How accurate was the pharmacist, do you think?

[fortheloveofbooksandchocolate]

My son developed a sore on his top lip a few days ago. At first it looked like a tiny little nick, like he had caught it on something. Yesterday it looked worse and very sore so I took him to the pharmacist asking if it was a cold sore (none of us in the household have suffered from them before) and she said it’s definitely not a cold sore (which is what I was worried about as I have a 5 month old at home and wouldn’t want her to get it). But the pharmacist was adamant it isn’t a cold sore, so we went on our way.
Today it looks even worse and his lip is slightly swollen. Please see attached photo (and ignore the silly facial expression😂), does it look like a cold sore now?? I’m not sure how they progress and the pharmacist didn’t even come close to look at him, she remained behind the desk so I’m worried she didn’t see it properly😅

Try putting cold sore cream on it and see if it helps

That looks like a cold sore to me (no medical training at all though, but DH gets them). Like pp says, put some cream on it, it starts to work pretty quickly

probably more likely to be impetigo in a child I'd have thought (particularly if he didn't get sensory symptoms before the sore appeared) (not my specialty though). Probably need to talk to a real life HCP who knows a bit more about paediatric skin problems.

Thanks guys, I have purchased some cream to see if it works. He says it isn’t painful, it’s itchy

This is what it looks like today

That very much looks like a cold sore to me.

It looks like a cold sore to me too. My personal experience of the pharmacist hasn’t been great, I’ve been twice in the last month with my little one and they’ve misdiagnosed him both times, first with chickenpox and then with conjunctivitis - he didn’t actually have either!

The yellow crust makes me think it might be impetigo

Looks like impetigo to me.

impetigo would tend to spread a lot faster. It looks like a cold sore to me. Unusual if he’s never had cold sores before though… as often the first dose of them is a nasty outbreak.

i would also say impetigo. Very contagious but easily treated but will need to see a gp to get fucidin cream. (Many other countries it’s a available OTC but prescription only here)

Eeek okay guys thank you, seems like we might need a second opinion then!

He keeps licking it because it’s itchy. I’m incredibly worried my baby will catch the virus if it is either of those things. I’ve told him not to kiss her or touch her since it appeared but you can’t be too careful. Apparently cold sores are contagious before they even appear!😬

We took my daughter to the pharmacy with what I thought was a cold sore but was diagnosed with impetigo instead and after 2 days of a prescription cream they had gone. Over the course of a morning she did go from 1 to 3-4 sores though. Probably worth seeing another pharmacist or doctor/nurse at your GP surgery

That’s a cold sore.

More likely to be impetigo I’d have thought.

Looks like a small cut that has become slightly infected because he keeps licking it to me, my son had a similar thing with StrepA.

Thank you! I think this is what happened too! Strep A… Now you mention it, before he got this thing in his lip he was off school with a very sore throat and swollen glands, maybe that made the cut infected as he also kept licking it? He is okay now and it is slowly healing

Thank you everyone for your comments on my post 🙂🙂

Definitely looks more like impetigo

That looks like impetigo to me. Get a gp appointment for antibiotics ASAP.