to think NOTHING gets rid of a bastard coldsore once it's decided to be a bastard?

[turkeyontheplate]

Tried everything over the years - Blisteze, earwax, zovirax, toothpaste, baking soda, peroxide...once the blisters appear, nothing seems to make a blind bit of difference.

I have a particularly hideous fat angry cauliflower on my upper lip right now. Does anyone have any magic remedies I haven't tried yet, before it turns into a disgusting slimy bran flake?

Use Virulite at the prodrome stage. I just don't get cold sores any more.

Infrared zappy device thingy. Lloyds.

Please tell us if you can get a machine from Boots I tried to look last year and couldn’t see them stocked anymore ☹️

cactus really? I've been taking it daily for about 8 years now!! It is prescribed to stop me getting shingles though as I have an auto-immune disease and was in hospital with it at one point.
Definitely reduces the amount and severity of cold sores too

I had a 6 month course of aciclovir tablets when I was younger which helped a lot. Now I only get them in and around my nose if I have a cold and am blowing my nose a lot.

Zovirax cream works for me when I do get them now. I also use dermal 500 lotion (which my DD gets for her eczema) to keep them soft once they have scabbed over so I don’t pick as much

I got a horror on holiday and had forgotten my cold sore cream. Wacked some Sudocrem on it and it went much quicker than usual. Also stops the water making it all soggy

Lick your lip and rub some bicarbonate of soda into the cold sore. It doesn't sting and will take away the itchy stinging redness and also start to dry it up if its weeping.

Ive has coldsores since very young, tried and tested everything that’s out there till I found out using a touch of 2% or diluted 6% hydrogen peroxide on it and around it is a miracle, dries it out and disinfects. Combine that with taking l-lysine tablets from HB. Brilliant combo

A LOT of vitamin C

I agree that nothing magically makes them go away but I've found that Cynex really reduces that horrible stinging pain, and Lysine reduces the length and severity.
I find Zovirax/Acyclovir only really works if you catch one at the tingle stage.

Acyclovir tablets are amazing, take them as soon as a tingle and it doesn’t come out. If it’s come out, it quickens the time for them to go and heal. You can buy them from online chemists like Superdrug.

Funnyinjury long term use of aciclovir can cause kidney damage. My son has it regularly and has to have his kidneys tested.

Nothing ever works for me, everything I put on mine just seems to feed them and make them bigger! I do use the compeed patches though as they at least make it look less unsightly.

As soon as you get the tingle you need to patch it , then before it gets going it's stopped from becoming mahoosive .. patch for 3/4 days then leave to scab and keep pulling it off until it's gone .. works for me and it's gone in 7 days , otherwise it's about 20 days before completely gone .. little feckers !

I bought an ointment called LIPIVIR online which claims to prevent them. Haven’t had one in months so it might actually be working!

I have been using liquorice extract lip balm for four months and only had one in that time. Hardly a long time to conduct the experiment, but I do normally get more in winter. Zovirax once the tingle is there usually helps, but not always.

ofwarren thanks, I will definitely ask about this!

Aclivor ASAP.

It’s really the only thing that works. They do a cream and tablets.

Another vote for the 'ViruLite' here - when you feel the tingle, zap it twice a day. It will often stop it in its tracks, or if not, reduce the time it hangs around for. Though I've just seen what the price has gone up to! . I don't find any creams work - if I zap one with the cream, another pops up. It's like playing 'whack-a-mole'.

The machine does work and is mess free.

I feel for you.
Honestly you must get Acyclovir
You can get it from Superdrug online pharmacist delivered to you.
It’s the only thing that has worked for me I have tried EVERYTHING the boots machine thingy worked for a bit. But you need to burn the sucker off with medication.

Adding my voice to Lysine. Take a couple when you feel that tingle or when you are stressed or in a situation where your lips are dry for a long time, and you will never see a cold sore again. They do shorten the duration of the sore once you have one.

I haven't had one since 1998 (and I used to get at least a couple a year since I was a kid) when I started keeping lysine in my cupboard.

Acyclovir cream at the first sign of a tingle usually works. If I haven't managed to head it off with the cream (which is rare), I use a combination of compeed stickers, Acyclovir cream and tea tree oil.

There's some evidence that aloe Vera is an anit viral and anti bacterial. I've tried it, in combination with zovirax though and I think it helps. Stings as it dries but it does dry the blister out and I'm sure I heal faster with it. So zovirax/aciclovar tabs before outbreak and aloe once it blisters seems to work for me.

Have you ever been prescribed pencyclovir ( vectovir) cream by the GP?
It's for over 18s only and some people say it's much more effective than Acyclovir (Zovirax) cream.