Page 49 - Prevention - USA (April 2020)

like meditation, a hot
bath, yoga, or exercise.
“Even just getting a good
night’s sleep can help,”
Palomo says.

BRUSH GENTLY
A slip of the hand while
forcefully brushing your
teeth can mean your
cheek or lip gets jabbed
with the hard part of the
brush—a common way
the stage gets set for a
canker sore. “Brush with
small circular motions,
and avoid aggressively
brushing back and forth,”
Glass says.
the sore to relieve pain. A doctor can
tell you, based on your sore’s location,
whether a rinse, gel, or paste is best.
TREAT IT
RINSE AND REPEAT
Swish with a solution of 1 tsp baking CALL THE DOC
soda and 1⁄2 cup warm water to relieve For severe or chronic canker sores, a
SANDRO HYMES/THE LICENSING PROJECT. hydrogen peroxide to keep the ulcer them to flare. If a bad sore doesn’t
pain and speed healing. Consider an
doctor can prescribe corticosteroids to
over-the-counter rinse containing
help dampen inflammation that causes
improve, ask about cauterization, in
clean, and drink water throughout the
day to promote production of saliva,
which a doctor or dentist burns the
ulcer with a laser or a chemical agent.
which thwarts viruses and bacteria.
Studies suggest that cauterizing can
NUMB IT
quickly relieve pain, but it needs to be
done in-office by a physician to protect
OTC or prescription topical anesthetics
the surrounding tissue.
with lidocaine or benzocaine can numb

AP R I L 2020 • PREVENTION.COM 47