Propolis Turned Mouth Brown and Numb?

by Cynthia
(Asheville)

I have a canker sore that is having a hard time going away (I keep biting it), so I found out about propolis. The lady at our natural foods store said to put some on gauze and put it in my mouth for a while. I got the Herb Pharm propolis liquid extract. I left the gauze in my mouth no longer than 10 minutes. It has left a patch of my skin brown and numb and the skin texture has lost its elasticity and looks dead. I am very upset that I may have caused a bigger problem! Is this normal?

Cynthia

Hi Cynthia,

It is very normal for propolis to temporarily turn the skin or tissue it is in contact with brown. This will gradually fade, usually within a day or so as your skin absorbs the propolis fully. As for causing your mouth to go numb, this is not normal. I can assure you that propolis doesn't kill healthy skin tissue. It could be the alcohol in the tincture that has caused the skin to go numb. I don't recommend using alcohol based tinctures in the mouth due to the sensitive nature of the gums and the mouth. Always use a non-alcohol based tincture in the mouth.

Hope that helps,
Angela