Cold sores.... lots of them... =[?!
Question: So I get cold sores when I'm stressed and when I don't get enough sleep while I'm stressed. I don't get them often, in fact I haven't gotten one in about 8 months. Well today I got one... then another.. and another.. and another.. and now I have FIVE cold sores all along my lower lip and they are driving me absolutely insane! If you've had cold sores you know what i mean... the itching, the burning, etc. I've put medicine on them but it's not helping much, is there anything I can do to make the itching and burning and such stop? Or something that can make them go away faster? Should I just pop the blisters? Or will they just spread? They all showed up pretty much within an hour of each other ... about ten hours ago.
Answers: So I get cold sores when I'm stressed and when I don't get enough sleep while I'm stressed. I don't get them often, in fact I haven't gotten one in about 8 months. Well today I got one... then another.. and another.. and another.. and now I have FIVE cold sores all along my lower lip and they are driving me absolutely insane! If you've had cold sores you know what i mean... the itching, the burning, etc. I've put medicine on them but it's not helping much, is there anything I can do to make the itching and burning and such stop? Or something that can make them go away faster? Should I just pop the blisters? Or will they just spread? They all showed up pretty much within an hour of each other ... about ten hours ago.
Whatever you do, DON'T pop them! The fluid inside is very contagious, and if it gets on another part of your lip it could turn into another cold sore. Cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex-1 virus, and it lies dormant in your lip until something triggers it to start multiplying, like stress, illness, lack of sleep, sunburn, or trauma to your lip. It may take about a day before it surfaces, but it is common to get several blisters around the same general area.
When I get a cold sore I get a prescription of Acyclovir from my doctor, and it fights the virus internally. I also use Zovirax cream on the sore to help it heal faster, which is also another prescription but they are both well worth it!
If you're not getting a lot of sleep, you may want to help boost your immune system against the virus and take L-Lysine tablets or even Lysine drops daily. Lysine is an amino acid in your body that helps fight the virus from replicating itself, so taking a supplement of this may help.
I know they itch and tingle, and it can drive you nuts! But you just have to wait it out until the tingling stops, and be very careful to wash your hands whenever you're touching the area around the sores!