Alum Powder For Canker Sores
Alum powder is one of the best home remedies for canker sores. There is sufficient research to conclude that it can significantly help treat canker sores. Best of all, it can be purchased at your local supermarket inexpensively. Many people who struggle with severe outbreaks use alum powder for canker sores frequently.
What is alum powder?
Alum powder, or Aluminum (Potassium) Sulfate is a chemical compound. it has a variety of uses from pickling, to water purification to deodorant. It has been used for thousands of years all over the globe.
How Alum Treats Canker Sores
Alum powder is the top recommended home remedy for canker sores. Alum works so well because it has astringent properties, which means that it can shrink tissue which helps close up wounds rapidly, which leads to faster healing. It draws out moisture, which also significantly helps the healing process. In addition, it has anti bacterial properties that decrease the growth of bacteria. It also can help reduce inflammation, making it a very well rounded substance to treat mouth ulcers. When using it, it is noted that it essentially cauterizes the canker sore which helps to reduce pain levels and promote healing.
Research
There are numerous studies that have been done that conclude that alum is effective for treating canker sores. In one study, participants who used an alum patch experienced healing 5 days faster on average than those who did not. This lead researchers to conclude that alum can significantly decrease the size of mouth ulcers, reduce the severity of pain and speed up the recovery process for those suffering from severe mouth ulcers.
How to Use Alum Powder For Canker Sores
There are a few different ways to treat a canker sore with alum. The first is that you can take a pinch of alum and press it directly to the canker sore. This will be very painful but will likely be the most effective as it is the most direct and complete way to apply it.
Another method is to place it on or near canker sore. This will cause you to salivate, and with the alum and saliva mixture you can swish it in the affected area.
If you are not able to handle the pain of only alum, you can mix it with a little bit of water to dilute it so that it is not as concentrated. This is another effective way to apply it.
For harder to reach areas, you can wet a q tip and dip it in the alum in order to reach the particular area.
In all cases, keep the alum in your mouth for 1-3 minutes before spitting it out. Make sure that you do not swallow it. You can repeat this 2-3 times a day.
You should begin to notice that the next day, your canker sore will not be hurting nearly as bad and will feel a lot better.
Is Alum Safe?
Yes, Aluminum Sulfate and Aluminum Potassium sulfate are both considered safe by the FDA. Make sure that when you are using it that you do not swallow it, as it is not meant to be swallowed.
Which Alum To Use Canker Sores?
We recommend using either potassium alum or aluminum potassium sulfate, as they are both known to be effective for treating canker sores. You can easily purchase it at the grocery store and it will look just like the below photo in most cases.
Looking For An all-in-one product for canker sores?
While alum works great to treat canker sores, even the best home remedies are often not as good as products designed specifically to treat canker sores. Canker Shield is a 4 in one product that uses alum as well as numerous other vitamins and substances backed by research that help tackle the root cause of canker sores and promote healing. To learn more click here.
