Topical corticosteroids are problematic, especially around the face and head -- chronic facial use can result in a whole bunch of really unpleasant side-effects, up to and including blindness -- permanent, at that. (Saw a case of it once, back when I was a pharmacist: a close-to-retirement GP hadn't been keeping up with clinical guidance during the 80s and the result was ... not pretty, unless you were a lawyer.) It's possible the manufacturer pulled the product because of fear of litigation, or that the regulators pulled it due to persistent misapplication by medics.
Glad to know you've got the prescription mouthwash; even mild mouth ulcers are really unpleasant.
Yeah, I've seen accounts elsewhere of the horrors caused by overuse; I must say it was not a problem for me - I found the stuff I used so magically effective that applying it just once or twice tended to clear up the problem completely. I suspect it's more of a danger when the condition is more difficult to shake, as is the case with many skin conditions, and the patient just gets into the habit of slapping it on like make-up.
That's definitely the case -- it takes chronic over-use to cause problems. Unfortunately? If you've got eczema you will use the stuff -- it's like magic. (I know this from experience; the eczema on my hands finally went away when I turned 40.)
Alas, manufacturers can't afford to base their risk/benefit calculations on the assumption that patients will use the medicine safely. And neither can regulators.
I had the same thing a while back. A product called Ambisol, or something similar. Dab it on once, twice max and wake up the next morning and the mouth ulcer was gone. Magic stuff. Was too young back then to know what was in it, but I'm thinking that it had some anaestetic and antibacterial properties.
But it got taken off the Irish marked about 10 years ago now. And all the pharmacists pointed to Bonjela which, I'm sorry, tastes too nice to me to ever stay long on the mouth ulcer. The other liquid went on and you made d*mned sure to keep your tongue away from it.
So what I did with mouth ulcers instead of putting stuff on them was to keep washing it out with warm salt water. Hurts but it does keep it clean and usually works in a day or two.
I have never found Bonjela even slightly helpful, mainly for the reason you mention, but I have always had a sneaking suspicion that it actually makes matters worse.
Like you, I have had no great success with bonjela, but have never looked further afield. Avoiding products with aspartame in normally helps reduce the frequency of my mouth ulcers, though.
Laser Treatment
anonymous
March 8 2010, 02:18:57 UTC
Here in the US they call them Canker Sores (you tend to get odd looks when referring to mouth ulcers). Someone suggested a home remedy of daubing bread-soda directly on them; hurts like a son of a gun and I can't say it was all that effective. A friend of mine had laser treatment (not exactly the portable cure your were looking for) and said it was highly effective. From experience it usually means you are run-down so the best cure is eat better and get more sleep.
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Glad to know you've got the prescription mouthwash; even mild mouth ulcers are really unpleasant.
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Alas, manufacturers can't afford to base their risk/benefit calculations on the assumption that patients will use the medicine safely. And neither can regulators.
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But it got taken off the Irish marked about 10 years ago now. And all the pharmacists pointed to Bonjela which, I'm sorry, tastes too nice to me to ever stay long on the mouth ulcer. The other liquid went on and you made d*mned sure to keep your tongue away from it.
So what I did with mouth ulcers instead of putting stuff on them was to keep washing it out with warm salt water. Hurts but it does keep it clean and usually works in a day or two.
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(Hint: your audience is not American. Other country's medical systems work Differently (and usually Better).)
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Conal.
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