ELi5: Salicylic Acid in Mouth Ulcer Treatment?

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What does Salicylic Acid as an ingredient in Mouth Ulcer medication actually do? Isn’t salicylic acid an ingredient in skincare that unclogs pores and reduces sebum production? I’ve been looking online but can’t find a thing, most American brands of mouth ulcer topical liquids all list lidocaine and ethanol as pain relief and antiseptic. But my Australian one has salicylic acid listed as it’s most prominent ingredient.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s intended to destroy the damaged cells and thereby allow the ulcer to heal. Same way it kills warts. Unfortunately, it can also damage cells elsewhere in your mouth and so actually cause more ulcers. This is definitely a case where the cure is barely better than the disease.

Try using a toothpaste that does not contain SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate). SLS causes mouth ulcers, and you may find if you eliminate it from all your oral care products, you don’t get the mouth ulcers anymore, so you won’t need to worry about treating them.

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