Fast Cold Sore Remedies: What Really Works Naturally

Gluten-Free Diet, L-Lysine

Posted by Searching For Health (North Of The Border) on 08/06/2013
★★★★★

I have gotten cold sores for approximately 7 years. They started spreading all over my lips - but the ones that were new were not tingling like they originally did and came without warning. I was taking so much aciclovir and valciver. Then... I got exceedingly itchy blisters on my fingers, followed by unbelievable swelling in that finger. The pain is intense and the itchiness – OMG! (Apple cider vinegar helped alleviate these side effects - Thanks to you on Earth Clinic) I had a bout of this on my fingers for 4 months. I could not use my hands. I thought it was herpes whitlow. What cleared it up was when I was on a diet of only rice with fried vegetables – no flavorings or soy sauce added. The problem cleared up in about 5 days! Both my fingers and lips. Simultaneously, I had a brain fog clear up and anxiety that had been thwarting me for about 2 years. I then found out I am completely unable to eat Gluten. I guess the rash thing is a form of Dermatitis Herpetiformis (NOT HERPES! ) which is a consequence of not being able to tolerate gluten. (I still got the original and authentic Herpes cold sore that tingles - but it comes much less often as I take Lysine daily and it seems to come less often now that my body is not fighting the "poison" that I was eating previously). Before I had that authentic cold sore almost every 2 weeks. I am also unable to have most additives to food, and food that is GMO or treated with pesticides. For the last 3 months I have been strictly eating only at and home and it has stayed clear. I eat 100% organic, gluten free and no longer eat packaged food.

Licorice and Peppermint Root Extract

Posted by Jazzz (Delta Junction, Alaska, Usa) on 03/19/2013
★★★★☆

While I have yet to find any success curing my cold sores, I have found one particular thing which prevents them.

It seems that certain remedies work well for one type of person but not the other, in the past I have tried Lysine, over the counter meds (they worked for a while), ice cubes, finger nail polish remover.... Ummm just about everything. Non of those worked well for me, for the past three years I have been using a licorice/peppermint root extract in gelled form. When I feel a cold sore coming on and I use this (I apply it every several hours at the onset) it never comes, I use this if I know I might get a cold sore (I'm sick or something), and I use this on my son. Unfortunetly, he doesn't know when a cold sore is coming on so it is usually already surfaced by the time I see it. However, when I put it on him the cold sore goes away very quickly and stops growing. I have noticed that over the years my cold sores are getting farther apart. I use to get them about 8 times a year and now its about 3-4.

If nothing else has worked for you, this might be the one- because nothing ever worked for me!

Acetone

Posted by Lilli (Kenmore, Wa) on 03/15/2013
★★★★★

My thanks for another wonderful and effective remedy from the Earth Clinic forum.

Every time I have a cold I get a runny nose. From all the wiping and irritation I develop a cold sore... In my nose!!! They are always painful and last a long time. I tried all the OTC products, they only cover up the sore and keep it moist; the exact opposite of what I should have been doing.

A few days ago, I took a q-tip and swabbed all the small blisters in my nose with acetone. I did this once an hour for 3-4 hours. The first thing I noticed was that the throbbing pain went away. I continued to apply the acetone throughout the day. Before bedtime, most blisters had dried up. I applied it once more before I went to bed. Then next day there were no more blisters.

Three days later, the skin is a bit red and needs to heal. I am using a combination of 100% aloe covered with antibiotic salve because I still have the cold and want to protect the area.

Thanks again for the great advice!

Ketogenic Diet

Posted by Cedar (Boston, Massachusetts) on 03/06/2013
★★★★★

I am a female who used to get herpes outbreaks one after another for two years. I was very frustrated, I tried everything from Chinese Herbs, Ayurvedic Herbs, Urotherapy, ACV, De-worming, acetone. I was following a vegetarian diet and jogged regularly. Nothing worked for me, and I would get outbreaks every two weeks, which each took two weeks to heal, so, "continuously" one after another.. I would get fever-ish, weak, depressed, get nerve pains up and down my legs that felt like shingles.. It was awful!

I decided to stop all cardio for a month and do resistance training (Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer to be exact.. Free online program), and follow a ketogenic diet (high fat, moderate protein, low carb), and all of a sudden, no outbreaks or pains for 6 months.

L-Lysine

Posted by Neukoln (Edinburgh, Scotland, Uk) on 02/08/2013
★★★★★

This is a fabulous result, and I know it will help lots of people.

I was taking vitamin C in similar doses and still got cold sores - at least once a month, for over 15 years. It was only when I started taking 1000mg of lysine powder, on an empty stomach first thing in the morning that they finally stopped. I've been doing that for 5 years - and the only time I've had one was when I went I ran out for 3 weeks. It's important that lysine is taken on an empty stomach because otherwise it is mixed with amino acids in food to make protein. It's tasteless and dissolves easily, so mixing it with water is fine.

Iodine

Posted by Candy (Brooklyn, Ny United States) on 12/13/2012

Are you completely healed from herpes or the symtoms are gone?

General Feedback

Posted by Gerrit (Abbotsford, Bc, Canada) on 01/08/2013

Gina I want you to know that I take 35 drops of Lugol's 5% in divided doses daily.

I been taking all kinds of Iodine for the last couple of years started slowly with very little.

The info I can find is, if you overdose water starts dripping from your nose and like too much vit C you just pee it out. I'm 83 and still around. I take it for Hypothyroid and still can't get my basil temp over 97. 5 and if I paint it on in the AM it is gone by nightfall.

The same with magnesium oil I have to take lot's of it spray it right in my mouth wish I could find a refillable deoderent applyer so I could roll it on also, I have to take it otherwise I would get foot and leg cramps during the night.

As always do your own DD this is just one man's opinion.

May the Lord continue to bless THIS EC site and its supporters and Angels like Lisa etc.

Acetone

Posted by Artemisia (London, UK) on 12/02/2012

Gracie, that sounds more like shingles, a different type of herpes virus. It travels down the trigeminal nerve down the nose and across the cheek. It responds to Lysine and as you say, cheese, chocolate, nuts and red wine trigger and feed the virus. Counter this with Lysine (buy the powder from iHerb in Ca who ship to the UK for $6 per order). The ONLY way to dry them out (better even than acetone, is CAMPHOR SPIRITS OR in French l'alcool camphre). You used to be able to buy it in the UK, but now I have to get mine from the US yet again. You dab it on as soon as you get the tingle. Believe me, you will start keeping some in the larder. I use it now only once in a while as I know the signal tingle and start taking Lysine in juice. I was once told by a chief Medic in the Homeopathic Hospital, Tunbridge Wells "the herpes virus is a bitch". My friend in the US who gets shingles when run down, has had the vaccine and I believe you can now get it here.... It is with you for life I understand and I can locate exactly where mine resides; under the arachnoid around the skull on the left side which is where the blisters first appeared on my nose and cheek.... My nose is scarred but the cheeks are more resilient. Spirits of camphor.... As we know these cheap remedies are not endorsed by big pharma - too cheap and no profit margin for shareholders. We have to do the research for ourselves and take action.

Artemisia (purely coincidental that this is the latin for Wormwood! It was the name of an old horse of miine)

Camphor

Posted by Piper (Toronto, Canada) on 09/15/2014
★★★★★

Yet another cold sore. I had a bowl of chocolate ice cream and the next day a cold sore was starting. This time, I applied Tiger Balm. Tiger Balm has 25% camphor and 10% menthol and some other ingredients. Within seconds of applying, white blisters would form - I think it was the virus coming up to the surface. I would use a tissue to gently wipe away the blister fluid. The bringing up the virus to the surface and out of the skin helps the cold sore heal faster.

Alcohol

Posted by Lisa H. (Santa Barbara, Ca) on 11/18/2013

When I was in Nepal earlier this year I got a cold sore and I was staying a top a mountain, a three hour return trip to a pharmacy. I had failed to pack any zovirax, which has been successful in the past, so my friend and I went digging through our first aid kits and came up with alcohol swabs! Ah huh!!

After the first swipe, the burning started, but it was that good burning like you can feel the virus shrinking away from it as fast as it can kind of burning. It took about three days of day with the alcohol wipes every couple of hours to turn it completely around and kill it.

I have subsequently found acetone to work faster and be more effective, but if you are working with what you have available in a first aid kit - I can 400% recommend the alcohol swabs!

Aloe Vera

Posted by D M (Orlando, Fl) on 10/14/2012
★★★★★

Apply ice and aloe vera. Keep the skin cool as soon as tingling starts. Works like a charm.

Cell Food

Posted by Nathan (Lexington, Ky) on 10/05/2012
★★★★★

Cell Food topically- This is my story. Scroll to the bottom if you're only interested in what worked for me.

Hey all, I've been following earth clinic for sometime now - and love it! I discovered apple cider vinegar on here and it did wonders for my quality of life as I used to have insanely dry scalp in the winter and acne. Acv did the trick for both.

Okay, onto my cold sore treatment: Abreva has worked pretty well for me the past couple of years. I'd keep it on me and when I'd feel the "tingle" use it and I hadn't had a major outbreak since I started using it - until Monday morning. I felt the tingle on Sunday night, put some Abreva in that spot and went to sleep. Woke up with a full blown cold sore... Yikes! Of course, this Saturday (tomorrow) I have a number of guests coming in town for what is annually one of the biggest social events of the year for me. Instead of panicking I came here and discovered the acetone treatment and hydrogen peroxide as well. I had hope!

So for the following 36 hours I diligently treated the monstrosity on my lip with acetone and hp. Only problem was by Tuesday night I had not one sore but three! It was the worst outbreak of my life. The acetone seemed to aggravate the infection, not to mention it smelled terrible and the hp didn't seem to go deep enough. I believe those treatments work for many of you - they just didn't for me. The nail polish remover I was using I later noticed included gelatin in the ingredients and I read elsewhere that gelatin can aggravate an outbreak -maybe that was it.

Anyway I woke up Wednesday desperate, ready to call off plans for Saturday. While obsessing over what I could do, I remembered reading that Cell Food helped cuts and burns heal fast, so I googled it to see what I could find out about it's effect on cold sores. I didn't find much, just one testimonial but it was positive. What did I have to lose? So I gave it a shot. Went to the bathroom grabbed some cellfood and put a couple of drops on my lip and it burned like hell (way worse than acetone or hp). I thought "this could be really good or really bad". 30 minutes later my lip was drying out and the swelling was going down so I put another drop on my lip. By Wednesday night the "tingle" was completely gone and all of the sores were drying up. I continued to use cell food every 3 hrs (I would also put some drops in my juice and water) and yesterday my sores started to scab over.

This is the amazing part: last night the healthy parts of my lips were starting to grow like a new fresh layer of skin I think from the cell food. Today the two smaller sores are 90% healed and the big sore I think will be 90% by morning. My lips are chapped from being so dried out, but after the sores are nearly completely gone I'll use chap stick.

I said to a friend earlier this week that it would take a miracle for my lips to heal by Saturday and I actually think they will be fine by tomorrow. I started on Cell Food Wednesday with 3 throbbing sores!

This is the first time I've shared on earth clinic. I hope this works for you as good as it did for me! Oh, yeah: I must say Thank God! Because I prayed a lot too! He answered my prayers :)

Acetone

Posted by Mk (Ky) on 06/10/2015
★★★★★

Straight Acetone is the best, and at night I use calamine lotion to aid in the drying, makes you look funny, but it works! Two to three days and gone! Completely!

L-Lysine

Posted by Robyn (Melbourne, Australia) on 08/02/2012

Becky, I suffer too. Viral, manic, bad fibro, whacko immune sysem. What about garlic, lemon, BHT, olive leaf extract - these help. wheat grass sprouts as someone suggested to me. Dont think you can OD on lysine.

L-Lysine

Posted by Susan (Bklyn, Ny) on 07/21/2012

Well, Well, I feel your pain but you do not have to live this way. Do not listen to the doctors, there is help out there. The problem is people do not want to change their diet. If u read my post on the "onion family" cure u would c that two people were cured passing on info to the next. I just found out that one of them had it for 7 yrs before she got cured. Upon finding out she immediately chnaged her diet, ate organic produce( only from the land and NOTHING processed). She does not use deodorant but makes her own from fresh lemons/limes. Drinks distilled water/minearl water. She takes cold pressed coconut oil daily and has been retested multiple times and the result is still negative. She has stopped taking the onion drink after her kidneys were messed up(she drank it excessively). She still maintains an extremely healthy lifestyle. Her shower has a filter and so is her tap. She uses no flour, rice etc. But this is what cured her. She also used lots of herbal stuff, no pill nor capsule.

Vitamin C

Posted by Joe (Roseburg, Tx.) on 05/19/2012
★★★★★

Dear sirs, regarding herpes, I found a site, and it said to place the vit c directly on opened blister, and warned that it would burn like fire, so I bit down on a peice of leather {joke} and yes it did burn alot, plus I bled just a wee, but I have not had a problem since.

Thats been 2 years now, it was very unpleasant for about 1 to 2 wks while I healed, but Im very thankful it worked.

Lemon Balm

Posted by Angela (Brisbane, Qld, Australia) on 05/17/2012
★★★★★

I have tried a number of remedies for cold sores with no success: ice, apple cider vinegar, lysine (was ok), crystal salt deoderant (only helped the blister dry up). I get cold sores every couple of months so was very keen to find a good cure. I recently attended a medicinal herb workshop and was told to try lemon balm. I happen to grow it in my garden so I made a tea of it and have been drinking it 3 times per day. I found that within a day the cold sore I had went down and all pain subsided. It is now healing well. Additionally I have put some goldenseal ointment onto the healing sore and that is also clearing up a lot faster than normal. The teacher at the herb workshop said her husband use to get regular cold sores and he now drinks lemon balm tea often. He has not had a cold sore in years.

Tea Tree Oil

Posted by Gina (Leeds, West Yorkshire) on 05/08/2012
★★★★★

Cleaning with diluted tea tree oil and regular dabbing of the affected area. Drys it right up.. The cold sore should be gone within about 4 days.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Susan (Manila, Philippines) on 05/07/2012
★★★★★

I have had herpes since about age 7 or 8, I had it both orally and genitally, I know Doctors will say it is not possible but I think being a child I played with the oral sores and transferred it to my penis when I had a pee, anyway all my life it has come and gone and now I'm 64 and I just discovered this website. Brilliant. My outbreaks have been rare over the past 30 or 40 years but 3 years I moved from my native New Zealand to the Philippines and after coming here I began having outbreak after outbreak. I have seldom needed any medication before and suddenly I found I needed it, but I hardly got over one OB and another would start. Then I began getting a rash above the hairline on the back of my head, and around the waist, under my arms, my butt crack, anywhere I sweated heavily. That generated me thinking why, what is different, and after a lot of thought, it is definitely diet triggered. I went from Potato as the staple to rice and also in NZ I always drank alkaline water, where I lived the water was naturally alkaline.

So I began the 1/4 teaspoon of BS in a glass of water twice a day on a empty stomach, stopped eating rice for breakfast and began eating raw fruits as my first food, I would consume this using the ACV as a dip and would consume 1 or 2 tablespoons of it.

My skin began to clear immediately, the itching stopped, and the herpes outbreaks seem to have come to halt. I have been doing this for a month, added benefit, I have lost weight and my BP is a steady 110/70. What more can I say. I love this site. Thank Earth Clinic and especially Ted from Thailand.

Acetone

Posted by Victorsfriend (Northeast, Florida, Us) on 07/20/2012

I've had breakouts for about 10 years, and I've never found anything that really helps. Whatever I do or don't do, nothing seems to make a difference, and, when I get a cold sore, it lasts for about 10-14 days. I've tried almost everything I've heard of, and I was on Valtrex for awhile, but it didn't seem to make a difference, so I stopped that. No matter what, I still get a nasty breakout every so often (used to be about every 2 months, now about 2 times a year). The only thing that "helped" was being pregnant, where I didn't have one during the whole pregnancy, but that's not exactly a medication I want to take again. LOL.

When I got a breakout around January, it was BAD, and I had to go to work and have everyone make a big deal out of it, and I have a professional job where it just doesn't look good. I read about the acetone nail polish remover about 5 days into it, and it helped, but it didn't really shorten the time it lasted. Plus, my boyfriend thought I was crazy. He doesn't get cold sores, and I don't want him to start, nor does my son who is almost 2. So it really freaks me out when I get one.

Yesterday afternoon, I get home from work, start chatting with the boyfriend, and I feel it come on out of nowhere. Sure enough, I look in the mirror, and there's a huge blistery bump in the crease of my mouth. I can tell it's gonna be bad. I immediately grab the nail polish remover, figuring that I'll try it again in this early stage to see if it shortens the length any. I did a Q-tip for about 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes about 30 minutes later, then another 5 about 2 hours later.

The first thing I did when I was half awake this morning was open my mouth to see how sore I was... And I felt nothing. It actually made me hop out of bed and look in the bathroom mirror. This HUGE cluster of blisters was practically gone. It was just a little red mark, not even a little sore. I Q-tipped with acetone three times throughout the day, and I predict it will be 100% healed by tomorrow morning.

I know it's probably not the best thing for me, and maybe it's a little dangerous, and there are probably ways I can change my diet (I've tried, but I haven't found anything that kept breakouts away completely) but I'm in sales, and, if I can help it, I need to not have this on my face. If nothing else, I need to at least not be in horrific pain when I open my mouth to talk. I feel like this is a miracle solution, and I had to share.

Ice

Posted by Mundaring Merrin (Perth, Western Australia) on 01/18/2013
★★★★★

THANK YOU! There I was on a camping holiday in the great Aussie Outdoors, a tingling sensation heralding the cold sore. Same spot as usual. I'd forgotten lysine supplement for a couple of weeks and was somewhat stressed due to a handful of late nights. Recalled the ice remedy & decided to try it. Thank God, it worked! Slight redness but no other evidence.

Acetone

Posted by Suem (Worden, Il) on 03/24/2012

I frequently get cold sores... Hate them. I've tried absolutely everything, including acetone and it did nothing for me. My cold sores swell terribly and I generally have flu like symptoms. I have been researching essential oils and making my own formulas and came across what oils are good for cold sores. I started out with tea tree oil, but found that it was not knocking the cold sore like I had hoped. So, I switched to Bergamont and applied it 3 to 4 times a day. It was wonderful. The cold sore did not disappear overnight, but the duration time and severity of the sore was diminished drastically. This will be the only remedy I use from now on. If you try it, I hope it helps you, too.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by A Helpful Friend (Salt Lake City, Utah) on 02/07/2012
★★★★★

On Thursday the 2nd a small bump on the right side of my lip, near the corner, began to grow. At first I was skeptical about treating it so I took some garlic, since I know of its healing properties, cut a small piece off and pressed it to the small bump. This made the bump decrease slightly. The next day I went to a mongolian restaurant where I enjoyed two oranges. Not knowing the affects of citrus and cold sores, I smeared the orange all over my lip in hopes that the citrus could combat it. The bump was was very pleased, it grew instead. I could feel it growing as I sat in the restaruant with a friend after eating the orange. By the time I got home it was more than one bump, and I was more than distraught. That night, (friday) I decided to try an over the counter product because I was desperate. Searching online, I found a product with a patented formula that promised to stop it in its tracks and have the sore gone in 24 hours. Of course I was optimistic. I began using the product and noticed it was still increasing in size and had spread to the entire corner of my mouth.

The next morning I discontinued use of the product and switched to Hydrogen peroxide because of this website. I also went on to read a book about the amazing healing properties of HP.

PROCEDURE: In the morning I woke up, soaked a cotton ball with HP and pressed it to my lip. I felt and enjoyed the burn because I knew something was working. The sore began to turn white with small bubbles and dried out. Let the sore dry out every time. It must remain as dry as possible. There is no limit to the amount of times to use the peroxide as it is a natural compound. I started eating 4 small yogurts each day on that saturday to boost my immune system and get a good amount of lysine in my body. I continued doing the pressing procedure all day, by night fall it had begun to create a scab and the peroxide didnt burn anymore. Sunday the cab was more apparent. Realizing it was in its healing process I used Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula in its Palmade form to help with the healing process. I could feel the tightness of the scab around my mouth. The scab began to fall off monday night. I woke up tuesday continuing with use of the palmade. It is tuesday night at 7 pm and I have been completely cold sore free for hours. The skin showing is not red or raw. My lip looks completely fine and healed because I didn't pick the scab. My mouth looks the exact same as it was last tuesday before any hint of a cold sore.

Acetone

Posted by Hb (Santa Fe, New Mexico Usa) on 12/31/2011
★★★★★

This past week I had been stressed out. Yesterday I noticed some itching at the edge of my bottom lip. Oh great! A cold sore is coming. I get these all the time, recently not so much, but ever since I was a yonug child (I'm in high school now). It's horrible! People make fun of you, it's so embarrasing. I kept searching on the internet of ways to make the damn thing go away. All of them said: you can prevent them, but once you have them you have to wait 7-10 days for it to go away. I kept searching on yahoo answers, and found something that didn't involve me going out to buy abreva or any other expensive products that only shorten healing time.

You take a sterilized needle and poke into the sore. You will see clear liquid ooze out of the sore now. Immediately take a cotton ball with acetone and press onto the sore, but after about 5 minutes change the cotton ball and do it again, because if you take it off and put it back on again an infection may form. It worked perfectly! It was gone instantly. I put [again] a new cotton ball with acetone on, and kept it on for an hour and a half. Please try this! But be careful because sensitive skin may have a chemical reaction from the acetone.

Avoid Arginine

Posted by beverly (usa) on 10/29/2023
★★★★★

I may have solved my own mystery.............I rarely get fever blisters but have changed my diet to Keto due to my husband being diagnosed with Parkinsons. One of the things I started doing was getting high fat yogurt, cream, buttermilk and keifer from a nearby dairy. The past month I have been constantly plagued with fever blisters at the corners of my mouth and nostrils.

Certain Foods

Consuming arginine-rich foods – such as beans, meat, chocolate and dairy – can trigger or worsen a cold sore. This is because arginine is required for the virus to replicate. Acidic foods and beverages can also trigger a cold sore outbreak. This includes citrus fruits, tomatoes, orange juice and even soda.

Source

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Anonymous (Bklyn, Ny, Usa) on 09/28/2011

Hi, I myself have become a victim of herpes. For three years I have been in denial until recently. I read Kevin Trudeau's book and bought larrea, plus his other recommendations except FGHP. I was talking to someone who uses it and then I became interested. I researched it online and got scared, but wanted this thing out of my body. I use Abreva on my lips daily and as a result, NEVER gets outbreak. On my Vajayjay, it comes once in a while. I used to be so depressed, until I came upon this site, earth clinic, and found a wealth of info. I recently started using the FGHP, after consulting a herbalist who told me to start with one drop in 8oz water until I get up to 25 and take 25 3x daily for one week. I got up to seven and was getting CONSTIPATED and had dark stool which freaked me out, so I took about a week off and went back to like 2 drops once or twice daily. I just bought lecithin and taking 4 capsules once daily plus liquid oxygen after someone claimed to be cured. I have stopped eating sugars and cut back on junk (which I did little off). By the way, has anyone been having weird dreams ahen they drink FGHP at nights and difficulty sleeping? It is bad. Can anyone send me blogs of folks who got cured and exactly what is used?

A few days ago I had an outbreak down there and poured boiled water plus purified water from store and added lots of FGHP in tub and I have to say it dissappeard by next day( I added little water and sat for a short while). I also was brave enough to put some FGHP on cotton ball and stuck it on OB for a while in underwear and lay in bed. It stung, but did the job. I have been boiling water instead of buying purified, is it the same? This blog has saved me. I feel there is hope out there. The FDA will not approve this natural stuff, because they will lose money. Thanks everyone. Thank you earth clinic.

L-Lysine and Vitamin C

Posted by Merryanne (Orange City, Florida, Usa) on 05/04/2011 113 posts

It is true that L-Lysine kills viruses, it has saved me several times from severe colds that would have put me in the bed for at least a week, but I do not want to miss that much time off my job. I am 64yo so it can be hard on me. I also take lysine 2000 mg every 4 hours as long as I am up, and the next day, as long as I have any symptoms, sometimes I do get very congestd, but not so that I have to miss work. If I had any permanet virus I would take it every 4 hours, 4 times a day for a few months and see if I could get totally free of that bug, but that is just me... I do have faith in lysine, the last cold I had, it started with a tickle in my thorat. I started with the lysine, the next day I was still sick.. I kept up with the lysine, then it was gone in two days, no coughing, no drainge, if not for the lysine I would have been down for a long time. And I did take some C 2000mg a day... For children under 60 pounds, I have given 250mg every 4 hours. Merryanne in Central FL

Vodka, Tea Tree Oil, Acne Cream

Posted by Kathleen (Virginia, Us) on 03/28/2011
★★★★★

The first moment you feel the itching/tingling sensation clean the whole area around your mouth with vodka/grain alcohol, after that rub tea tree oil on the areas that feel tingly/itchy. Let this dry, and then you will take acne cream the one with (10) in the name containing benzoyl peroxide, apply this carefully to the spot(s) with a q-tip. Try to keep the dots very small as the cream will dry out all skin and cause peeling. This has been truly magical for me!! If you catch it before there is any visible sign of a sore, it stops them from ever appearing. Repeat throughout the day, keep area very clean with alcohol and tea tree, use new cotton balls/q-tips/pads for each application, be careful not to touch anything, so as not to contaminate or spread infection to new spots.

Have been doing this for many years now, with great success! If you catch it when blisters are visible this will greatly help with speeding healing and preventing new sores. Good luck to all! This is such a great site, have used many of the remedies with success, and try to pass info on to all. Thank you everone so much!

Liquid Bandaid

Posted by Trying (Surburbia, Sc) on 02/03/2011
★★★★★

For those of you that have suggested a liquid bandage product - and for those of you who have wondered why on earth it might work....

I checked the ingredients this morning. In this order, it contains acetone(! ), alcohol(! ), isobutane-propane (propellant), oil of cloves(! ), pyroxylin solution. Three of its "inactive" ingredients are remedies that have been suggested in the comments as fixes, and one of them -- acetone -- has been recommended over and over.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the research someone posted earlier, there actually is bonafide medical research (by people with standard credentials) that shows that acetone does inhibit the reproduction of the virus by 90% - 97%. And it is a naturally occuring substance in the body, although NOT to be taken internally, without danger of running into things like Bell's Palsy, as someone else has mentioned. (i.e. , don't put it inside your mouth under any circumstances -- as they say, for external use only! )

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I'm trying them all (well, almost all). Humongous case, worst I've ever had. Moved from my lips to around my mouth, covering one jaw and under my neck. It's still spreading, but no where near as fast as it was. And no longer as completely uncomfortable and distracting as it was. Fortunately, I'm not letting it stop me. If other people are offended by looking at my disfigurement, that's their problem. I'm not going to miss work because I look funny.

Good luck, everyone!

Ear Wax

Posted by Oxygen Therapy (Miami, Florida, Usa) on 01/09/2011

Yes, earwax will stop a cold sore in its tracks. This is an old remedy that should not pass into oblivion. We all need to pass these down to the next generation!

Acetone

Posted by Melissa (New Brunswick, Nj) on 06/03/2011
★★★★★

IT WORKS! It's a miracle cure, I got a cold sore yesterday, used the nailpolish remover in the morning and by 5 or 6 pm is was almost gone, and this morning you can barely see anything! ONE DAY and I can leave the house! AMAZING