Astaxanthin and complete remission of canker sores
I really hate starting posts on Reddit but I have had such dramatic results I am forcing myself to in case it helps anyone else. I have had relentless canker sores since I was around 9-10 years old, always developing them in horribly painful clusters, usually going no more than 1-2 weeks free of sores. Any kind of injury to my mucosal tissue always resulted in sores which has been awful because I have sharp teeth and I bite my lip and cheek frequently. Nightmarish after visits to a dentist where they use tools in the mouth.
In June I started taking 12mg Astaxanthin as a pill daily because I was going to be spending time in the sun and in addition to sunscreen and hats I wanted to try another layer of protection. My current canker sores in June healed and the next round never started. In mid July I realized I had gone a very long time without canker sores forming. By August I knew this was absolutely abnormal and started trying to think of what had changed. Really the only thing I have never taken before is the Astaxanthin. I did a literature search and it turned up a patent that described basically what happened to me: canker sore remission 3 weeks after starting in his case 2mg daily, as a trial he stored the treatment and the sores came back, returning to the treatment put the sores into remission again: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6344214B1/en
I have bitten my lips and cheek repeatedly since taking Astaxanthin. I have felt a tiny pinpoint pre-sore forming and then instead of progressing to a canker sore breakout it heals.
I am not associated with any Astaxanthin supplement company. I used Nutricost just because I have experience with the brand and the price for 12mg Astaxanthin was good. I have no idea if this is the optimal dose, the patent describes the same effect at 2mg (though my remission happened faster than the 3 weeks described in the patent.) I have no idea if this is the best brand it's just the one I used.
This is an N=1 case but nothing has ever prevented canker sores for me and I started taking Astaxanthin for completely unrelated reasons not expecting this result. I hope my experience helps someone.