Saturday, March 04, 2006

Watermelon Frost Powder for Canker Sores


One of those uber local Singaporean things I'm sure to miss when I'm overseas is the Chinese medical provision shop. These guys sell traditional Chinese herbs and medication for really affordable prices.

I'm not an expert, but Jan in Melbourne first introduced me to watermelon frost (xi gua shuang) for the relief and healing of canker sores (mouth ulcers). It comes as a cooling, dark green powder in a bottle that you spray onto affected areas, working particularly well if you have a painful sore on your tongue that you can't seem to get rid off. The watermelon frost powder has no particular taste, and melts off after a while in your mouth and is edible. In the next few hours, the sore hurts much less, and in the next few days or two, starts to heal and stops hurting. As far as I know, you can apply as much of this as you like. No painful creams, gels and other horrid contraptions that make you jump up and down.

The best thing is, this powder lasts a long time and costs only $3.50 Singapore dollars from a Chinese medical hall. This is definitely one of those things I'd buy cartloads off before living for a long while overseas. Incidentally, it is sold in London. :-)

1 comment:

Lisa said...

It works beautifully for canker sores!