To have no idea what to do about cold sore?

[bouncingboundless]

DS (5) has woken up this morning with a big swollen red/purple looking lip on one side. On closer inspection it appears to have a yellowish section in the midddle. He says it's sore but it doesn't seem to be bothering him much. From googling it appears it may be a cold sore although I didn't think they just appeared out of the blue! Anyway, this is the first experience I've ever had with a cold sore as me, DH or Dd have never had one. Obviously I've told him not to touch it but other than that is there anything else I need to do?

Zovirax cream. You can get those little clear patches to put over it as well.

Zovirax doesnt do anything for me really.
But definitely get a patch to cover it.
Dry his lip well and stick it on carefully. If it is done correctly (not easy) the sore will heal underneath the patch. When the patch comes lose the sore is far on its way to be gone.
But it is important to cover it. As he is 5 yrs old he wont remember not to scratch (they tend to get very itchy after a day or two) and touch another bodypart and he might get it in his eye or somewhere else.
I would see the gp about this though if possible. Ive never seen a cold sore on a child this young (maybe thats just me), it might be tougher on his little body to process or it might only look like a cold sore.
Usually it indeed comes from a parent and if neither of you suffer from cold sores.
Good luck!

Is it definitely a cold sore and not impetigo?

Pharmacist at your local chemist can advise tomorrow On what it is and how best to treat.

I personally would start there rather than taking a GP appointment.

Very good point. Also hand foot and mouth.
i would check with the pharmacist

Thanks for the advice. I don't think it's impetigo but I could be wrong. The pictures aren't the best as it's hard to see on a pic but hopefully someone might be able to tell me what it is. He's been a bit grumpy in himself but nothing major and no temp or anything. He had had about a month of illnesses though, one ending him up in hospital so hopefully it's just something that's come on from him being run down.

Wash hands before and after toilet. He might have touched it and you don’t want the virus downstairs!

Get it checked by a medic.

Obviously I am not a medic so please don’t go by this but it looks more like he’s bitten it. I bite my lips in my sleep often and they’ll come up sore red and ulcer-looking even though it’s not an actual ulcer, if that makes sense. It could be the case if he’s randomly woken up with it and reaction to biting hard would look swollen.

When DD had a weird spot thing that I thought might be impetigo next to but not on her lip the chemist told me they can't do anything about lips in children. They also can only prescribe cream, not oral antibiotics (despite what it says online). I would get him seen by the GP before you put anything like zovirax on, if it's not a cold sore you could make it worse.