Cold Sore Relief: Top Natural Remedies

Stop a herpes outbreak: THC, the active ingredient in marijuana kills the herpes virus. It stops the pain of a canker sore on contact. You do not need to smoke or get high at all, just put a pinch into rubbing alcohol and apply with a q-tip.

Well, I've never heard of that before...Really don't see how that would work, but I suppose it's worth a try, I guess, 'cause I always got bud around! But just in case anyone is wondering, NO, smoking out WILL NOT prevent or cure an outbreak!!! Trust me, I'm a freakin pot head who smokes everyday and I'm actually having a massive outbreak as I type this. I haven't had this disease very long so I'm still learning about what works, what doesn't, prevention of spreading and outbreaks...but man is it horrible. Suppressive therapy still allows outbreaks, but then if you find yourself like me, without a job or insurance, you can't afford it anymore and it makes the next outbreak SO MUCH WORSE! Plus, any stress factor or change in your life, your body, your emotions...all of that will cause an outbreak. If you are sick, a smoker, have another disease, even menstruation can trigger an outbreak. Guys who have it should consider themselves VERY lucky. They don't have the proper "environment" to advocate growth, as we girls do. It sucks. THE ONLY thing I've found to be very helpful is the typical M.D. answer: "Eat right, exercise, take vitamins, drink water" etc etc. As stupid and cliche as that advice sounds, it really did do wonders for me when I was vigilant about my health. It may be worth noting (or may not be...dunno) that I was following a gluten-free diet during this time and drank no carbonated beverages at all, as well as no alcohol. When my world fell apart, though, like everyone's does at SOME point, that's when my health went to s--- and that's when I even discovered I had the disease(s). I'd had them for several months and never knew. I knew this because I had been single for a while by then. This is probably why fairly healthy individuals can have these for years and really, truly NEVER know--until their immune system drops. HPV works very similarly (I got the 2-for-1 special from Mr Manwhore whom I foolishly trusted). I didn't even know I had a problem, aside from the usual paranoia after having sex with a different partner. But yeah, you know, it sounds real easy to just eat good foods, drink water, and exercise, but when everything sucks in your life, it's real hard to actually do. Pile jobs, kids, housework, relationships, bills, etc on top of it and it's easy to just say *F it!* and go to McDonalds. THEN, try doing it by yourself like I, and SO MANY other single women, have to do. And then when immunity is down your outbreaks take over and make you feel ugly at the VERY least, not even mentioning the pain. If you're not SUPER careful you can spread it around your body. I do not have oral herpes but whether it was from just being not careful, or a towel, or whatever, I managed to get a sore on my lip. So yeah, another bad cliche, "an ounce of cure is worth a pound of prevention"...Wear condoms, people. Don't be stupid like I was. Sure it feels great, but the potential consequences ARE NOT worth it. And most of the time the guy is not worth it either. Well, anyway, that's about all I had. Hope that helps someone out there, anyway.

At first sign of a COLD SORE take two acidofillus capsules with water three times a day. These bowel friendly bacteria used to be available in yogurt and/or goats milk but are now usually removed. I believe that the friendly bacteria helps balance the ph of the colon and eliminates the cold sores. I have used this on myself and my family and a dozen other people in the last 25 years and never seen it fail. Results almost immediate and it never takes more than 24 hrs.

I have found that breaking the sores (with fingernail clippers) to open them and applying Head & Shoulders shampoo is an incredible way to get rid of cold sores fast. You must open the sores, though, to get the shampoo directly inside them. Warning, it hurts like peroxide on cuts but it's worth it. If you do this at the first tingle, you can usually keep the sores from developing at all. Apply it often. Then, once the sores are scabs, use polysporin to heal them very quickly.

Head and Shoulders shampoo has zinc in it, zinc has been known to help prevent and/or cure herpes.

Can not say what a relief it was to find this web site. I eat and drink allot of sugar substitutes. I had no idea it could cause break outs. Right before I logged on tonight I drank a diet soda, with in minutes I felt an outbreak comeing on. This is a very difficult subject to talk about even with my doctors. The worst was having to tell my obgyn when I found out I was pregnant. So great to have a place to go. As of tonight out goes the sugar subs. and I will take into account all the other helpful diet suggestions.

Hi my name is Lucky Phoswa, from South Africa I'm busy experimenting with BHT, to try and control my cold sore outbreaks and documenting it all on my blog at: bht-coldsores.blogspot.com. I want to give users first hand information on the use of BHT, with results and it's side effects. Many thanks,

Ok after reading the above blog on BHT, I thought I would give it a try. So I began taking 250mg per day and over the course of a week or two ramped it up to 1000 mg per day. i continued this for 2 months not always taking 1000mg but varying between the 250 and 1000, and during this time I had far more (3 to be exact) and more severe outbreaks than I'd had in the 5 years since first realizing I had genital herpes. So, I would say BHT is an emphatic NO. I even combined it with ST. Johns Wart (hipericin). I have been outbreak free since quitting the BHT and thought well maybe this stuff actually worked and I had rid myself of the virus, but just last night I began feeling the familiar pain, like somebody punched me in the vag and it has continued onto today. No blisters yet but I'm sure they are coming. Since quitting the BHT, I have been boosting my immune system with extra zink, resveratrol, flax seed oil, mega doses of vitamin b, vitamins a+d, vitamin c. The boosting of the immune system seems to be the only effective therapy.

Genital Herpes, For herpes of any kind I would be taking 2000 (2grams) of l-lysine mealtime and bedtime. As a matter of fact I would rely on this for any virus. When I start taking it when the fever blister first starts, it is already drying up by the next day after starting it.

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.

BHT if taken with other supplements will not work, as these other supplements interfere with the metabolism of BHT. Sounds like your problem.

If you feel a break out happening take the BHT again for a while. Oscar takes it every day and says it will intensify the effects of alcohol.

Art.

I just read about artificial sweeteners and it's expediting effects of the herpes virus. This is very interesting to me because three days ago I bought a box of splenda,(I usually use regular sugar). I have such a sweet tooth that I've been putting splenda on everything! Today, I woke up with cold sores on my lips. Could it just be a coincidence? or maybe artificial sweeteners actually do cause outbreaks...I'm giving it up to see if this is true! Damn you splenda

I felt my cold sore coming on like I normally do about this time of year when my core temperature drops, but because I've been changing my dieting habits I decided to fast on blended fruits and dark leafy green vegetables until it went away. The cold sore came to a head much like a pimple so I popped it and it just dissappeared. At the time I thought that perhaps it was just a pimple but now it is a few weeks later and it has reappeared as a cold sore much smaller and more towards the inner part of my mouth which has never happened in the 15 years I've had it. In fact it had spread within the last three years and I thought I had made it permanently bigger. I believe it has come back because within the last week I have eaten a lot of junky foods again. So my suggestion would be just eat fruits and vegetables either whole, blended, or juiced until the cold sore goes away. It will give your body a chance to regroup and deal with it and other ailments that you may be experiencing.

what has worked for me for getting rid of cold sores faster than anything else may, not be the best thing. it hurts for a while, but it gets rid of them fast. take a wash cloth, dampen it with hot water, apply the washcloth to the coldsore and rip the cold sore off. afterwords apply vasoline/neosporine to the open wound. i have yet to have a problem transmitting the virus, even minutes after ripping the cold sore off. this is the fastest way i have found to rid myself of the embarassing sores. as for preventing the outbreaks, i try to live my life as stress free as possible. i have found that stress is the main cause of getting cold sores. i may have 3 outbreaks a year, each of which lasting no more than 12 hours.

I'm sorry, but with all the alternative remedies listed here I can't condone ripping off part of your face; in effect, performing surgery on yourself as a remedy to cold sores. Not only would this be excruciatingly painful, you also leave an open wound on your face to develop infections and leave scars. Next time, try Apple Cider Vinegar. My cold sore erupted, oozed, dried out, scabbed and cleared up within 24 hours after repeatedly applying 100% Apple cider vinegar for a few hours. By the next day, only a small dry red area of skin was left which could be covered with a little concealer and healed within the next 24 hours. What would usually last 8-10 days essentially ran it's course in 2 and vinegar is all natural. I was amazed how well it worked, but it certainly did and didn't involve mutilating my face.

Apply Aloe Vera whenever you feel a cold sore coming on. Most the time you will not have an outbreak at all. You can also take Aloe Vera by mouth, too! If you do get a cold sore, pop the blister with a needle, then apply the Aloe Vera. You won't even see it after about 2 hours! Good luck....works for me!

Hydrogen Peroxide is my no fail solution to a cold sore. I always rub on my entire lip area with a soaked cotton ball at any sign of tingle, the tingle goes away. The moment I have a cold sore, I drench it in the peroxide and I normally start scabbing in a day or two. It is the best remedy to an outbreak I have found!!!

I was severely depressed this morning when I woke with an OB [OB = Outbreak] (HSV-2). Perhaps I am one of the "lucky" ones but it has been over 7 years since my last OB. In that first year, I had 2 OBs in quick succession, then got on Valtrex suppressive for a period of 2 years). After stopping the suppressive, I was clear for another 5 years. Now I should mention that I have recently hit an incredible wall of stress and depression based on financial and personal issues. I also started a diet that was heavy on the sugarfree gum, diet soda, and protein powder (with artificial sweeteners). I am halting all of those immediately thanks to this site and all of the anecdotal support. Based on what I've read on this site, I will try

1.) removing all artificial sweeteners,

2.) investigate and/or start taking supplements that include L-Lysine, Neam Leaf, Garlic tablets

3.) begin consuming foods such as broccoli for the indole-3-carbinol and apple cider vinegar
4.) remove refined sugars, chocolate, almonds, peanuts, beer, wine

BHT seems to have an interesting potential. I'll have to look at this potential "miracle" cure immediately. Most of all, I thank this site and other posters for making me feel less alone with this. I've been OB free but I think about this every day of my life. If I may be allowed to vent for a second, I still feel intense disgust, hostility, and anger at the "person" who neglected and denied to inform me. I'll leave it at that since I am returning to the feelings of hate, anger, and depression as I write this. I'll just say that I truly feel for those of you who have had the same/similar experience. Finally, does anyone have a suggestion for a reliable, legitimate online source for ordering those supplements. Quite honestly, I don't feel like walking into a public store and asking for every supplement that is linked to help HSV.

At work on Wednesday, I decided to try sweetener instead of Sugar in my tea for the first time. Within minutes, I got a sore on the upper right side of my lip, which I have never gotten before.

I had the same experience with Aspartame in one of those power low-carb bars. Before I finished the bar I was having incredible nerve pain shooting up in my shoulders. But still I wasn't smart enough to stop eating them and soon had stabbing pains on one side of my back (shingles)along with a rash. I checked this site and started the Apple Cider Vinegar and by the next morning the outbreak was gone. I also have genital herpes and when I first found out I had it (the 1980's) I would breakout over and over until I found out it was the Wheat Germ I was putting on my cereal every morning. For some reason eating much of whole grains to this day will cause me to OB. Now I know to avoid the artificial sweeteners too! So much for the FDA!

[Aspartame AND Arginine Connection] I wrote earlier about my experience with eight years of un-diagnosed herpes. Since then, I've been experimenting with it, and I've got complete control over it--I can make myself completely symptom-free, or cause an outbreak within 30 minutes.

THE CURES: Coconut. Yep, another vote for that one. I recently discovered Thai food, and they put coconut milk in just about everything. Taking special care to eat Tom Kha Gai (Food of the gods!) or Thai curry dishes several times a week, I've discovered that I have no need for my previous supplement: Gigartina Red Marine Algae, 1000mg (4 capsules) per day. And it's a lot more fun! To be fair, though, the Red Marine Algae works just as well.

If I want to cause an outbreak within an hour, all I have to do is not eat any coconut products for a few days, and then have a Diet Red Bull. Chock full of both Aspartame and arginine, if your doctor needs you to have an outbreak for testing purposes, this will do the trick. Drinking two of these per day sent me to the emergency room with horrible sores, and was how I discovered I had herpes. Other energy drinks (containing arginine) kept me having sores for the next few months until I realized the connection.

I have just read the site relating to various artificial sweetener causes of herpes outbreaks. I was diagnosed over 20 years ago with Genital Herpex; having only one outbreak and only one other very mild outbreak a couple of years later. Since then, nothing. Anyway, I have been a steady and constant user of Splenda since it came out, using 5 packets for each cup of coffee. I don't drink too many sodas but do drink Crystal Lite and consume other products with Splenda. Over the past several years, I have developed this type of constant hack which comes from my throat, not my lungs. Initially my doctor said it was caused by acid reflux and I was given an upper gi to make sure I had no damage to my esophagus which showed no damage. I was told to take Prilosec but that doesn't help much either. Well, a couple of months ago, I switched back to Equal and it seems like my symptons disappeared. I have now stopped using Splenda again and the symptoms have greatly reduced. They are not totally gone, but again, I do consume Yogurt with Splenda and Cystal Lite and also the lite sugar free ice creams. I'm thinking that the Sucralose, which is the only different ingredient than that of Equal may just be the cause. Can anybody relate to this or have had similar symptoms? I'm thinking maybe its some type of lo-grade mild outbreak???

I have had genital herpes for seven years and in seven years i have had maybe three or four outbreaks usually caused by extreme stress and diet, I am very fortunate. For the past month I have not been under any stress and have consumed my normal diet the only thing i did differently was add tons of splenda to my diet. I was using about 15 packs a day for lemonade and food. I noticed i started to get have more frequent outbreaks. I did not know until i read this article that artificial sweetner can cause outbreaks it all makes sense now.