Licorice root
The Natural Canker Sore Remedy
When is licorice not candy? When it's glycyrrhiza glabra or glycyrrhiza lepidota, commonly known as licorice root.
In the US, we know licorice as candy, usually black or red vines. But the candy makers use anise for black licorice and artificial flavors for the other colors.
Real licorice is rarely used in candy anymore, but it has medicinal value you can't get in the dime store variety.
Known scientifically as glycyrrhiza, licorice root extract contains a compound called glycyrrhizin, which is used in herbal medicine. Preparations with glycyrrhizin are used as a cough expectorant because of its ability to loosen and thin mucous.
But glycyrrhizin has some possible negative side effects when ingested, including hypertension and edema. However, removing glycyrrhizin avoids these side effects.
Deglycyrrhizinated licorice root (DGL) maintains two valuable benefits from this wondrous plant: it helps in preventing cavities and in healing canker sores.
There's a new product available called Cankermelts, which uses licorice root's healing properties and is getting rave reviews from canker sore sufferers.
Cankermelts are self-adhering disks that dramatically speed healing time, and relieve the pain in minutes without numbing the surrounding tissue like some canker sore treatments. Plus, they're all natural.