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.
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.
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.
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!
DMSO
Posted by Melisa (Texas, Houston) on 10/18/2015
★★★★★
Fever Blisters:
I wanted to add my experience using DMSO helped me. I just clean my lips with hydrogen peroxide with a qtip then I apply DMSO with another q-tip leave it on for a few mins or untill it dries then I rinse with water n add olive oil for moisture. I used to get them every month before since I started I havent gotten them anymore for months now. I'ts great.
Grapefruit
Posted by Adina (Ottawa) on 07/06/2015
★★★★★
This is what happened to me: I used to have so often cold sores that I was desperate. Is hard to believe, but I was getting cold sores even when I looked to somebody else with cold sores. Was absolutely crazy. And one day, many years back, when I was having cold sore I eat a grapefruit and I noticed that instead to grow, started to get dry. I was not 100% sure if was from the grapefruit. Was kind of strange. Usually I had my cold sores 2 up to 3 weeks (so bad they were). In the same time I did nothing unusual beside eating the grapefruit. So, I eat another one and I made sure that I touch the lips with the juice. In 2 days was gone. After that every time when I felt a cold sore is developing I was eating a grapefruit and the next day was gone. What is interesting is that now I do not get them anymore. I tested on somebody else also. I worked with a lady she used to have them very often. I told her about my discovery, she has been using since. She also does not get them very often now, but she still does.
I have to mention that mold in food or in the house can give cold sores. Maybe she has mold in the house that she still get them or in my case was not the house.
To go further, I tried with lemon and vit C. Lemon does not work so well as grapefruit and vit C is better then lemon, but the best I found is the GRAPEFRUIT.
Good Luck
And thank you to EC and all the people who share there knowledge.
Camphor
Posted by Artemisia (London, United Kingdom) on 12/02/2012
★★★★★
The only remedy which dries them is SPIRITS OF CAMPHOR, now unavailable in the UK, but I buy from the USA. Also, take Lysine and avoid Arginine containing foods: Cheese, red wine, nuts, chocolate. Sometimes they will appear soon after consuming one or more of these foods. As soon as the "tingling" starts which signals the onset, take a half teaspoon Lysine - I take it twice a day - in juice.
Alcohol
Posted by Joyce (Lansdowne, Pa) on 11/05/2012
★★★★★
Many times I have the tingling sensation when a cold sore is coming on. I simply use rubbing alcohol on cotton swab and hold in at the spot for a few seconds or 2 minutes. The cold sore never materializes and the itching stops after a while. Even when there is a slight raise at the spot using the alcohol gets rid of it.
Alcohol
Posted by Khunt (Zurich, Switzerland) on 10/31/2012
★★★★★
Good morning, I wanted to share my story of treating cold sores. I have battling the evil blisters since I was a kid. The embarassment of the huge blister sitting on my face, the pain and the discomfort it caused for days on end. I have tried everything from abreva and ice to lysine, nothing got rid of it. Yes things like abreva cut back on the time my sore lasted but it never got rid of it like alcohol. Yes, pure rubbing alcohol. As soon as you feel the tingling soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and apply for a few minutes every few hours. It will be gone within 24 hours.
I even went as far as to put hand sanitizer on once. I was out at a ball game and felt one coming on. I didn't have alcohol and I panicted. I never use hand sanitizer because of the high content of alcohol in it but a friend had some on her so I grabbed a dab and plopped it on my lip. It was gone by that evening.
Acetone
Posted by Jenny (Central, Nj) on 08/24/2012
★★★★★
At 33 years old I, for the first time developed a cold sore which started in the corner of my mouth but after a few days increased to the size of a silver dollar on my face. Desparate to make it go away I scoured the internet and found this page. Against my husbands wishes I tried the nail polish remover on a test section of the sore by applying twice within an hour to a small section of the sore. To my surprise I woke up the next morning and it was dried up and left a very small scab in that location. I was shocked so of course I did this to the whole sore by washing it with peroxide and then applying nail polish remover after with a cotton swab. Even though it stings, it was well worth it because the next morning it was all dried up and left small scabs. I followed it up with another treatment of nail polish remover that evening just to make sure the sucker was dead. The next morning I put first aid ointment on a few times and in two days later all scabs are gone and I am back to normal.
My best advice is to apply the nail polish remover instantly and not wait the five agonizing days that I did before I found this wonderful site!!!
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Suzanne (INDIANA) on 05/01/2023
Lecithin taken daily will keep you from ever having another herpes outbreak again. I tried everything and lecithin is the only thing that works.
Ear Wax
Posted by Kylie (Whitianga, New Zealand) on 07/11/2012
★★★★★
Up in the Cook Islands a couple of years back I met an Australian woman who worked for a big pharmaceutical company in Aussie. We were talking about traditional remedies vs drugs, and she told me about a time that she had a massive cold sore and an Aboriginal woman stopped her on the street and told her to put ear wax on it. She admitted she didn't want to try it but I filed it away in my brain. Was surprised to see so many others on earthclinic have tried it and had success with it. I have no doubt if the Aboriginies use it that it must work, so just wanted to add a "yea" to the debate! Haven't tried it myself as fortunately I don't get cold sores but if I did I'd totally try ear wax first.
Ice
Posted by Barbara (Lakehead, Ca.) on 04/18/2012
★★★★★
I found that when I start to feel a tingling on my lip(slight itch) immediately I get an ice cube and place it on the affected area for 10 minutes until the itching goes away using a on and off approach..... Don't want to freeze the lip. Do this at least twice within a hour, usually once does it. This has always worked for me. If I'm out I stop at any fast food place to get the ice. If you let it go and wait until your home it will probably be too late. I haven't had a cold sore for several years using this method. TRY IT! Barbara
Ice
Posted by Anon (Anon) on 01/19/2013
Hi, another remedy that I have noticed if you have no lysine to hand or ice is to rub geny a piece of silver jewellry over the sore (b4 breakout) you will get a slight grey mark from the silver coming off but it will halt the infection - silver heals.
Camphor
Posted by Sharon (Buffalo, NY) on 03/11/2012
★★★★★
I'm not really sure why we would be advocating putting Acetone on each other's faces given this is an all natural remedies website. I have found though, and I've been dealing with cold sores since I was 4, that Camphor Spirit is the best for drying these out. Most pharmacies don't carry it anymore, but they will order if you ask. It's about $5. 00 for a bottle that will last you years. It's essentially the same stuff as campophenque and everything else we spend $10 buying without the extra chemicals. It just drys the cold sore. I haven't had one in years but for some reason, this week, developed one on the skin between my nose and lip. I've never had one here before and it's embarassing and frustrating. The camphor spirit makes it a little more bearable, since it goes away faster, but I'll be going out today for a bottle of L-Lysine.
Ice
Posted by Julie (Chanhassen, Mn) on 01/30/2012
★★★★★
I have suffered from cold sores on and off since I was a child. I have tried mulitple remedies, but by far the best remedy is ice! When you feel that tingly itchy sensation get a cube of ice and press it against that spot for several minutes (Maybe 8-10 minutes). You may want to do this a few times. I think it causes the cold sore to go into remission or something. This really works!
Aloe Vera
Posted by Lulu (Orange, Nj) on 01/24/2012
Hey everyone. I highly recommend aloe vera gel, at least in combination with turmeric. Here's what happened. I woke up this am with small bumps on the bottom corner of my lip, though I hadn't yet felt the tingling. I'd already made a mask of turmeric powder -- bought at an Indian grocery store; not taken from my spice rack -- for my puffy eyes and decided to search online to see if turmeric works for cold sores. After reading that it does, I applied the paste (turmeric and water) to the cold sores and left it on for about 10 minutes. Then I rinsed gently with water, patted it dry with a towel, and applied a bit of aloe gel using a q-tip. Within 10 minutes I noticed the sores were no longer shiny. They'd already dried up quite a bit. I was amazed! I applied aloe vera gel again about 30 minutes later and followed up two hours later with more turmeric paste. I'll keep this up all day and see, but it looks like they will be gone by tomorrow. Good luck!
Ice
Posted by M (Ny) on 11/11/2011
★★★★★
I've used Abreva, Lysine cream and its ok but what has been the game changer is ICE! A cold sore is a fever blister, so it builds of heat. You fight the temp by reducing it, ICE it immediately. Also take advil or any fever reducer you have to calm your body temp down and relax! I got them back to back and on my big 30 birthday. I tried acetone but seemed to burn my skin and make it worse. I grabbed a glass of water, took advil and Lysine vitamins (doubled dosage) and iced my sore. Fell asleep watching a movie but the sore stopped, looked like pimple. kept icing it, I was fine next day.
