Question: I keep getting mouth ulcers — what can I do?

Answer: These pesky little sores cause more grief than anything so small deserves to.

You can buy topical anaesthetic gels or babies' teething gels from the chemist, which have a mild numbing effect. Or, try these kitchen cabinet cures:

• Chewable wafers of deglycyrrhizinated liquorice (DGL) are available in health-food shops, and they help to coat the ulcers.
• Aloe vera, the trusty go-to plant for all things first aid, also brings relief. Squeeze a dab of gel from the inner leaf, dry the ulcer with a cotton bud, and dab on the aloe vera.

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• Pierce a vitamin E capsule and squeeze some of the oil onto the ulcer several times a day.
• Use a small amount of milk of magnesia (from your chemist) in a mouthwash. It helps to neutralise acids and digestive enzymes in the mouth, which is what aggravates the sore.
• Hold a damp tea bag against the sore — it contains astringent tannins which help speed up healing and relieve the pain.
• Make a tea from dried calendula petals (from health-food stores), strain it, and let it cool, before swishing it around your sore mouth. Calendula has a long history as an effective treatment for all manner of minor cuts, scratches, itches and bites.
• For really bad sores, make an antibacterial mouthwash by combining 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide (from your chemist) with a teaspoon each of bicarbonate and salt, in a cup of water. Swish and spit; do not swallow. Hydrogen peroxide and salt are both disinfectants, which is helpful because a mouth ulcer is an open wound, and so is vulnerable to infection, while bicarb is alkalising and neutralises acids.
• Stock up on supplements — echinacea and lysine are both thought to be helpful in boosting immunity, and vitamin C and zinc may help ulcers to heal more quickly.
• Avoid foods and drinks which seem to trigger ulcers — citrus, shellfish, chocolate, strawberries and whole wheat are all possible culprits, while sharp foods, like crisps, can cause tiny grazes inside your mouth which may lead to ulcers. Same goes for ill-fitting dentures and too-hard toothbrushes — treat your mouth gently.

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Your say: Do you suffer from mouth ulcers? How do you treat them?

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