How to treat/prevent cold sores in children?

[Wendym]

My daughter has a nasty cold sore at the cornner of her mouth. Does anyone know of something that can be used on children? She keeps rubbing it with her toungue so its not healing. I've started giving her a multi-vitamin vitamins in case that might help.

I'm sorry to say this, but cold sores stay with you for life. I get them about twice a year. They are a sort of hermes that lie dormant under the skin, the triggers that set them off are; stress, an illness and too many toxins in your diet. They are also very contagious so when your children come out in them you should be careful not to let them share a towel, or a cup, or anything like that.

I don't know what you can use on children to treat it, my mum used to use perfume on mine, which would dry it out and turn it into a scab, but I wouldn't recommend it as I now have a tiny scar on my upper lip where I tugged at the scab as a child. Ask your chemist for their recommendations. If you catch it early (tingling and as Suew mentioned, a slight swelling) it is possible to prevent it from developing, but not everyone gets these symptoms, I never know until the sore has developed. Make sure too that they wash their hands thoroughly to stop it from spreading, it is particularly nasty if you get it in the eyes.

Sorry I can't offer you more hope.

I used to get them as a child and a teenager, at the first sign of a lump or tingle put ice on it for as long as she can bear. Zovirax cream is brilliant and you can get it off prescription now, but I don't know how old you have to be to use it. My friends six year old uses it very successfully and she gets cold sore once a month

thanks - I have Zovirax for me and it doesn't say unsuitable for children. She says she doesn't get any tingle before it starts and by the time its obvious zovirax doesn't seem to do a lot. I'll try the ice/tea tree oil and Cymex. Sorry about the poor typing before - I was in a bit of a hurry.

I suffer from recurrent cold sores and I dub the area with 2 drops of pure geranium oil on a cotton bud. It is recommended in Valerie Wormwood's The fragrant pharmacy and it works much better than Zovirax for me.

I used Blistese cream for cold sores when I was younger - it seemed to reduce the irritation. I still use it now as a lip balm, it's much better than any thing else I have ever tried.

In terms of prevention, herpes often reactivates when you have another infection so not much you can do about that. Another common triger is exposure to sunlight or cold wind so keeping covered up and using a sunblock can reduce the chances of reactivation. It does tend to get less frequent as you get older, perhaps not much of a consolation to you now.

My dd1 (5.5) has what I think may be a cold sore just inside her nostril - it started as a lump, which she said was quite sore, and then eventually scabbed over. The problem is that every time the scab comes off, another one seems to form (twice so far), and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. I'm not a sufferer myself, although dh is, so I'm not really sure what to do, and I'm not even 100% sure if it is a cold sore, being up her nose. Anyone got any ideas on how to help it heal, and what to do next time if/when it comes back. Can you use all the "lip" creams etc up the nose?

Here's a quick consultation with my dh - a GP - who is sitting on the sofa watching the Grand Prix at the moment. Yes, you can get cold sores up the nose. Yes, you can use the creams. HTH!!!

The fact that it doesn't heal once the scab has formed may mean that it is not a cold sore, but a staph infection in the nose. I would take her to the GP.

A cold sore can turn into a scab if it is picked. It is also very contagious and can spread from her nose so it is a good idea to tell her not to touch it and to wash your hands each time you apply the cream. I get cold sores every year and they are very annoying - this year I did get one up my nose! It looked like a huge bogey! I had to keep my head down when talking to people! There is a cream out called Viralief, but you might be better talking to your GP before you get it as it's quite strong. That gets rid of it within 5 days.

Hope you get it sorted soon!

I use any of the products which contain acyclovir (zovirax, or the boots own one - they have the same % I think) if I get them before the 'tingle' (even after then they do relieve some of the pain) or if I've run out, I sometimes dab a bit of tea tree oil on it, as that's been shown to have some anti-viral properties.

I'd do some research about using lysine supplements in children, its a type of amino acid that you find in certain foods and it fights the virus. I imagine its safe for kids but the potency may have to be checked.
On the other end of the scale there are some foods that encourage and feed the virus. This page explains it healacoldsore.com/top-10-best-natural-cures-for-cold-sores but basically you have to avoid those foods until the cold sore goes away.

I use Virasorb aciclovir 5 % w/w 2g just the same as zovirax BUT it only costs £1 for a 2g tube from SAVERS.