Top Natural Remedies for Cold Sores (Fever Blisters)

L-Lysine, Nail Polish Remover

Posted by Mary P (Los Angeles, Usa) on 01/31/2011
★★★★★

Yes... I have suffered from cold sores for 15 years, and in the beginning I used drug store items and suffered 7-10 painful days. In the last few years, I've tried other remedies, and the daily Lysine - I take 1000mg a day along with a B12 helps reduce the type of outbreak, they are tiny if they come at all - I work in a high stress business and sometimes it can wear me down to the point of a cold sore breakout. I then double up the lysine, and press nail polish remover on it for several minutes (5-10) an hour until it is barely noticeable. It really works... oh and I wouldn't adivse popping the blisters unless they are really big, if you pop them, it will only irritate the area and slow down the healing process.

Ear Wax

Posted by Carl (Philadelphia, Pa Usa) on 01/21/2011
★★★★★

I was plagued by cold sores for years. They were usually brought on by certain foods or sunburned lips. I read about using earwax on this site, and after trying all of the other remedies, which did not work for me, I resorted to earwax. It has been a miracle curee for me. I have been able to eat citrus fruit again. I sometimes eat three or four oranges a day when they are good. Before one orange would cause an outbreak. Thank you, everyone at this site.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by High Flyer (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) on 01/20/2011

I did the food grade h2o2 drops and it seemed to work, but I just could not stand the bleach taste. It felt like it was burning my throat. After reading the research on ozone, I decided to buy an ozone generator. The ozonated water is much better for me, no problem at all to drink 2 liters. The first 2 weeks I did this each day. My sinuses and ears were very sensitive. I was also very emotional. Since then I do this about 2 times a week. I have not had an outbreak in 8 months. I have had hsv for 20 years. This is incredible. I have gone on a 12 hour drinking spree, (wedding) played sports to exhaustion, and consumed chocolate at will. All these things would have guaranteed an outbreak in the past. I am not saying I'm cured, but this is the best I have ever been. I even supplement arginine now for the physical benefits. I have not been sick, even though I have been exposed to many who are this winter. I hope this helps someone, as I have tried many other remedies. The generator I bought was the air zone xt301. I have had no problems, but it costs a bit more.

Zapper

Posted by Nit (Long Beach, California) on 01/13/2011
★★★★★

I've had this itchy mole on my left calf for more then two years - its brown the size of a pea. Later I develop a very sharp unexplain pain on my left foot from my knee to my buttock then follow an controllable fever which I got it more than twice a year. I zap with a 1000hz frequency with a zapper for one whole month. The mole fall off and now 2 years later - cancer free - Herpes type I-II also so gone for good for the last 4 years now.

Zap did not remove my stuffy nose - its been stuffy for over 15 years. I crush Garlic add a little purify water and applied on my whole face and head - in an instant - my stuffy nose started to clear. For the first time my nose is stuffy free for over 6 years now.

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!

Ear Wax

Posted by Donna (Boise, Id) on 01/06/2011
★★★★★

EAR WAX! It works, and you always have your ears with you. yep, it seam yucky, but cold sores are more yucky. I read about it here on Earth Clinic, tried it, It stopped the blister in its track! I have keot these blisters at bay for over a year!

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Kaitlin Rose (Dillon, Co) on 01/03/2011
★★★★★

After one application, my cold sore closed up and began to heal. Took a cue-tip, dipped in in HP and applied to cold sore on the inside of my mouth before bed time. In the morning, the soreness was gone and it had dried up and began to heal. Will re-apply tonight!

Acetone

Posted by Jlrc (Buffalo, New York) on 01/02/2011
★★★★★

Opened my eyes on New Year's Day 2011 to find a large cold sore forming under my nose. AHHH, the horror. It was already bubbling up and the size of a dime. Over the years I have found when there is a serious temperature shift, from 15 degrees to 55 degrees in a day, that's when I get a break out. So yes, it was a balmy New Year's Eve and I get rewarded with a break out. For years I would get a sore and immediately apply ammonia to the tingling spot. Sometime it would deactivate a break out, sometimes not. Given the bubbles had already erupted I knew I needed an alternative solution because ammonia at this point would still allow for a 1 week heal time.

I read on Earth Clinic about acetone therapy. WOW!! It's working. I applied acetone to the sore via Q-tip several times that day and allowed it to evaporate. When I awoke this morning, the sore had dried up considerably and is hardly red. It appears the acetone has shorted the 2 week herpes life cycle to 1-2 days. I am so thankful this remedy works. I plan to apply acetone several times today for good measure. Acetone works far better than ammonia on killing this virus. Give it a try, you will be shocked.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Lola (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on 12/23/2010

After applying H2O2 on my "cold sore" I got swollen and puffy part of my upper lip (healthy part of my lip - inside and outside) It stays on my lip second day - no changes, but my cold sore blister is healing well. Please, help me - what can I do with that swollen and puffy part of my upper lip?? it doesn't hurt, but look terrible. Thank you.

Red Marine Algae

Posted by Lynette (San Clemente, Ca.92672) on 12/08/2010
★★★★★

Hi: When ever l get fever blisters l use an excellant product called: Red Marine Algae Dumontiaceae (an Antiviral Food). This always cures me, l recommend it highly. Lynette, san clemente, ca.

Dietary Recommendations

Posted by Surfcity (Orange County, Ca) on 12/06/2010

Kudos, it sounds like you are on the right track except cut out the nuts! Or at least the peanuts!!

BHT

Posted by Surfcity (Orange County, Ca) on 12/06/2010
★★★★★

BHT works. I read about it and immediately tried it for a year, everyday (without fail). Combined with my normally strict diet, no nuts, no alcohol, no chocolate, no soda, no caffeine. Started with 500mg then moving up to 750mg a day and sometimes 1000. I never had a outbreak during this time. My year long experiment ended roughly 2 years ago and I'd say I've had 3 minor outbreaks since the experiment ended, although I have started to occasionally enjoy alcohol again and chocolate and some seeds and nuts, but no caffeine. My opinion is BHT has greatly reduced my outbreaks and improved my life.

Astringent Toner

Posted by Surfcity (Orange County, Ca) on 12/06/2010
★☆☆☆☆

WARNING!

When rubbing anything on a coldsore NEVER break it open. I made the mistake of my life in thinking I could break open a very small cold sore with a Qtip and rubbing alcohol thinking it would kill everything and dry it up. WRONG! It spread across my lip and up to the bottom of my nose, with my lip swelling to at least twice it's normal size. It was extremely painful and embarrassing.

L-Lysine

Posted by Finzy (Palm Beach, Fl) on 12/06/2010

I have episodic bouts of dizziness and vertigo. I went to ENT doc and had caloric testing and BPPV test. It turned out that I do NOT have BPPV and they can't conclude that I have Meneire's. I get fullness and a deep itchiness in right ear, but no ringing and no hearing loss. The doc found the right ear to be the problem during the caloric testing.
I have Herpes in my nose (deep up in right nostril) and genital herpes. I am almost sure that the dizziness I get is from herpes attacking my right inner ear.

After reading suggestions about Lysine supplementation, I began loading up on Lysine. 500 mg about 4-5 times per day. I must say, no more dizziness and no more herpes attack. If I manage to forget to take the Lysine for about 48 hours then sure enough, the genital herpes or nasal herpes start to break out. I sometimes even feel that funny flu feeling in my head and worry that an attack is happening in my inner ear. I am very sure that with future studies, the experts will find a definitive relationship between HSV and vertigo.

Aloe Vera

Posted by Dana (Kansas City, Missouri) on 11/24/2010
★★★★★

I have been drinking Aloe Vera Juice daily, 4oz in the morning and 4oz in the evening, for several months now as a relief from Herpes symptoms. It truly seems to be working. I found this "cure" from a website that talking about ancient Egyptians that used aloe juice for vaginal lesions and decided to try it. The brand I found doesn't taste bad at all, and it really, really seems to help. It's truly a tough disease to deal with, but I would recommend the Aloe Vera Juice to anyone, it can't hurt.

Garlic

Posted by Curative (Midwest) on 11/22/2010
★★★★★

Garlic took care of a cold sore on my lip. I cut a piece of raw garlic in half and placed it on my lip for a few hours. I did this every day and the cold sore was almost slim to none in 3-4 days whereas for me it would take a week or more. The site where the cold sore was was not even noticeable.

Vitamin C

Posted by Doug (Miami, Fl) on 11/05/2010
★★★★★

Vitamin C deserves it's own listing under cures. It's the one thing that works for me. If I take it at the first 'tingle' - no outbreaks. If I catch it too late (for example, I have a little blister when I wake up in the morning), the blister never gets any bigger. I'll generally take about 1500mg every couple of hours until the tingling goes away. Random note: 95% of my outbreaks are preceded by dry/chapped lips. Since moving back to Florida, outbreaks are luckily very rare.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Jaytuccibx (Scarsdale, Ny, Usa) on 11/02/2010
★★★★★

I have cured my oral herpes ingesting H2O2. After I had reached about 15 drops 3x a day I felt my lip tingling as if I was going to get an outbreak... Over the next 3 to 4 days I did get an outbreak (or so I thought). The sore kept growing 3 times its normal size, then balloned and popped... I continued with the h2o2 for the full course.... Also I got boils under my armpits which I now know were the aluminum deposits from my deodorant being forced out.... That was about three years ago... Havent had an outbreak since... I used to get them at least twice a year religiously for 7 years, , . , So when the doctor tells you there is no cure for herpes laugh at him... He will tell you to take a 20$ abreva cream which does nothing... No money in the cure people.... You can easily get reinfected with the virus, if so I would repeat my same process.... I would assume this would also work for GENITAL HERPES being that h2o2 kills basically all viruses and bacteria... Email me with any questions!

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Inourhands (Sydney, Australia) on 10/11/2010
★★★★★

I keep organic ACV in the fridge and use it all the time but had never tried it on cold sores which I occasionally suffer from. After a really busy period without enough rest I was starting to feel very run down and sure enough the other morning I woke up with one cold sore above my lip, and a separate one just starting nearby. I thought i'd try the ACV - dabbed straight on with a cotton bud. Immediately I could tell it was helping, so I applied it a few more times during the day. The one that had already started dried up to a mild scab and the other one retreated completely without erupting. Glad to see others know about this too, it really works.

Acetone

Posted by Coopbkc (Kansas City, Mo, Usa) on 10/08/2010
★★★★★

Thanks everybody on here so much. Earth clinic is amazing; I always check it first and have managed to avoid getting a prescription for anything for over 3 years (funny because I am applying to med school but avoid doctors at all costs). I have had only a few cold sores my entire life, but a few days ago I felt tingling in my lip and went to the bathroom and saw my lip was a little red and slightly swollen. I freaked out. I have a big weekend planned visiting my friends and a guy I just met. Having a cold sore was out of the question. I got on here and saw the acetone remedy. I am finishing my degree in Chemistry and have had quite a bit of contact with acetone and knew that it would work as a powerful disinfectant/drying agent. Also, to everybody that was shocked/worried about acetone, it is produced naturally in very small quantities in the body. Certainly don't make a martini with it, but a couple q-tip's full over a few days shouldn't be harmful assuming you're not allergic. By the time I got home, I had a small sore on my upper lip and my bottom lip had a swollen area the size of a marble (ahh! ). I used a q-tip and applied acetone a few times an hour all night. The next morning the top sore had dried out and scabbed and the bottom was less swollen but still showing signs of blistering. I continued with the acetone in the morning and abreva/acetone throughout the day. I did not use any moisturizer/chapstick because I wanted the infection to dry out. Its now only two days into the outbreak, my bottom lip is normal sized and has scabbed below the surface, the top lip has no scab and is pink and healing well. I am so happy. Its hardly noticeable. By tomorrow, I anticipate I will be back to normal. I have started using Vaseline to moisturize and speed up healing. A little acetone is sooooooo much better than the two week embarrassment I faced last time I had a cold sore. This has almost cleared up in 48 hours and this was the worst (biggest) outbreak I have had. Thank you again.

Liquid Bandaid

Posted by Brooklyn (Colubus, Oh) on 10/06/2010
★★★★★

I used liquid bandaid and though peroxide works very well, the liquid bandaid helped the sore from getting any air. I personally feel that the liquid bandaid worked faster than the HP.

Acetone

Posted by Anita (Ny) on 09/30/2010

Acetone and oil of oregeno (I guess I didn't dilute enough) burnt my skin. Though I did stop two different sores (about two weeks apart in two different locations) with Ice (2 cubes in baggie), then swabbed with h2o2, pat excess off with tp, applied ear wax (I have little inside the ear but rubbed my finger in the crease behind ear where it attaches to head) 3 times a day. Also took Lysine and Vit. C (1 g each) 3-5 times a day. The two small blisters never multiplied or grew. They just dried into little scabs the size of a pinhead. I also have been taking about 1-2 Tbps of soy lecithin with breakfast for about 3 months so I don't know if this has been helping as well. Good Luck!

Acetone

Posted by Piper (Toronto, On) on 09/29/2010

I usually apply hydrogen peroxide, but I thought I would check out what other people do for cold sores. Mine look like monster pimples on my face. Tried nail polish and it does work slightly better than peroxide for me. I also put zinc cream (diaper rash cream) on at night which speeds the healing. I use the brand that has the highest zinc content (37%).

Vicks

Posted by Vetta (Northeast, Usa) on 09/26/2010

This stuff works wonders on cold sores. Just apply like lip gloss. The scent isn't as strong as you think. Doesn't work instantly but heals them faster. And prevents future ones.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Posted by Megan (Brooklyn, New York) on 09/21/2010
★★★★★

This 100% works. I have had cold sores all my life and I have used hydrogen peroxide and it is already dried out after 30 minutes. It is even better if u take a Q-tip dip it first in rubbing alcohol, then non- acetone nail polish remover then hydrogen peroxide. It burns so bad but its works so fast.!!

Mango Mask, Alum

Posted by Mollyanne (Detroit, Michigan, Us) on 09/20/2010
★★★★☆

Yes, the fruit, mangoes. I have to share this here because I believe it has reduced my cold sore outbreaks by about 90%. I had been having almost constant outbreaks for several years, with hardly a week going by where I didn't have at least one or two sores somewhere on my face. I tried SO many remedies, some of which lessened the severity of the outbreaks a little, but nothing that worked tremendously well. My skin was looking icky besides, since I balk at trying to exfoliate it even a little which has the potential of making a whole new batch of cold sores crop up all over, so I decided to give myself a mango facial. Mangoes contain bunches of alpha-hydroxy acids which are supposed to smooth your skin. So I bought a mango, peeled and ate it, then rubbed the inside of the skin all over my face, let it sit for about 15 minutes then rinsed with cool water. The next day my skin looked great - because my cold sores were visibly shrinking! I decided to stick with it just to see. Since then I have been doing the mango facial thing every one to three days, and for the past three months I have hardly had any outbreaks. When I do get them they aren't the monstrous red oozy scabby embarrassments they used to be... Now they are tiny, and usually come to a little white head right away. At this stage I carefully pop them into a tissue, press the area with a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol for a minute, then I apply a layer of granulated alum (available in the spice section of the grocery store). I leave the alum on for as long as I can, then I gently wipe that off and go about my business. The sores turn into tiny scabs and disappear quickly if I leave them alone.

Anyway, as I said, since using the mango on my face both the frequency and severity of my outbreaks have diminished substantially, and I wanted to share this with others - it might work for them too. I have wracked my brain and can't think of anything else I am doing differently that might've caused this. I'm so happy with my discovery.