| 5 star (64) | 86% | |
| 4 star (1) | 1% | |
| 3 star (1) | 1% | |
| 1 star (7) | 9% | |
 (1) | 1% |
KK (Cyprus) on 02/18/2025: 
Been dealing with this regularly for 30 years.. ended up with acetone dabbed on with earbuds.
Initially kept it on until the burns. Now I'm not sure if a lot of the scabbing that follows is due to the coldsore healing itself, or actual acetone burns.
Will keep using it. Maybe cautiously to avoid damage to surrounding areas, which may actually take longer to heal.
Carolyne (Washington) on 12/15/2024:
V (US) on 11/04/2023: 
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.
earth is a pancake (chiraq, illinois.) on 09/09/2023:
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!
Whathadhappendedwas (Florida) on 08/28/2023:
My lip went down after a couple hours. I then poked the blister with a needle and got the fluid out. Next day it crusted over. Did the acetone all day again but maybe fewer times. Third day was just a scab. Did the acetone a few more times just in case. Now I'm just waiting for the scab to come off. I'm on the fourth day. It usually takes a week before it scabs over. I guess I'll be doing this from now on.
Sweetpeasal (Duarte, CA) on 10/25/2022:
I have suffered with cold sores my whole life. After spending a day out in the sun, I could feel my lip starting to swell (you know the feeling). I frantically looked online to see if there was some new remedy out there. I discovered this site and saw so many good reviews about acetone I figured I'd give it a try. (I used to use BHT and lysine but that ceased to work for me.)
Miracle of miracles, the acetone worked! Several times of the day, I would press a q-tip dipped in 100% acetone onto the area until it stung and then removed it. The cold sore never even got to the tingle phase. By day two my lip was slightly swollen but only about a third of what it normally would have been. By day three it was 10% swollen with a simple scab that could be covered with lipstick. No blisters even. Unbelievable. A week later, the small scab is still there, but the sore is clearly receding to nothing.
Where has this been my whole life?! The acetone must just kill the virus! Thank you all for sharing your experience with this amazing remedy! So helpful.
naturalremedies101 (orlando, fl ) on 08/11/2022:
Gemma (Lancashire) on 07/17/2022: 
Warning
Last summer I had a beast of a cold sore. It was 6 in one!! I hadn’t had one in about 15 years so it was very weird. Probably from vaccine shedding from other people.I think acetone must be used at the first signs and would be very effective but not once the skin has broken.
GILLIAN (CA) on 07/10/2022:
Panicking I scoured the internet and saw Cheri's post from 2021. I tried it and put acetone on each one with a q-tip for about 20 seconds each and 1 DAY LATER they had all scabbed over!!
This would have been at least a week or more without this remedy! Thank you!!
Cheri S. (Wellington, Florida) on 03/18/2021:
Jennifer (San Francisco) on 11/24/2020:
Acetone for cold sores works. I also have used ice directly early on for a few hours off and on and that helps too.
However, the MOST important thing you can do to PREVENT cold sores is to NEVER consume ANY artificial sweeteners, which all contain aspartame, including almost any type of gum these days, diet sodas, diet drinks of ANY form, etc, as the aspartame WAKES the virus and activates cold sores. I have not had a cold sore in many years as a result of avoiding aspartame. Hope this helps someone.
Craig (Albany, Oregon) on 10/17/2018:
Jerome (New York) on 07/04/2018:
Such a brilliant remedy, so cheap and SO much more effective than any expensive cream or Valtrex.
Firm Believer (Nyc) on 12/21/2017:
Absolutely, positively and without fail works 100% of the time
I'm 42 and I've gotten cold sores my whole life. Like all of you, I too have tried everything I could get my hands on including Dr. prescribed meds. Nothing. Ice seems to chill them out for a bit - but they always came back with a vengeance. I found that acetone works 100% of the time. 100%. I honestly don't care what any naysayer says. It's really that good. If you catch it at the tingle stage, then it stops there. If you catch it at the blister stage, the blisters immediately go down and your at the scab stage. Even that goes quicker. This is the closest thing to a medical miracle that I've experienced. The folks who suffer from this virus would understand that statement. I keep a little bottle of acetone in my home, my car, at work and in my luggage.
Jordan D (Georgetown, Tx) on 12/13/2017:
Read about this little home remedy yesterday after noticing a cluster of cold sores pop up on my lip when I woke up yesterday morning. Some of the reviews were good and some bad. I decided in a panic and with my wedding only 2 days away that it was worth a shot to try. Not big on the home remedies, but I have been getting cold sores since I was 5 years old (now 26), I have used any and all cold sore medicines, creams, tablets, you name it! None of which have been even close to successful! Last night before bed I held a cotton ball with fingernail polish remover over the nasty cluster of sores on my lip for about 6 minutes. The original post had advised leaving the cotton ball with the polish remover on the affected area for 30 minutes... YES 30 MINUTES. (Not sure how I feel about that one.) I noticed after the 6 minutes that the color of my lip was getting darker and out of fear for it bruising I went ahead and removed it. Immediately I noticed a difference in the affected area. It looked so much better! After wards I cleaned the affected area with hydrogen peroxide on another cotton ball and went to bed. I woke up this morning and to my surprise the clusters were no longer filled with that nasty liquid, they already had a nice scab on them ( the scab was almost the same color as my lips, as it did not look dark or irritated) By lunch time today everything is back to its original color, the scabs are almost completely gone, and the cluster is no longer noticeable unless I stand very close to the mirror. I am definitely forever in favor of this little remedy! Pretty surprised that such a simple solution works after spending TONS of money on medicines for it for 21 years! OH also...after using the nail polish remover BUT before using the hydrogen peroxide I gently cleaned the affected area with my fingers using luke warm tap water and antibacterial hand soap.
Good luck!!!
Kcarey (Dublin, Ireland) on 02/09/2017:
I cannot overemphasize how much this works; I currently have a very big very sore collection of cold sores & I tried nail varnish remover (as I read it somewhere else) & I could not believe how much it helped within an hour! It sounds drastic & it does sting a lot but the pain is over quickly & cold sore is drastically improved after 1 go!
I've tried everything in the past; taking lysine (cold sores still appeared), zovirax on first tingle (actually think moistening it made it come out not disappear), dabbing with alcohol (helps a v small bit), doing a lot of different stress management techniques to avoid triggers (sleep, exercise, eating well) all to no avail; the nail varnish remover is the only thing where I've actually seen a difference.
One thing I will say about prevention that works is not to let your lips get chapped; most of the times I get a cold sore its after my lips are v dry and chapped; they crack & then out pops a cold score.
I hope it helps someone else.
Andie (Oregon) on 01/18/2017: 
Concerned (Georgia ) on 01/12/2016:
I put the acetone on it once every hour of the day. Hold it for 20 seconds, IT WILL BURN! But it works. The next morning, my cold sore was almost gone. It wasn't even noticeable! I continued the process of applying acetone every hour of the day until it was gone.
It also helps to take the vitamin L-lysine. I also drink plenty of milk when I have cold sores, because milk also contains lysine.
I hope this was helpful!
Ed (Seattle, Wa) on 01/01/2016:
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.
Annie (Providence, Ri) on 11/18/2015:
Also - normally when I have a cold sore outbreak I get at least one or two, sometimes up to four in a row. Sure enough, I started getting not one but two more as the first began healing. I hit them with the Acetone on a cotton swab, pressing it into the newly forming bump/blisters, for at least 30 seconds, at least once every two hours for one day. By the next day - both were completely gone - they never continued forming!
A couple of days later, I started getting yet another, right next to where the first one was. I put Acetone on about every two hours or so, all day long. The next day - the swelling, bump and forming blisters are GONE! Completely! I feel confident that I will never have another cold sore again as long as I catch it in time and always have 100% pure Acetone on hand.
Anon (Anon) on 11/09/2015:
This is a GOD send, helping soo much. I am truly grateful!
Mk (Ky) on 06/10/2015:
Kathleen Gridley (Uk) on 02/25/2015:
Rick (Des Plaines, Il) on 11/30/2014: 
Sabrina (Toronto, Canada) on 11/26/2014:
Ems (Uk) on 10/31/2014:
Mia (Formerly Of Lyons, Now Syracuse) on 12/17/2013:
I am sick of it and was driven to try the nail polish thing again so I bought some today because taking L-Lysine wasn't touching this one. My lip was so swollen it wasn't funny. Then, another started to pop out in a different after I started to use the nail polish.
I had to use it more than a couple times. I have been putting it on with a cotton bud every hour or so by dabbing it until the cotton ball dries out . I haven't just let it sit there for five minutes because I don't really want to breathe the fumes in. So I dab it, breathe, dab it, etcetera until it dries out and then I do it again a bit later when the thing tries to moisten back up.
It is working because I am diligently attacking it.
The thing is already crusting over after one day and normally it would take five days to get this stage. I will definitely keep putting the acetone on until it is all dried up and gone.
I am also taking L-Lysine, which wasn't really working that well, along with Vitamin C. I am planning to continue to do both as a daily preventative.
Lisa H. (Santa Barbara, Ca) on 11/18/2013:
Then I jumped on earth clinic - and remembered the acetone trick. Thank goodness, the tingling stopped, it dried out and started to recede within 48 hours. It is taking a while to heal but is continuing to get smaller and smaller.
Chocolate is my #1 cold sore trigger. Each outbreak I have had in the past few years can be traced back to the effect of an overindulgence. Well THIS time I have learnt my lesson for sure.
Josephine (Uk) on 10/20/2013:
Fmb (Vancouver) on 08/09/2013:
I've been getting cold sore outbreaks for about 15 years now - I'm 39 - I found that taking 1000mg Lysine daily has kept me free of outbreaks for 4 years - I ran out, didn't take lysine for only 2 days and BAM my upper lip had the start of BIG nasty large vesicles - Couldn't believe it - no prodrome tingling, no warning. It was slightly obsured by my moustache so I didn't really notice it right away. This one just by the initial size was gonna be a major disaster.
I read all the miracle stories about it, so I tried the acetone on a cotton swab placed directly onto the sore for 5min at a time every 30min for the first day. To stop evaporation I used clear packing tape to press the swab right onto the sore. Don't be afraid to PRESS the acetone into the sore - it will burn bad but it's like you can also feel the acetone destroying the HSV inside.
The next morning I woke up and I thought Lisa Rinna's plastic surgeon had snuck into my bed and plumped up my lip with silicone - It was HUGE, I actually laughed in the mirror because it looked so ridiculous. However, the sore had gone directly to scab healing stage.
The following morning the swelling had almost completely gone and after my shower the scab had worn off and the final pink healing scab remained. So literally 48 hours from the start of what was to be a colossal large sore on my lip it's already to the point of what normally takes about 10 days to get to.
1000mg Lysine daily is the long-term cure you want to get on - but if you miss a Lysine and one pops up Acetone is what you need 100% - Do not even bother with anything else and start it as soon as you see or feel one coming on.
Acetone is also totally safe for your skin - read up about it on wikipedia - It's even used as a food additive!
