, I’m just not feeling it today. Honestly, I’ve got zero motivation for this whole ordeal. I have this sinking feeling they’re going to shove one of those endoscopes down my throat just to check my acid levels—it’s almost laughable if it wasn't so grim. I swear, once they stick that tube in there, it might actually melt through my stomach lining. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I can't help thinking it. And the weirdest part? Even though I feel like I’m constantly eating, the scale never budges. I’ll sit down to a massive meal, feel completely stuffed, and then boom—barely an hour later, I’m starving all over again. It’s like my metabolism is running a marathon while I'm just sitting on the couch. 😢 It’s like a heavy weight just sitting there, completely immovable, refusing to budge an inch.

Angela Wright, I’m completely in the dark here—how do you actually deal with stomach issues? I haven't got the slightest clue how to handle this kind of thing myself.

Raymond Ortiz89 said:Angela Wright, I’m completely in the dark here—how do you actually deal with stomach issues? I haven't got the slightest clue how to handle this kind of thing myself.

Look, the standard playbook is simple: you head to your primary care physician first. They’ll run through an exam and, if they suspect you're dealing with gastritis, they'll likely toss you a prescription for something like Pepcid or Prilosec. If you aren't feeling better after a bit, they'll write you a referral to see a gastroenterologist.

There’s actually a specific branch of dentistry known as Oral Medicine that focuses on things like mouth ulcers.
Basically, you just track down a specialist in that field and schedule a consultation.

Honestly, I went through the exact same thing just a few months ago. Dealing with braces is hard enough, but having an afta flare up while wearing them is just brutal—it feels like the hardware is constantly scraping against the sore spot. It’s incredibly painful. I didn't actually apply any ointments or treatments; I just waited it out for about five days until it finally subsided. Once I figured out which specific movements triggered the sharpest pain, I learned how to adjust my mouth to avoid those motions entirely. 🤣It was such a miserable experience

Look, I don’t really have a choice here; I’ve gotta go see a doctor because there's just no other way around it. But honestly, what is a general dentist even supposed to do for me when the real culprit is this relentless stomach acid?

Raymond Ortiz89 said:Look, I don’t really have a choice here; I’ve gotta go see a doctor because there's just no other way around it. But honestly, what is a general dentist even supposed to do for me when the real culprit is this relentless stomach acid?

They'll probably just refer you back to a primary care physician.😁
You need to treat the cause, not just the symptom.