The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Lemon Balm
Posted by Cris01us (Honolulu) on 07/07/2017
★★★★★
So I have tried many many things for the past three years to deal with embarrassing cold sores and surprisingly most are listed on this site and most do in fact work to some degree or another.
For instance, on a 1-10 scale with 10 being awesome: 1. ACV applied (3) 2. Acetone applied (6) 3. Ice applied (4) 4. L-Lysine taken (5) 5. Earwax applied (7) (hey when your desperate you'll try anything! ) 6. Zinc taken (3) 7. Lemon Balm (9)!!! 8. Organic Oregano Oil applied (7) (if the right strength is applied enough) 9. Tea Tree Oil applied (5) 10. Tea bag applied (2)
If you are reading this and looking for some relief then you have probably read a ton of others too, and what you should have noticed by now is that no one thing by itself is probably going to be a silver bullet. What I have found that works for me is: Lemon Balm oil (1oz bottle with dropper) apply to q-tip and hold that on the spot for 1-5 minutes at a time, do as often as needed through out the day. If done at the very first sign this is amazing with helping slow everything down. Then up the L-lysine to 3000mg (1000 each dose). Drink plenty of water - the body needs it! Eat healthy (I even fasted for a day once and it helped).
Take a zinc supplement and make sure your getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs and plenty of rest. I also have tried BHT and I think it helps....but that's not natural and is very controversial in this kind of community.
Mistakes: too strong of OOO - I burned my lip and it took as long to heal as it would have the cold sore (but it worked the sores were gone the next day)! . Topical Zinc Sulfate - also burns. TTO applied too often - burns and stops working after a while. Really in most mistakes it comes down to overdoing it. I know we all want it gone yesterday but NOTHING is going to do that so have a little patience. Best of luck!
Ice
Posted by Joy (Zimbabwe) on 06/19/2016
★★★★★
I used to suffer terribly with cold sores, until I discovered that holding an ice cube on my lip directly over the tell-tale "tingle" that I came to dread!!! Hold it there until the cube has melted, and hey presto, no more tingle and no outbreak!! This discovery has revolutionised my life... perhaps a bit dramatic, but it sure feels wonderful to no longer suffer with a dreaded fever blister!! :)
Ear Wax
Posted by Shannon (Toronto, On) on 07/02/2015
★★★★★
I get cold sores at least 3-4 times every year. The last couple years I do everything I can as early as possible to try and reduce the sore and get to the scab phase. I use ice, hydrogen peroxide, l-lysine tablets and oregano oil but no matter what I do it always lasts about 5 days to a week. I got a bad one two days ago, I noticed it as I was on my way to work and unfortunately couldn't do anything about it all day. By the end of the day it was a full-blown nasty, throbbing sore that spread half way across my lip! I tried all of the things that I normally do and nothing seemed to be working in the slightest because I didn't catch it fast enough. I
finally decided to try the ear wax method and within an hour of applying it, the pain started to go away and the sore reduced drastically. I applied some more a few times throughout the day yesterday, and today it's already at the scab phase. This will be the first thing I try from now on.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Jnell (Bc, Canada) on 01/16/2014
★★★★★
A drop or 2 of Oil of Oregano applied directly to my cold sore (lip), using a clean cotton swab, upon onset, stop growth dead in it's tracks! What would normally take 7-10 days to fester and heal now takes only 3 days!
Garlic
Posted by Fae (Santa Rosa, Ca) on 06/11/2013
★★★★★
The juice of fresh raw garlic clove applied topically stops a cold sore dead in its tracks! Results are felt instantly. I've tried many of the natural Earth Clinic remedies for cold sores (ice, peroxide, L-lysine, nail polish remover, etc. ) with varying degrees of success so when I say it works almost immediately, I am speaking from experience! As soon as you feel that dreaded tingle or see any sign of the blister, peel a raw clove, nick the end to release the juices (or smash it in a garlic press) and apply to the sore. Hold it on there for about 15 seconds. It will sting like a sonuva..but that is the garlic juice doing its job and is actually a satisfying sensation. I usually only have to do this 2 or 3 times within an hour or two, holding it on there for about 15 seconds each time (any longer and the strong juice may irritate the skin) and the virus inside the cold sore dies or retreats. You can feel it! Any physical damage the cold sore has caused will have to heal in it's own time which is why it's best to catch it before there is any visible sign but even when I had a big red swollen bubble, it flattened within an hour, dried up and flaked off within a day or so. Instantly effective and dependable! I have read that garlic is a strong anti-viral and it is now my only cold sore treatment. I love Earth Clinic and wanted to share this simple but effective cold sore cure.
General Feedback
Posted by Luiz Fernando (Brazil) on 11/08/2021
nope, that would never been an overdose. I have taken lugols 5% doses for 7 years ranging from 8 drops to 20-40 without issues besides some herx symptoms from detox.
The minimum amount for maintenance is 8 drops = 50mg, but often doses of 16 drops = 100mg is recommended because we are fully loaded on bromine/bromides, fluorides and toxins that will take a long time to clear before iodine/iodide can enter it receptors and works on sufficiency, doctors in the past have gave 200mg-3grams of iodine for serious conditions like syphilis and dangerous infections. IT cant be overdosing in that range, our body holds 2.5grams of iodine/iodide content when sufficient.
So any info that tells you to take 2-3 drops is a lie. People taking 2-3 drops will take 3-4 years to detox all bromides and fluorides to get into the sufficiency. Reminding you that we are exposed to fluoride and mostly bromine/bromide on a daily basis, as lots of products we have are loaded on bromine/bromide fire retardants, so you could never reach the full benefit of iodine in that dose.
I take 100mg =16 drops now for months this year, and I feel really good.
L-Lysine
Posted by L (New York, New York, Usa) on 03/29/2011
★★★★★
I have found that taking large doses of L-lysine as SOON as the cold sore begins to develop will cause it to never develop... Or if it does, it won't be noticeable, and won't last more than a couple of days. I have recently undergone a period where I have fought off about 4 cold sores in about a month. It has been absolutely terrible, however, I have gotten to the point where I am pretty sure I have come up with a foolproof prevention and treatment method.
First of all, STRESS and DIET are the two main culprits of these sores. Any diet high in Arginine combined with unusually high levels of stress, little sleep, or menstration will definitely make it hard for the body to fight off cold sores. I have found that I MUST completely eliminate coffee, any form of nuts (including peanut butter), oatmeal, and soft drinks in order to prevent these suckers from appearing. Chocolate intake also needs to be monitored. All 4 times that I have gotten these sores, I had had unusually high levels of stress and had a ton of coffee/soft drinks. I don't know if it is the caffeine or coffee itself, but I do know this must be avoided altogether for me.
Taking L-Lysine each day is NOT suggested, since your body will become immune to it, and it won't be as effective taking it when a cold sore does appear. However, making sure to eat foods with Lysine everyday if you are a frequent sufferer is essential. Yogurt (with live cultures) is wonderful as far as lysine counts are concerned. I have started to include yogurt in my daily diet , and other dairy products such as cheeses and milk, since these are all wonderful foods rich in lysine. Also, most vegetables are excellent as well.
Despite all these precautions, sometimes the suckers still appear, and treatment is vital in getting rid of them quicker. I use a combination of abreva (as soon as it first appears), hand sanitizer (especially if the blister is very tiny... I will pop it and IMMEDIATELY apply hand sanitizer to kill the germs... And make sure to wash your hands thoroughly afterward.. This seems to be effective), as well as nail polish remover to dry it up. The bigger the sore gets however, the less you should touch it. Definitely do not pop it if it is huge, since this will only spread germs. The best method for a huge sore is to dry it out, so nail polish remover is best. Also application of honey, beeswax, and hot tea bags have all seemed to relieve it, though I am not sure if those actually HEAL the sore.
On top of these topical applications, I also take LARGE doses of lysine (about 1000 every few hours), as well as Vitamin C. I believe this is honestly the most crucial part of the whole treatment. Make sure your diet is completely free of arginine when the sore is developing... Otherwise it might get pretty nasty. Arginine is prevolent in coffee, chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, coconut, oatmeal, wheat (meaning bread and beer needs to be avoided!! ), jello, brown rice, beans, and lentils.
Eating a lot of licorice also has seemed to help me a ton(make sure the licorice you buy contains real licorice extract... the artificial stuff won't help).
This is a lot... But this is my method of prevention and treatment that seems to work quite nicely. Hope this helps someone!!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Renee (El Dorado, Kansas) on 05/28/2007
★★★★★
My vanity for white teeth found me reaching for the peroxide 16 years ago. A side affect was that I was no longer experiencing cold sores (approx 6 a year). My regime was brushing teeth, gums, and tongue with peroxide a couple times a week. When I forgot to do this, the tingling sensation of an outbreak reminded me to do the peroxide treatment and no cold sore surfaced. There have been a few times that I was out of peroxide and got the cold sore but it was gone within 2 days of getting peroxide and the sore was very mild. Apply directly in addition to brushing the entire mouth. I've had two cold sores in the last 15 years. The one during my divorce and the other after getting unjustly fired from my job. Both were mild attacks.
Clove Oil
Posted by Christy B (Turbotville, Pa USA) on 03/13/2024
★★★★★
Most of the time, when I feel the first tingle of a cold sore, I can head it off with high doses of lysine. Unfortunately, there are some times, like the one I'm dealing with now, where a cold sore comes out overnight without any warning and is past the point of not showing up by the time I wake up in the morning. Whenever that happens, I put a little bit of clove bud essential oil on a cotton ball and hold it against the sore for about 30 seconds. It's amazing because it clears the cold sore up faster and also takes the pain and itching away immediately. I have a toddler, so after I apply clove bud oil, I cover the sore with a colloidal patch to keep little hands from bumping into the infected site.
Acetone
Posted by earth is a pancake (chiraq, illinois.) on 09/09/2023
★★★★★
When I read about cold sores and acetone - I thought these people had lost their minds!! ... but this last time I had a bad case sold sore, two locations on lower lip about 5-6 bumps / bulbs, 3-4 of them were getting oversized, I looked horrible - and hurt like a mofo.
I used a q-tip to dip in a home depot purchased acetone container and applied throughout the day starting in the afternoon. Without any exaggeration, and with outmost sincerity, it worked for me. By the end of the day 10 pm or so - the size of the bumps/bulbs decreased to about 25% from the large size of that same morning. I could not believe it. I asked my roommate, just to make sure I was not losing my mind and going blind...
By the next morning, the bumps decreased more in size, and a small scabs started to appear - signaling the healing process has begun... I only applied once or twice the second day.
Don't ingest the powerful acetone, careful breathing in the fumes - I held my breath as much as possible, sealed my lips / mouth while applying with q tip soaked. Acetone evaporates very quickly, so application time is short.. Think I applied about 10 times from afternoon til midnight the first day.
Hope this helps!
Acetone
Posted by V (US) on 11/04/2023
★★★★☆
Be Careful with Acetone!
Acetone is so powerful it will take the paint right off your car!
You are using it to kill the virus, this shouldn't take more than 1 day, once the virus is dead, meaning the cold sores stop growing and developing, you need to stop using acetone, it is used to kill the virus, not to heal the cold sore, the healing process happens naturally, the more you leave it alone the quicker it will heal.
Acetone
Posted by naturalremedies101 (orlando, fl ) on 08/11/2022
★★★★★
My bottom lip was tingling all day. At the end of the day around 6pm, I looked in a zoom-in mirror and could see the horrendous 3 bumps forming. I immediately began applying acetone. I did this for 30 seconds-1 min at a time up every 20-30 minutes up until I went to bed around 10pm. I worked the next day and could still see the bumps, but they did not pop or grow. I went ahead and applied and applied nail polish remover in the morning before going to work and once in the afternoon. When I got home, I applied it again until I went to sleep multiple times. I kept a cotton pad with acetone on until it burned too much. On day 3, there was no longer a coldsore forming! I can't believe this actually worked :)
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Drew (Scotland, UK ) on 09/02/2021
★★★★★
Colloidal silver is the only thing I have found which a real and quick effect on cold sores. I apply it frequently when I get a flare-up.
I am not prone to cold sores, and the vast majority of the ones I have had can be traced to unwittingly ingesting the poison that is aspartame.
Thankfully, the silver goes a long way to countering it. If I'm quick enough, it can stop an outbreak entirely.
Acetone
Posted by Sarab (CA) on 12/26/2021
Does acetone make them stay away? Just wondering because I use selenium (selenomethionine) and I don't get cold sores any more. I take 1 200mcg capsule a day although I started by taking 2 200mcg capsules a day for about 10 months.
Acetone
Posted by Carolyne (Washington) on 12/15/2024
★★★★★
It's not just the aspartame. I started totally avoiding aspartame and ALL artificial sweeteners years ago, (I never drink sodas either) and I still get a cold sore, every time I get a runny nose-- a cold, the flu (which is RARE), or allergies and Im blowing/wiping my nose a lot!! So I think I need to take Lysine. When they do start to come on-- I SWEAR by the acetone and/or ICE!! Apply the ice cube till it hurts! let it rest a while and do it again, repeat often as soon as you feel that tingle. The virus can't take the cold and it goes away without scabbing...
L-Lysine
Posted by Nancy R. (New Hope, PA) on 08/03/2020
★★★★★
I had persistent fever blisters on my lips for years and years. When I took 500mg lysine/day it quickly solved the problem. I do not get them now.
L-Lysine
Posted by Bethany H. (San Diego, Ca) on 02/10/2019
★★★★★
L-lysine for cold sores WORKS!!!
My mom, sisters and I suffer from cold sores- or at least we used to, because we discovered that taking L-lysine stops, actually STOPS cold sores in their tracks. As soon as you feel that “is that a cold sore funny sore feeling “ on your lip or around lips area, start taking L-lysine immediately! Take 1000 mg of L-lysine two to three times a day. So immediately effective and we all carry in our purse and on trips so we have immediate help in case it strikes while you're out and about. I've spent so much money or various cold sore lip creams but this is the best ever! L-lysine.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Clay
Posted by Sheel (New York, Ny) on 07/08/2016
★★★★★
I just experience an amazing recovery from a recurring cold sore. In the past I have used garlic and tried acetone topically, but I noticed that moisture always exacerbated the sore for example taking a shower would be terrible. This time I figured I would dry the heck out of it so I tried using a clay mask mixed with an equal amount of ACV on my developing cold sore. I did it two times a day for two days now and slept with it on my lip overnight and the cold sore completely skipped it's "exploding with pus" stage, dried up and is healing. I hope you try this, it really worked amazingly well for me.
Acetone
Posted by Ed (Seattle, Wa) on 01/01/2016
★★★★★
My diet is somewhat acidic. I would experience cold sore attacks every other week. I stopped taking daily multivitamins due to high L-arinine content of solid multivitamin pills. I have been eating roman lettuce, green cabbage, carrots and other vegetables every day starting this summer.
I had only 1 instant of tingling and reddish color on my lower lip where cold sores would appear before. Tingling, inflammation and skin redness went away in minutes after applying acetone.
Ice
Posted by Lavender (Minnesota) on 12/22/2013
★★★★★
This works at the first sign of a sore, quickly and every time.... ICE.... Take a cloth so your fingers don't freeze off, wrap it around a cube of ice. Place the ice directly on the sore. You can move it around the surrounding area, as well. Leave it there until you can't stand it anymore....then do it again....at often as you have time to during one day's time....
I promise you it will go away. The ice does not bother me, I'm used to it, you will too knowing the sore will be gone by evening. This works for me everytime, been doing this for YEARS!
Acetone
Posted by Josephine (Uk) on 10/20/2013
★★★★★
Just wanted to say that acetone for nose ulcers work very well. Just just a cotton bud dipped it into acetone and applied to the sore for one minute. I did this every moring and niht for two days.. The tinggling sensation went after the second application. Thank you Earth Clinic.
