To ask for your coldsore remedies

[hardyloveit]

I know I'm not bu but I've tried all the creams - most don't work and I've had it once where it worked if I had the cream on me and put it on as soon as I felt the "tingle"

I've also tried those little clear patch things (wasted half trying to open them!) but they just made the coldsore much bigger and full of pus!

I have a cluster at the moment and it's doing my head in!

Any of you have any good solution to dry it out quicker ?

Vicks!

I buy zovirax tablets on line and take them when I feel the tingle. They work a treat. But I get very bad sores - my whole bottom lip can explode.

I read on here that putting tea tree oil on them whenever you think of it does the trick - and it does!

If you already have the virus what prevents them - healthy diet rich in vit c and zinc, stay off the sugar and each loads fruit and veg

As others have said if you use the anti viral creams when you get the tingle that stops the virus developing and whilst you will still likely get one the virus is not multiplying so it is likely to be mild.

Using a zinc based cream will help the skin heal faster - although obviously this will mostly be at night due to the fact its generally white!! Don't touch the sore all the time as that spreads it. If they are really bad speak to GP about getting an antiviral preventative treatment (one or two a day antiviral) until things settle, or alternatively tablets on hand to treat when an outbreak occurs

I think coldsores just have to run their course. They are ugly and hungry but usually happen as a result of other illness, tiredness.

I get them. Not just one but several at once - lips, up nose. So grim

Gungy not hungry

I've tried loads of things with mine and am firmly of the opinion that leaving them alone is the best option. The patches can be good if you need to camouflage them but they don't, imo, help. The creams don't make any difference either to me. Sadly all you can do is wait it out, sorry.

Thank you! I will try a few of these to see if it makes a difference!

I have a cluster of around 10 little ones with a bigger one in the middle - tingled yesterday with one tiny "spot" then woke up to this great huge ugly thing 😭 hate that they are so visible!

I put perfume on the spot where I first feel the burning/tingle. I have always warded them off that way, not had one actually appear since I was a child.

I have a few of those little glass vials of perfume samples in various bags and coat pockets.

Lysine! Check out reviews for it online as it’s an absolute miracle cure for coldsores.
I used to be plagued with them but I haven’t had one for about 6 years now. I take a lysine supplement every day (got mine from amazon but places like Holland and Barrett sell it. Boots sometimes stock it too) and I also use a lysine lip balm every day. There are ointments too for if one ever does strike

I have struggled with cold sores. As far as I have researched (and I have researched A LOT) the reason some people get them and others don't, is that us sufferers don't seem to produce a certain amino acid called L-lysine. You can buy a massive bottle of tablets of these as a supplement and you are supposed to take one a day. I don't always remember and when I don't, I am susceptible to them. If I take the pills, I never get one. If I do get the tingle I take them and it reduces the size. I also dab with tea tree oil - use blitzeze on the rest of my lips and a supermarket version of Zovirax directly on the cold sore. I then use vaseline over it at night and it seems to drop off quicker. Always use cotton buds to apply cream/vaseline - never your finger as this stops the spread locally. I hope this helps - the tablets have been a god send to me.

Ha - cross post!!
Glad we think the same.

@ironmanrocks it’s amazing stuff! Wish i’d Known about it as a teenager as it would have saved me years of misery. I used to get a huge one almost every month back then :-(

Virulite worked for me.

It stopped them dead in their tracks when I started feeling the tingling (prodrome) which indicates one is coming on - it would never actually appear if I caught it straight away. And now I just don't get them any more.

www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/handheld-device-for-treating-cold-sores-now-available-on-nhs/10006981.article?firstPass=false

I got antiviral tablets from the GP

I used to get loads !!... I used the pathed at the first tingle , for 2 days then take it off and let it scab .. usually lasted 6 days rather than 14 or more that way .

I just use the compeed patches, which are loads better than own brand. I don't find that they make the cold sore heal any quicker (its always ten days for me) but they make it loads more comfortable and I can wear lipstick over them which makes me feel better.

Cheap perfume or vodka. Dab it on.

Acyclovir tablets from gp, works fantastic

If I get a cluster then I get aciclover tablets from the GP (when I get a cluster it tends to be 10/20)

The patches work, but it’s painful. You have to change them each day and it stings like fuck, but they don’t dry out which makes them shorter.

If you get the cream then aciclover cream is the best one, the other cream is pointless imo

I hold an ice pack on it for about 15mins as soon as I feel a tingle, plus zovirax, and it never develops. The key is catching it before it develops, at the tingle stage. Once it develops the creams don't work.

I ice mine.....ice cube in kitchen roll and just hold it against the tingle, once the kitchen roll is wet turn it to a dry bit.

Perfume here too! It stings like hell if you get it after the skin has started to crack but it always stops mine dead in it’s tracks. I am also now going to look up the supplements mentioned above for prevention 🤞🏻

I use perfume if I don't have tea tree oil - but perfume is vile if it gets in your mouth!! My scab has fallen off today and the tingle started Sunday morning - its a small one though this time - but using the L-lysine the healing is so much quicker.

Abreva cream. On eBay.

I use that and zap the hell out of them with a machine.

I've just started lysine tablets too so 🤞🏻