To ask for your help with this cold sore

[shouldbesleepingnotscrolling]

I have a really bad cold sore brewing, I woke up this morning with a swollen lump on the edge of my lip and the painful tingling. Ive bought some cream but if anything it just feels worse tonight.
Ive only had a couple before and theyve never been so sore before its even ‘erupted’!
Ive got work tomorrow and Im dreading what its going to look like, does anyone have any help with what can make it heal quicker or be less painful?
Ive googled it and there seems to be ‘stages’ it goes through, am I supposed to keep applying the cream all day?! Dont want to make it worse than it already is.

Zoverix does the trick

I find the compeed patches really good. They seem to suffocate the blisters and shorten the life of it. Also try Fenestil cream which has a slightly different ingredient to Zovirax. I find it far more effective.

If you have any anti histamine cream try that. Or, if you have bicarbonate of soda, wet your finger, dip in bicarb and gently rub on the herpes. Either of these will reduce the itching, pain and inflammation. You'll still have it but it won't be so bad.

Thank you, Ill give those other options a go. I went into Boots today and they were all out of Zovirax, only had their own brand and didnt have anything else. I will try try another pharmacy tomorrow night but will have to wait u til after work.

Im really hoping the swelling will go down a bit in the morning because my lip looks ridiculous right now!

The compeed patches are lifesavers. Reduce swelling and discomfort and speed up the healing process really well. I only get cold sores when i’m very run down but I make sure I always have them in the house to put on straight away

The compeed patches are lifesavers. Reduce swelling and discomfort and speed up the healing process really well. I only get cold sores when i’m very run down but I make sure I always have them in the house to put on straight away

I went into Boots today and they were all out of Zovirax, only had their own brand and didnt have anything else.

It's the same thing, go back in the morning if you can.

As long as the stuff you have has aciclovir in it there is no need to get Zovirax.
Firstly wash and dry the cold sore then using a cotton bud apply the cream very sparingly. Don’t rub it in as it will spread it further. Repeat this regularly remembering to use cotton wool pad to wash and dry so you don’t reinfect yourself each time.
The Zovirax patches are probably the best since they cover the cold sore and mean that the antiviral is in contact with the it constantly.

@parenthood1989 sorry, that was me not being very clear I did buy the Boots own cream - I figured the active ingredient would be the same but would have gone for Zovirax as its the only cold sore remedy I knew of.
I was hoping people could recommend any thing else or had any tips to speed up the healing, I hadn’t heard of the compeed patches below so will definitely look for those tomorrow.

Compeed clear them up really quickly and I used it under lipstick too.

You just had to use the Herpes word didn't you? You had to squeeze that in there to have a little insinuating dig!

FYI - 90% of the population carry the Herpes virus, whether dormant or active HTH!

What's wrong with saying herpes? What's the insinuation?

You can now get medication for coldsores. Not sure of the name, but it works amazingly

If I had a bad coldsore I'd be tempted to call in sick tbh

A cold sore is an infection with herpes simplex virus, shingles herpes zoster. What's the problem with using correct term?

Compeed patches, and you can now get an oral medication which does head them off if you take it quickly enough. Might be too late but see if you can get some.

I get horrible cold sores with masses of swelling, usually triggered by the sun and wind.

Sorry OP but I've had very regular bad cold sores my whole life and I haven't found anything speeds healing. If anything, I've found touching it repeatedly to apply cream makes it worse. Compeed patches are just stickers that go over it, they don't speed healing in my experience. Cold sores don't need oxygen so they can't be suffocated as pp says. If it's a bad sore pus will collect under the sticker and start running down, it looks horrible. People will put any random thing, eg, toothpaste or sudocream, on a cold sore and say it worked but it really doesn't. You just have to wait for your body to defeat the virus and heal the sore.

Sudocrem or nappy rash cream. Works much better than zovirax

The medication is oral acyclovir. Not so easy to get on prescription just for a general cold sore though. I've seen people given it just before their wedding or if the cold sore is really bad.

I use Herpotherm - a heat zapping lipstick type device. Since using I have never had a tingle develop into a blister. Apparently it’s good for reducing length of time of outbreak as well if you don’t catch the tingle in time.

Compeed patches are rubbish, they peel and are stiff, then when you pull it off, it takes half your coldsore with it leaving it a weeping mess.

I am an expert in this as have suffered badly for years. I take oral aciclovir but the key with any treatment of coldsores is to treat as soon as you feel the tingling start, whether that be with oral medication or topical cream. The point you are at now I expect there is no going back so the only thing that is going to help is ice. Depending on how much time you have and whether it's possible to do at work, wrap ice up in kitchen roll and apply to it for as long as possible. Just keep applying the ice, that will reduce the swelling and stop the coldsore getting any bigger but it does need to be applied almost constantly for best results. For future outbreaks if you are worried, you can also look at light therapy options, I have used these effectively in the past but again it's all about catching it at the very beginning. Good luck, I feel for you having one in this heat.

Compeed patches are rubbish, they peel and are stiff, then when you pull it off, it takes half your coldsore with it leaving it a weeping mess.

👆🏽THIS! A thousand times over. I applied a Compeed patch after reading about them on Mumsnet. First of all you look daft with this highly visible plaster on your lip - it draws attention to, rather than hiding, the horrible cold sore. Then you can't apply the Acyclovir cream which is the only thing that really helps shorten the lifespan of the cold sore. And finally, when you take the plaster off, it pulls the top layer of the sore off with it, thereby undoing the healing that's started happening.

L-lysine cream and take L-lysine tablets every day.

Someone on MN said a boiling hot spoon pressed onto the area.

If you have missed the period in which cold sore cream could work (if you already have the manky blister) then you may find the compeed plaster makes it much more comfortable. Certainly it stops you touching it which reduces the likelihood of it getting bigger.
For the future keep Zovirax (or generic equivalent) near to hand and slap it in if you suspect any tingle. Like that you can avoid an outbreak.

Tea tree lip balm used daily prevents outbreaks.

Herpotherm device speeds up healing:
www.amazon.co.uk/Herpotherm-Against-blisters-Chemical-Free-Treatment/dp/B07T4XP545/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=16QR8ALUE0PS4&keywords=cold+sore+device&qid=1658206276&sprefix=cold+sore+d%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A1AN1X5FKEHRE1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExT0NQWVpVSFFFVVpTJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTE2MDExT0dYNFRYVkZQWlAyJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3NDY1NjdCNEtJQVJZWTQyQlAmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl