alexseanchai | (no subject)

So WebMD says one of the appropriate self-medication deals with canker sores is mouthwash. Okay. So I bought a bottle of mouthwash when I went to buy the Orajel (good thing too, else I'd never have found the Orajel; silly me thought it was in the pharmacy, not in oral care), and then discovered we already had mouthwash (note to self: return new bottle), and just now I employed the mouthwash.

And promptly recalled why I do not actually use mouthwash. (1) Blech. Yech. And other sounds of disgust with the taste. (Not as bad as the brandy, though!) (2) You're supposed to swish the stuff around your mouth for thirty or sixty seconds without swallowing, right? I got to six before I swallowed some.

Also it's not as effective as the brandy. (Though if I try this again with liquor, I think I had better switch to vodka. I have a mostly full bottle that I dunno what to do with, because it tastes nasty, and my parents don't drink vodka and I think they do drink brandy.)

Only another two and a half hours before I can reapply the Orajel...and hopefully I will be less clumsy this time, because the first time I got part of my tongue and not all of the ouch.

ETA:

...hey, you know what's gonna be fun?

Thanksgiving dinner with a canker sore. That's gonna be fun.

I could technically have reapplied the Orajel half an hour ago, but dinner's in the oven and I want to at least attempt eating so I think I'll wait on the Orajel till after dinner.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know that it would help with the pain, but swishing salt water around in your mouth might do something useful healing. I know that one's supposed to do that after having a tooth pulled. It at least wouldn't be as nasty as the mouthwash.

Thanks for the tip!

The main active ingredient in the mouthwash (at least as far as sores are concerned) is probably alcohol anyway - the vodka will do the same thing.

Nod, thanks.

A friend was told by the staff while dealing with mouth sores in hospital (post bone-marrow transplant, so really, really needed to keep infections under control) that the best mouthwash on the UK market is Corsodyl as it actually has proper antiseptics rather than just an alcohol base - I'm now using it myself, but it's noticeably not as nice a taste as others I've used in the past. A quick google tells me Corsodyl has chlorhexidine gluconate as an active ingredient, and that the US equivalents are peridex or perioguard, but possibly prescription only.

Thanks.

Seconding the suggestion for saline rinses. Warm saline solution is generally kind to the facial mucosal membranes and should keep things clean and encourage healing and it's probably less disgusting for you than the various alcohol options. Also while accidentally swallowing some saline will probably be unpleasant, the taste isn't the issue, and there's not much harm that swallowing some will do either. I'd make up a saline in typical neti pot proportions to use using warm but not hot, if you try it.

Thanks!

A Thing I have learned about medicines like Orajel (for I get sores when stressed and inevitably end up biting the inside of my mouth at some point) is that one must trust that the correct amount will work, as applying until one feels the effect means too much has been applied.

Thank you for the tip.