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.
Dietary Recommendations
Posted by Shandra (Sacramento, CA) on 06/10/2007
★★★★★
About seven years ago I dated a guy who came with a prize, undisclosed to me! Within the first month I was breaking out. The first time was the worst; I experienced pain like no other, I quickly proceeded to visit my doctor who wasted no time to diagnose me with this lovely virus. I was getting large embarrassing blisters round my mouth at least 4-5 times a year and I would have genital outbreaks about 10 times a year... I seriously went into depression, gained weight and stopped having a life. I was embarrassed knowing that I could never address the issue with a potential counterpart and of course I could not be irresponsible, as the guy who was irresponsible with me. What have I done? How have things changed in my life? Well number one, I started a regular exercise program. I run 3-4 times a week. I topped eating processed meals - (no restaurants, no fast food, no packages, no cans, no boxes, and no microwave popcorn, nothing out of a package, nothing frozen). So what am I eating? I eat fruits all day, until I gag. I eat Vegetables all day, until I gag. I eat oats and whole wheat, in the form of "old fashioned oatmeal", "wheat bread" 'brown rice", you get the picture. I eat meat two to three times a week, mostly chicken and once or twice a month I eat fish. I keep beef to a minimum. I eat a variety of mixed nuts.
. these are RAW nuts . almonds, peanuts with skin, cashews, sunflower, flax seed, pumpkin seed . you get the idea. I stopped drinking wine, coffee, tea and I stopped smoking. I drink water all day long, till I gag. I drink 8oz of milk daily and I drink home made smoothies and juices and vegetable juice. I take prenatal vitamins (I am not pregnant). Since, I am a girl and I have sugar cravings. guess what. there is honey. I use natural honey on toast, on my Oatmeal, in my milk.you get the idea.
I try to exclude white table sugar, white table salt, white flour, sodium, cholesterol, fats. But I don't count the natural sugars in fruits and the oils in the nuts. The only thing I really track is my protein intake; I try to make sure I have enough protein daily. (Protein is balanced according to ones height, weight, gender, activity level)
Since I started paying attention to my body, eating what my body needs, dinking what my body needs and taking all the vitamins that my body needs: I have not had an outbreak in over one year. ALSO, I have lost weight, I feel better than I have ever felt in my entire life. At 43, I feel that I am in GREAT shape! Of course I still need to overcome my fears of having a difficult conversation with the possibility of a rejection, which is something I will have to live with the rest of my life.
This seems to work for me. If you would like to try something similar please consult your doctor prior to making any changes in your diet. Good luck!
Tinactin (Foot Spray)
Posted by Wellington (Quincy, WA) on 01/14/2007
★★★★★
I used this product called "Tinactin" (its an athletes foot spray) I used it for 3 days morning and night .I sprayed it on and let it dry,(I used it because Tinactin has an anti itch medicine in it )after the 3rd day the blisters were gone and i have not had an out break for about 1 year.
Neem Leaves or Oil
Posted by Marie (FL) on 09/25/2006
★★★★★
A couple years ago the doctor said i had HSV I have a friend who believes in a lot of natural remedies, she told me of Neem leaves she said it cleared up her HPV and she did research that showed it is toxic to certain viruses. I have taken neem and can tell you it does work. Either it really masks the virus from being transmitted or from having outbreaks. since taking it there has been no outbreaks. I have been doing research online and a lot of sites say that it is indeed toxic to the hsv virus. I believe there is a cure out there that they don't want us to know about and i think neem is one of them.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Jenny (Toronto)
★★★★★
I use organic tea tree oil on my lips when I get the beginnings of an outbreak and it is gone within 24-36 hours. (i apply 3-4x/day).
also, an acidic body will give you an outbreak quickly. Look into the acid alkaline balance. Cheese and coffee does it for me every time.
Ear Wax
Posted by Annie (Washington) on 03/25/2024
★★★★★
My partner is prone to cold sores, and after I found earwax suggested on EC, he tried it and IT WORKS! Amen for folk medicine, and this website!
Oregano Oil
Posted by crystal (TX) on 02/14/2024
★★★★★
Oil of oregano heals fever blisters within days. I actually put the oil in the wound itself and then take 300 mg twice daily.
L-Lysine
Posted by Another Mom (San Diego, CA) on 03/23/2023
★★★★★
L-lysine for cold sores WORKS! All my siblings get cold sores and around 10 years ago one of us discovered that L-Lysine 1000mg 3 x day as soon as you feel that tingle/pain and even AFTER one has erupted. Then reduce to 500 mg 3 x d for a few more days. By that time all should be well.
If one sore has emerged, then it goes away quickly - if it hasn't then the L-Lysine makes it go away fast.
I keep a bottle of it in my vehicle, as we know those suckers can strike at any time & don't wait until you have some on hand.
Reading through the posts, some take it daily. I heard you should ONLY take it when needed and prolonged use is not good for you, other posts say it can affect the liver-so be careful out there, do your research, and if confirmed, only take for a few days to a week.
Ear Wax
Posted by Sandy (Chapel Hill, NJ) on 11/23/2022
★★★★★
Ear wax 100% works and I'm so glad I found this remedy. The key is to get to it early and it will stop it from every getting visible. But even if you miss the early stages and wake up with one, ear wax still drastically cuts down how long its around. I find, now that I know this, the max a cold sore will be around for me is 48-72 hours and usually they aren't noticeable at all. The only unfortunate thing with this remedy is you're likely to not have/produce enough ear wax to apply ear wax multiple times.
L-Lysine and Vitamin C
Posted by Aviva (Tel Aviv (Gosh Dan)) on 11/16/2022
★★★★★
I came up with the tingling feeling of a cold sore. There it was. on my upper lip. I took 4 grams Lysine per day + natural vitamin C 4000 mg per day and put some coconut oil on the blister. It stopped growing and tingling immediately and the blister began drying quickly. Now it is the 3rd day and only a wound remained.
Acetone
Posted by beverly (USA) on 10/29/2023
Acetone is not the safest chemical in the world so I would use a q tip so as to target the sore better rather than a cotton ball.
acetonefaq.pdf (delaware.gov)
Ketchup
Posted by Whathadhappendedwas (Florida) on 07/07/2022
★★★★★
I usually get the big cold sores that make your lip look like a balloon. It sucks. I was eating spaghetti and noticed the sauce made my lip fill better. Did a search about tomato sauce and herpes to see if there was others who tried or used it. Came across a video that said to use ketchup. It was a boring video but decided to try it...Ole family recipe or something. Anyways grabbed some ketchup and put it on my lips. Guess I know what lipstick feels like. I don't know. I put a lot of ketchup on and just started watching a movie. It tingled a little, more uncomfortable I guess. But I left it on and after about 44 minutes I could feel a cluster in the back of my jaw get zapped. Not really sure how else to explain it. Provided relied though. Provided relief for the swollen lip too. Felt like it was working and decided to put a fresh batch and leave it on all night.
Woke up the next morning and it wasn't swollen anymore. Already formed scabs and started healing. Few days later my lip was back to normal. For the healing, I put Abreva on. I typically get blisters from the sun. Haven't had any in a couple months. Might be my new go to as Apple Cider Vinegar sucks. Ketchup is everywhere! Won't hurt to try. Says to use it at the tingle stage to prevent them too.
Lemongrass
Posted by Trista (Sydney, Australia ) on 03/05/2022
★★★★★
Fresh lemongrass has stopped my cold sores in their tracks. If you get to it on the tingle and before it blisters it will knock it out and won't get the chance to blister.
Get a fresh lemongrass stalk, peel one of the layers off and use a spoon..I usually have the spoon up right while I scrape the inside lemongrass layer using my thumb to hold it down and get the juice on the spoon that way.. then put it on the cold sore with my finger...
The 1st couple of times I just put the layer on a plate and used the spoon and pressed it down to get the juice on the back of the spoon and used the spoon directly on the cold sore so I didn't have to wash my hands after.. or fold the layer in half and use the juices that produce at the fold directly to the cold sore..
1st time I used it, it was at the tingle stage.. within the hour of it tingling I applied the lemongrass juice just the once and the tingle stopped instantly. It was around midday/ early afternoon that I applied it.
The next morning I felt the tingle again.. I could see slight redness however no blister so I quickly put some more on and immediately stopped tingling and started healing after that.. no blister. No more applying. It just didn't progress into a cold sore and it healed from that point on.
2nd time it had just started to rise and was about to form a blister. I had no lemongrass on hand so went to the shops and grabbed some.I applied it that afternoon and before bed. The next day no tingling and it was healing. I didn't need to apply anymore.
So it would seem that 2 applications are necessary.
4th or 5th time I had kept the lemongrass in the freezer.. to my dismay, it did not work. It took the tingle out a little which I felt I needed to keep applying it.. soo I did all day and the next day.. but it continued into a blister.. I got some fresh lemongrass the next day and it worked. Immediately stopping its progress.
So the lemongrass has to be fresh.
I've tried all the creams.. they aren't really great.. at 1st they helped the itchiness etc but never stopped the blisters...and after a while don't do anything at all..
I've tried peppermint extract.. as I had read good things.. but this didn't help really.. made it less itchy but didn't help the blisters.. same as toothpaste.. it stops the itch but it burns the skin and makes the area bigger.
Lemongrass by far is the best thing I've tried. Knocks it out.
Artifiical Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Teresa (Texas, USA) on 10/11/2021
★★★★★
I had not had a cold sore outbreak for it seems like years, but yesterday I chewed 1 stick of sugarfree gum and I have the biggest outbreak happening now....about 12 to 18 hours after exposure. I will definitely be more careful in the future.
Bleach
Posted by Corrina (AB) on 01/09/2022
★★★★★
I do this as well. In fact I started feeling the tingle around 2 this morning. Dabbed a cotton swab with bleach before I went to bed and held it on the very tip of each blister (there were 3 starting) for about 30 seconds each. Did it again around noon (when I woke up) and now it is just after 6pm and all that's left is a tiny mark from the slightly bigger blister and the other 2 are completely gone.
I just make sure I'm SUPER careful about allowing the tip of the swab to touch ONLY the blister so the skin around it doesn't burn.
Lemongrass
Posted by Medina (England) on 03/07/2017
★★★★★
I suffered from cold sores all my life. The slightest stress or too much sun & my lips would be covered with the painful blisters. I spent a small fortune on aciclovir & medicated cold sore plasters to manage the outbreaks & noticed my lips had developed mild scarring.
I suddenly stopped getting them, after I started using a new organic lipbalm. Very rarely I might get one above or below my lipline, but never on the lips. The ingredients of the lipbalm are: organic beeswax, organic jojoba oil, lanolin, organic mungongo oil, organic lemongrass oil, organic peppermint oil, organic rosemary oil & vitamin E.
I googled the ingredients to try to identify which was the key anti-cold sore factor and found a 2003 Japanese study on the inhibitory effects of lemongrass oil on the herpes virus, effective even at very low concentrations. Eureka!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14584615
I'm going to attempt to make my own version of lemongrass oil lipbalm as it's such a relief not to have to deal with cold sore outbreaks anymore. Hope this helps someone else too.
Zinc
Posted by Canadiandave (Bc) on 01/28/2017 15 posts
★★★★☆
I developed an unusual itchy red rash all over my mouth after visiting a certain restaurant, but I could have had a problem for a while. I developed a sore on the corner of each mouth only once in the 2 years since, but get the itching and redness almost every day. I used LED lights to be environmental, but had to switch back, because it made the problem much worse. So as you can see, I did not have an advanced or long term problem, but it was reduced greatly with zinc.
I read that many people with fatigue have a copper/zinc imbalance, and I thought I'd give it a try. It's only been 10 days, and no results yet on the fatigue, but the itching is virtually gone already!
This research also says that people with too high copper/too low zinc have viral problems, as zinc kills viruses in the body, with copper being better against bacteria.
I hope that's true. Not very exciting, but cleaning up my smile is a relief!
Colloidal Silver and Aloe Vera
Posted by Rianne (Canada) on 03/27/2016
★★★★★
I woke up one morning with a large "cauliflower" cold sore on my upper lip. I could also feel that it was sore and still growing. I broke out my colloidal silver gel (1:1 mixture of aloe vera gel and 10 ppm colloidal silver), and was amazed to watch it shrink to nothing in 4 he's, with repeated applications of a small amount of the gel! It usually requires a 7 day healing time. wow! I have found my answer to my cold sores now. Thank you, Earth Clinic, for everything I've learned here for I had never even heard of Colloidal silver before this site. Thank you again.
Acetone
Posted by Sam (Providence) on 11/18/2018
Hey! I would not recommend putting acetone on already formed scabs. It's hard... but you need to just let the scabs heal on their own. I have learned this from experience more than anything. Good luck!
