Ulcers in the mouth, apthous ulcers, cold sores or herpes simplex. These are lesions in the mucus membrane of the mouth.
Causes and Symptoms of Mouth Sore
Apthous ulcers or ulcers in the mouth are small white spots on the inside of the cheek, the inner surface of the lips, sides of the tongue, on or below the tongue, palate, or anywhere on the mucus membrane of the mouth. Initially they are white, but sometimes small ones occur close together, coalase and appear like a large red ulcer with a grayish base. These are extremely painful.
These ulcers may be caused by certain deficiencies in the diet, e.g., of the B-complex vitamins. They could also be due to any illness for which antibiotics are being taken. Antibiotics wash away the normal flora present in our intestinal tract, which produces the required enzymes which act on the B-complex present in the ingredients in our diet. At times, nervous tension/ stress results in a tense, clamped jaw, or the person bites the inside of the mouth, injuring the mucosa, which results in an ulcer. Certain foods, especially spices, chillies, and some food additives, are often other culprits.
Herpes simplex, a viral infection, also results in cold sores which begin as small white clusters of sores on the inside of the lip. They cause intense pain and salivation, are an angry red in color, and they coalesce to form a desquamating upper crust. This infection is often precipitated by a debilitated, physically run-down condition-the aftermath of some other illness. Chronic constipation and an upset digestion are also causes of mouth ulcers.
Home Remedies to Cure Mouth Sore
These remedies soothe and relieve pain.
- Gargling with hot water, or holding hot water in the mouth on the area of the ulcer, helps to relieve the pain. This should be done 3-4 times a day.
- Boil some zyziphus leaves in water to make a strong herbal tea, and use this to gargle 3-4 times a day.
- Make a light decoction of guava leaves and gargle with it 3-4 times a day.
- Add half a teaspoon of turmeric and one-fourth of a teaspoon of rock salt in a glass of hot water. Gargle with it thrice a day.
- A teaspoon of roasted, pounded neem bark mixed with half a teaspoon of catechu, and this powder applied on an ulcer, causes intense salivation. This should be spat out, and then the person should gargle with warm water 3-4 times a day.
- Applying boro-glycerine thrice a day causes intense salivation followed by relief.
- To half a teaspoon of fine, powdered small cardamoms, add half a teaspoon of roasted, powdered alum. Take a pinch of the mixture, place it on the ulcer and close the mouth. There will be intense salivation. Keep it in the mouth for 30 seconds and then spit it out. Gargle with warm water and repeat the whole process once again. Do this 2-3 times a day.
- Catechu can also be made into a powder, and then into a thick paste with water. Apply this on the ulcers.
- Jasmine, which grows well in hilly areas, has varied properties, one of which is to soothe pain and heal chronic skin inflammation / ulcers of the mucous membrane.
- Make a cut in the thick stem of a banyan tree. A drop of the sap added to a drop of honey, and applied on the ulcer, heals it. Apply 2-3 times a day.
- Chew fresh carrot leaves and then wash it out with water. It prevents putrefaction of the slough at the base of the mouth ulcers.
- A herbal tea made with a few crushed henna leaves added to a cup of lukewarm water, and then used as a gargle, soothes the ulcerated surface.
- A decoction of rose petals, with a dash of lime, used as a gargle, is also soothing when done 3-4 times a day.
- Take a handful of fresh, tender tamarind leaves. Make an infusion with a glass of hot. water. It has anti microbial properties, and its mildly acidic taste clears the loss of taste and unclean feeling in the mouth.
Useful References