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If you have been researching mouth ulcers you may have heard of Aftazen.

Aftazen is a new product that keeps mouth-ulcers away by providing the nutrients your body maybe lacking. It the result of 3 years of research and testing by Bertrand Girin.

Who is Bertrand Girin?

Bertrand Girin, born in 1970, was an engineer from the Ecole Centrale in France, he suffered since his early years from frequent crises of mouth ulcers , without ever having been successful in treating himself, other than through local drugs which, though they often relieved his pain, diminished neither the regularity, nor soreness of the crises.

No doctor could explain to him what was the cause of his mouth ulcers, and he had the impression that pharmaceutical companies were not interested in mouth ulcers. But this problem was seriously affecting his life.

How did he discover Aftazen?

Once, while he was under observation for another medical issue over several months, he realised with amazement that his mouth ulcers had diminished. He is curious, so he decided to investigate, and broke down the various extracts of the natural treatment which he had ingested. He read more than a 100 scientific papers on mouth ulcers, worked with a doctor and an expert in pharmacology, had tablets manufactured for each of the components and to the pinnacle of discovering a perfect combination, then enriching it, until his mouth ulcers finally entirely disappeared. His life has changed ever since.…

Now he has set up a company, based in France and exporting worldwide, call Previzen that provides sufferers around the world with a proper solution to mouth ulcers – a prevention instead of a cure. The product is called Aftazen.

Does it work?

It is a very new product and people are still trying it to see if it will work for them. Here is a video of someone who tried it:

Paul has been a regular supporter of the Mouth Ulcers Home Page. He has constantly suffered with chronic mouth ulcers since childhood. The following page summarises his experience over the last two years of specialist treatment (or being put through the mangle).

I must have tried just about everything to be free of mouth ulcers over the years, but all really to no avail. I am currently seeing a professor of Oral Medicine at Guys Hospital, London as the ulcers I get are beyond a joke. Thing is when I get them I feel really run down, tired and drained with them.

I have suffered with them since I was a kid. They have done blood tests (all normal apart from a little low in iron I think). For ages I have suspected all sorts of foods, such as salt & vinegar crisps (these seem to bring ulcers on definitely!) err.chocolate, coke, tomatoes…you name it really, but I have no real idea. Apparently they (NHS) don’t test for food allergies etc..I daresay if I waved a few £20 notes about it would be a different matter!!

I’ve been visiting Guy’s since pestering a local ENT/dental specialist at my local hospital to do more. It took me quite a struggle to actually get referred to Guy’s actually, for (as you probably know) GP’s don’t seem to be very keen in advancing you to a specialist for mouth ulcers. Guy’s have told me that treatment of mouth ulcers is “bread and butter” to them and they see many, many people suffering from ulcers. Perhaps I could enlighten you a little further to the basic information that Guy’s use and the ’standard’ treatment plan that they start to administer. The treatment plan, is, I understand, the same for anyone suffering from ulcers and this is how they go about it:

Firstly you are assessed with your condition. They do this by asking you to say the following:-
1)     How many ulcers at any one time do you get?
For me it’s about 3-5 mostly on or under the tongue.
2)     Using a pain score of 1-10, where 1 is mild and 10 is severe how would you rate the average pain?
I usually say about 7-8, which is a high enough score for them to take seriously
3)     Describe the approximate size in mm (they show you pictures) of how big your ulcers get?
Again, with me, they vary, but I guess anything up to 1cm occasionally
4)     They then ask you if you feel it’s affecting your life badly.
I always say yes, really, as I feel so bloody awful with them (not just the obvious pain, but also the immense tiredness and drained feelings I always get with them)

The treatment plan is as follows… the duration of these medications can vary, but they do follow this pattern for most people: 1 x tablet called Betnesol 3 x per day (this is a little pink steroid tablet that you dissolve in a little warm water. You then rinse this around the mouth (generally only when you have the ulcers) and spit out. It’s supposed to act a little like Adcortyl in Orabase – namely that it doesn’t particularly help with the pain, but as it’s a steroid, it’s supposed to help with the healing process. To be honest, I didn’t notice an awful lot of difference. I had to try this for 3 months.

As this didn’t work , next time I went to Guys (after asking me again all the standard questions as above to see if you give any different answers) they put me on a tablet called Colchicine and still told me to take the Betnesol mouthwash as well. Colchine is an odd tablet, that my GP found hard to understand why it was prescribed. It’s most usual application is to help suffers of arthritis. Personally again, I found no real positive effect. This was tried for a further 3 months.

Next time I went they put me on Azathrioprine. As you may have read from my posts on the message board, this is an immune suppressant. There is current research which apparently suggests that your immune system could be acting too hard and destroying healthy cells in your mouth, hence this drug. They calculate how much you should take via your weight. They started me off on 1 x 50mg tablet per day (this did nothing) and then, 3 months later, upped it to 3 x 50mg per day. I weigh about 12 stone and this is really the maximum safe dose. You have to have regular blood tests whilst on this drug as it can affect the liver. I was fine though – mind you, a common side effect is, it makes you feel very sick, so you have to try and stick with it. It takes about 2 months to kick in to you system, but after 6 months again, I found no positive improvements.

The final ‘rung of the ladder’ is to treat the ulcers using Thalidomide. (Apparently it’s used frequently in AID’s suffers who get mouth ulcers to due some medication or something, and it’s supposed to be very successful). You have to have a muscle test first as it can affect the muscles, especially in your finger tips for some reason! If this doesn’t work, then Guy’s tend to say there is nothing further they can do, apart from go backwards and try the other drugs again. I said I wasn’t over keen on Thalidomide as I have recently started a family, and for obvious reasons was told to stay clear of it, if thinking of having more children.

I personally still think it could be food intolerance/allergy related. I have suggested this to Guy’s many times, but each time, they poo poo the idea and say that there is nothing they can do to help in this area (other than you keep a food diary etc.. which I tried but gave up as not getting any positive results from this).

I was suprised therefore when I was referred within Guy’s to the Dietician’s who have told me that people with recurrent mouth ulcers can be helped, hopefully, via a Cinnamon and Benzoate diet. I have never heard of this before and was amazed that they said 50% of suffers they put on this diet improve vastly.
Personally, as I said on the message board, I find this hard to believe, and wonder why…

a)   it isn’t more common knowledge
b)   I wasn’t told about this before, in the past two years?

Anyway, I mustn’t poo poo it just yet, as I am willing to give anything else a try. It’s interesting as it kind of ties in with some ’suspect’ foods that I have always wondered about – namely the salad cream, pickled onions, flavoured crisps etc..

Got a reply back from the dieticians about posting the diet on the web-site – “The dietary advice is specific for your condition and only appropriate for you. Unfortunately therefore we cannot let it be placed on a website as there is a risk it could be used inappropriately. Anyone requiring specific dietary advice like this needs to be referred to an appropriate centre such as the Oral medicine clinic at Guy’s hospital.” …So very sorry, looks like we can’t put it up on the site – goodness knows why not as it’s only a basic list of foods to try and avoid !!

Many thanks for sharing this story Paul, lets hope the Cinnamon & Benzoate diet works. The progress of which will obviously be most welcome on the message board. Thanks again. October 2002.

Accreditation of original source: http://www.mouthulcers.org/paulsstory.html

This is my current canker sore, I swear that writing about them has made this one come. All in the mind!

Click it for a full size picture

I am treating him with Adcortyl in Orabase, a tube I purchased way back before it got discontinued in the UK.

Will let you know how it goes. I think I have had too much hot drinks today which is irritating it, causing the red outline you can see.

Below are some pictures of canker sores, in-case you are interested in having a look. The idea of posting these is in-case you need a picture for some reason, e.g. you might be a student doing an essay etc. Or you want to check if the canker sore or mouth ulcer you have looks particularly abnormal.

Quite a large one here:

This one looks pretty nasty, many sores in on area on the bottom lip.

A mouth ulcer with a nasty red area surrounding it. Know what this feels like !

Completely on the outside this time, might be less of a nusience when eating, but not a great sight or if you are kissed.

I have to admit I was sqeemish to look at these photos and add them on. Sorry if I have put you off your food!

Ouch! Another canker sore, on my bottom lip as I write. I seem to have got more since I started this blog, I guess it could be a law of attraction thing!

Anyway so where do canker sores come from?

The exact cause of canker sores (also known as aphthous ulcers) is unknown, but the following may contribute to their development:

• Acidic fruits, citrus fruits
• Not getting enough sleep
• Illness
• Stress
• Hormone changes
• Losing weight too quickly
• Food allergies
• Vitamin Deficiencies
• The foaming agent Sodium Loreth Sulfate, often found in toothpaste.
• Rubbing of teeth against gums
• Accidental biting of lip

So as a canker sore sufferer, you may have to do a bit of experimentation to see what has a positive effect.

Using a non SLS toothpaste, taking vitamin supplements and getting more sleep are no-brainer things that you can do which will probably benefit you in other ways. Sometimes these things are easier said than done as it takes habit and discipline to decide to have more sleep and do less work / socialising / watch TV etc. or whatever else is distracting you.

Unfortunately there is not much known about the exact causes of these sores or why some people get the more than others. Doing your own experimentation may help you to find what works for you, applying common sense. Be careful if you are thinking of changing your diet to help, it would be worth seeing a dietitian before embarking on such a venture. Radically changing what you eat could cause other problems and your whole health should be looked at in regards to your diet, not just preventing canker sores.

For some people with canker sores, natural remedies are the only solution they will consider, so here I will list some of known Natural Remedies for Canker Sores and Mouth Ulcers.

Saline Solution

The classic mouth ulcer remedy, just add salt to water and rinse your mouth. Put up with a few seconds of intense pain and then a few hours of numbness as relief. Personally I am not a big fan of this as it seems to make my ulcers bigger, but do experiment to see what effect you have. And perhaps a very mild saline solution will help with bacteria even if it has no numbing effect.

Baking Soda Remedy

Simply put  a teaspoon of baking soda in half a glass of water. The carbs in the baking soda will naturally relieve the pain and cleanse it of bacteria. According to a survey only 56% of sufferers have a positive effect from using this. I have never tested this myself.

Myrrh Tincture

Myrrh can be purchased as an essential oil. Essential oils are plant extracts, and the name “essential” here is in reference to the scent, rather than meaning “absolutely necessary”. Myrrh is very strong, so it is best to dilute it. Dissolve 5 drops of Myrrh essential oil in 5ml of vodka. Then dilute this with water and use as a mouth wash. The antibacterial properties of Myrrh will help with the healing of the ulcer. Don’t worry about the alcohol as 5ml of Vodka is a very small amount, but if you prefer you can just leave it out and dilute in water directly. I have found myrrh to have some effect in healing mouth ulcers and can be used as a rinse before applying another medicine direct to the ulcer.

Herbal Treatment

Apply a herbal tincture direct to the ulcer to reduce swelling, sensitivity and to speed up the healing of the ulcer. The best herbs for treating mouth ulcers are:

• Myrrh (as mentioned before)
• Sage
• Marigold
• Thyme
• Cone Flower

Cone Flower (Echinacea angutilolia) is the most efficient herb -  it helps build up your immune system and is also available in capsule form.

This is a quick post about triamcinolone acetonide, which I think is the best drug to get rid of mouth ulcers. I have posted much information already on the blog about this drug, including these two more detailed posts:

http://www.cankersoresolutions.com/2009/12/how-to-get-rid-of-canker-sores/
http://www.cankersoresolutions.com/2009/12/adcortyl-in-orabase-discontinued/

However in a nutshell Triamcinolone Acetonide is as far as I know the most effective SHORT TERM treatment for mouth ulcers (canker sores).

In my experience it will halve the time it takes to get rid of them. It is a drug aimed at curing and protecting the ulcer. It offers a small amount of pain relief, but mainly thats is through protection of the ulcer rather than the drug itself.

The drug is known in the UK as Adcortyl in Orabase. Orabase is the sticky substance it is delivered in and can be purchased on it’s own without the active ingredient, if you so desire. Adcortyl is the brand name for the active ingredient Triamcinolone Acetonide. It is also known as Kenalog in other countries.

I am a person who generally doesn’t like to use chemicals to solve problems (I avoid painkillers and the like) however this is far more effective than any other treatment I know. However it won’t help in prevention, it is a cure for mouth ulcers but it won’t stop them coming back.

Information on purchasing Kenalog in Orabase can be found here.

How to get rid of canker sores, also know as mouth ulcers, is a question many people ask.

I have suffered from these all my life, so I know the problem all to well! The canker sore is a lesion in the mouth which can have a wide variety of causes, such as citrus fruits, lack of sleep, illness and immune system deficiencies. It can be caused by the simple accidental biting of the lip. I used to get mouth ulcers every other week, but in the last 2 years it is much less common for me. I think the main reason for me is dealing with stress.

Here is a picture … I hope you are not too squeamish, otherwise quickly scroll down!

I think the best way to get rid of a mouth ulcer quickly is to use a medicine called triamcinolone acetonide. This is also known by it’s band names of “Adcortyl in Orabase” and “Kenalog in Orabase”. It is a thick pasty cream that binds closely to the mouth ulcer, both protecting it from saliva in the mouth and also helping it heal. It is best used at night after washing your teeth (in my experience) when you will no longer be drinking or eating, so you can sleep for hours and have the medicine do it’s magic.

Information on where to order Kenalog in Orbase (triamcinolone acetonide) can be found here.

If you are into natural medicine, an alternative, which I think has some effect is to use Myrrh which comes from the sap of trees. You may of heard of it because of it’s Christian significance. You have to dilute the Myrrh with a tincture otherwise it will be too strong. I usually find some relief using it however I am not sure it helps the healing process.

If you want to apply no medicine at all, then the best advice I have is to get a lot of sleep. This is the best advice I can give for anyone with mouth ulcers, as they are often an indicator of a run-down immune system. Sleep can help with this, as can taking vitamin supplements, working less hard.

Another immune tip I have is to take “cat’s claw” suppliment (uncaria tomentosa) to boost the immune system. I have taken these in the past and I can attest that it helped give me more energy through times when my immune system was low (and literally my white cell count was low). I believe this substance helped me improve the white cell count back to normal. The “cat’s claw” plant is shown below.

Hopefully this is food for thought, and you will be able to get rid of those horrid canker sores. Once you have got rid of them, use the tips in my eBook to help prevent them coming back, so you can enjoy your life.

I thought I would start my first post with perhaps the most useful single tip for mouth ulcer sufferers – Adcortyl in Orabase. The name of the drug is Triamcinolone.

I will also give tips on where to get it, now that it has been discontinued by Bristol Myers Squibb.

“Adcortyl” or “Triamcinolone” may not mean much to you, but this medicine is the best cure for any mouth ulcers you have right now. It is a pasty substance that sticks to the ulcer and will stay there, unless you eat or drink. For this reason it is best to use Adcortyl at night after you have washed your teeth and used mouthwash. Make this the last thing you do before you go to bed, and you will probably wake up to find the ulcers a little smaller, a little less painful or at least a sign that they are disappearing. You can also use it during the day if you wish, but best after meals and if you are not planning on drinking anything (even water) for a few hours.

Usage Tips

I remember when a doctor first prescribed this drug to me. I was given no advice on how to use it, and as a result it gave me little success and a sticky mouth! I saw another doctor a few months later who himself suffered from mouth ulcers and said this was categorically the best treatment you can get. He also told me how to use it. It’s all about dabbing the paste onto the effective area and not rubbing it in or touching it afterwards. To do this well and get the right quantity takes practice. I generally use my fingers direct after washing my hands as I find this easier than using a cotton bud or spatula, but hey it’s up to you.

How to get hold of this in the UK?

Now the name “Adcortyl” is the name used in the United Kingdom by the manufacturer Bristol Myers Squibb. Unfortunately due to commercial reasons (duh!) they discontinued the product in March. I am lucky I still have my tube, but when that runs out what do I do? Well the tubes costs about £4-£5 as I remember. If you are willing to pay a bit more you can import the equivalent drug called Kenalog which you can import.

For suppliers, see this page on where to by Kenalog in Orabase worldwide.

Elsewhere in the world

OK I am going to be lazy here and just say either:

1. Ask your doctor / pharmacist
2. Check the link as per UK: where to by Kenalog in Orabase worldwide

Medical Lowdown

I am not a doctor or pharmacist, so the best I can do is copy what is written on netdoctor.co.uk:

Triamcinolone is a type of medicine called a corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are medicines used for reducing inflammation. Inflammation in the mouth can occur as a result of irritation or trauma to the tongue or the soft tissues lining the mouth. The inflammation is caused by the release of various substances that are important in the immune system. These substances cause blood vessels to widen, resulting in the affected area becoming red, swollen and painful.

Conclusion

As far as I know this is the best treatment for mouth ulcers, however if you find you have to use this medicine every week then maybe you need to look at prevention too! Get my free eBook by entering your name and email address on the right hand side.

This article is for general information only. Always consult your doctor before buying or taking any medicines. Feel free to print this article to show your doctor.