Caring for a cold sore?!
Question: What is the best way to care for a cold sore? I would like answers from experience, please.
Answers: What is the best way to care for a cold sore? I would like answers from experience, please.
I get cold sores on my lips. Yesterday, my lower lip was dry and peeling. I drank more water and used ChapStick. It wasn't enough and I developed a cold sore this afternoon. I put on Blistex three times now and it has nearly healed.
My doctor prescribed Valtrex - 2 in the a.m. and 2 twelve hours later - if, if, if, I can feel it coming on which will stop the cycle. Otherwise, it doesn't help. He would put me on daily Valtex but I don't get nearly enough cold sores to want to take another medication every day.
My druggist recommended Abreva which works like Blistex to shorten the duration of cold sores.
I am extremely careful not to touch the cold sore, or if I do, to wash my hands immediately. Never touch my eye. When I wash my face, I do that part last and then put the cloth in the wash. I put the Abreva on a swab or tissue and then on my lip rather than using my finger so I don't contaminate the tube.
Herpes simplex can affect the sexual organs just like genital herpes if it is spread there.
Just about anything can trigger cold sores. I have had them since I was a teenager and have never discovered any particular thing that works as a trigger.
Sometimes I will wake up with a fully developed cold sore. No warning. So I just treat it.
Sometimes having a cold sore makes me irritable, achy, uncomfortable and not just where the sore is. That's why I have Valtrex on hand. As a contrast, this cold sore I have today hurts only at the exact center of the sore and only if something touches it.
I've gone years without cold sores but have just had two breakouts within 7 days, in two different places. The first one scabbed and the scab finally all came off today.
I use ChapStick every day, just like lipstick so my lips don't dry out and peel. That seems to be a trigger (but not always).
Good luck in handling them. You may never have another. Cross your fingers.
i get them n never found that out but i use antiseptic cream
The problem with cold sores is that what works for one person will not work for another - have you tried the cold sore creams available for the pharmacy? They work quite well for some people (although I have never had much success with them). You could also try dabbing the cold sore regularly with eau-de-cologne to dry it out. Another thing that works (for me,anyway) is Chloropt eye ointment!
Mine clear up really quickly if I get onto them very early with Zovirax (acyclovir - an anti-viral drug effective against herpes simplex, the cold sore virus). Even if I notice a bit late, the zovirax seems to do better than previous creams, etc. Don't let them dry out too much. If you do the blister can burst or crack and then it just gets really ugly. You want to keep it intact while it heals.
Picking at them or rubbing them with your hands or lips makes them worse and take longer to heal - personal experience there too!
Abreva is the best thing on the market OTC that I have found to be wonderful.
Herpes Zoster is to blame for the little boogers
it heals fast and I don't get them as often since I started attacking them with Abreva