Oregano Oil for Cold Sores

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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.

crystal (TX) on 02/14/2024:
5 out of 5 stars

Oil of oregano heals fever blisters within days. I actually put the oil in the wound itself and then take 300 mg twice daily.

Miku (England, Uk) on 04/20/2018:
5 out of 5 stars

I've suffered with cold sores for years. They erupt violently and take ages to go. I read about oregano oil on here and thought I'd give it a try. Wow! The first outbreak died in 24 hours. I diluted 4/5 drops of oregano oil in water and dabbed it on my lip when I felt the tingles. It rose over night and had crusted over by morning.

The second outbreak didn't even happen. It sort of bubbled under the surface then didnt bother coming up. Haven't had one since.

Donkeypoofed (Calgary) on 01/29/2014:
5 out of 5 stars

I was at work one night and could feel the tingling start. Unfortunately, I had 8 more hours until I could get home to my Oil of Oregano, so the sore came up. I immediately put on 2 drops of undiluted oil and within mere hours, the sore was healing!! The blister balloon had deflated and the pain was mostly gone. I knew Oil of Oregano was good, but even I am blown away by how good it is!

Jnell (Bc, Canada) on 01/16/2014:
5 out of 5 stars

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!

Sue M. (Worden, Il, USA) on 12/16/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

My "cold sore" outbreaks consist of naturally the lip pustules, but also I have the bad headache, body aches and pain and so very tired.... Flu like symptoms. At the first sign of an outbreak, I would take lysine and it would help lessen the symptoms by 25%, but I was looking for a prevention to the outbreaks that I could take on a day by day basis. That's when I read about the Oil of Oregano. Got my first bottle on the 6th and used 2 drops under my tongue for 10 to 15 seconds, followed by a large glass of warm water. I had a cold sore come up on Friday (14th) and immediately increased my drops to 3 and put the oregano directly on the lip (up to 3 to 4x's a day). My symptoms were cut, I would say, by 75% to what they used to be. I had about 1/2 day of downtime, compared to 3 days before and my lip stayed contained to the cold sore and no swelling like I usually get. I did do the lysine on the 1st and 2nd day, but I really attribute the scaling down of my cold sore issues to the Oil of Oregano. To compensate for it taking iron out of my system, I just drink a tbs of blackstrap molasses to warmed almond milk every other day. There are so many benefits to taking this..... I found alot of information on so many sites. Hope this helps someone.

Vitaminjunkie (Marietta, Georgia, United States) on 11/15/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I used Oil of Oregano in capsule form for about 5 months. I used one 1500 mg. Capsule in the afternoon and sometimes another at night. I also used the straight oil of oregano itself on the outbreaks. This was for genital herpes, and I have never had another outbreak since, but I took the capsule - usually just the one afternoon dose - EVERY DAY. This... Stuff... works! Have had many stressful situations happen in the past few months and not a single outbreak even though I quit using the stuff about two months ago.

Additional notes: Oil of oregano can cause problems with iron absorption. If you take an iron supplement - I would take it early in the morning so that it can be absorbed and then take the oil of oregano later in the day. Also, if your immune system is compromised in other ways - say HIV or any other immune system related illnesses - oil of oregano may not be an option for you because it might affect other medications. You would have to check with your health professional on this. That being said, if it's just the herpes virus that is your problem (oral or genital) and you are trying to kill it - consisten use of oil of oregano will absolutely do this! Don't let the medical profession tell you there's no cure!

Gilliansage (Rowlett, Texas, United States) on 07/10/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

I have tried everything, from Abreva, to prescriptions, to Herpecin. Mine get down right nasty, one time I had one about the size of a quarter on my upper lip. I than did some research and discovered Oregano Oil. It has to be the pure oil. I got it online from a specialty shop. I take a q-tip and apply it when the bumps and the tingling starts. It burns to the core, I also take lysine in pill form. I have found that too much Arginine which in is nuts aggrivates the cold sore. Make sure it is pure and not diluted. Also be very careful as it is strong as all out. I also add a drop or two to a glass of oj. Oh it's not easy to drink, but I find that when I have a cold sore, I also have a lymph node swell in my neck and my ulcer starts acting up. I take the Oregano to kill off any other infections I might have going on.

J. (Minneapolis, Mn) on 03/03/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

I have been a cold sore sufferer for about 20 years and I usually get between 10-35 or so a year and they range from the size of a pea to a quarter. They are usually in my nose or on the skin between my nose and lip...so it is safe to say I'm a chronic cold sore sufferer, especially during cold weather and I live up north. I honestly don't know what is worse, the pain or the humiliation as both are almost unbearable. I have tried every single prescription on the market over the years, every single over the counter treatment, and home remedies like daily lysine, ice, acetone fingernail polish...you name it.

For me there is one prescription (blue pill) that always worked best but the sore is still extremely painful for 2-3 days and then I have a scorched area of skin that turns scaly and then stays red for weeks afterword. Anyway, I have been trying to find a natural way to control or eliminate my cold sores and I came across Oil of Oregano so I thought I would give it a shot. (I am also taking 2 billion live cultures of acidopholis per day to strengthen my immune system.) And I am so so thankful that I did.

I started taking the OoO twice a day by putting 3-4 drops under my tongue and holding it for about 1-2 minutes and washing it down with 8-10 oz water. Before bed I also rub several drops on the base of my spine (where the virus lives) because OoO is supposed to penetrate the skin to directly combat the virus. (I have read that you might get a bad outbreak as the OoO clears the virus from your system so I was prepared for that.) Anyway, I have taken it for several weeks and I hadn't gotten a cold sore until I forgot to take it two days ago. Yesterday morning I felt the tingle of a cold sore coming on and immediately took a ____ and put Oil of Oregano on it and reapplied it 3-4x throughout the day. I noticed that the sore stayed very small and the Oil of Oregano reduced the usually unbearable burning pain and itching to almost nothing. I did get some blisters, but the sore was about 25% to 35% of the normal size of a cold sore for me with almost zero swelling, burning pain, or itching. It has now been around 36 hours since the first tingle and it is almost completely healed...and it was easily covered with a little powder when I was out shopping yesterday so no one else even knew. This stuff is AMAZING!!!! I also took a couple extra drops orally throughout the day so I was taking it orally and applying it to the sore directly.

Usually within 5-10 hours of the first tingle I have MAJOR burning and itching and there is always a lot of swelling the next morning when I wake up even if I take my prescription the second I feel the first tingle and another before bed. The sore usually lasts a couple of days and then I am left with the burned skin from the blisters which turns into a scab and then red skin for a couple of weeks afterward. With the Oil of Oregano I was able to keep the sore very small and nearly painless and it is almost healed within 36 hours. I am thrilled!! Every time I started to feel a bit of burning pain and itching I would gently reapply 1 drop of oil to the sore and it would immediately help a lot. The second day of a cold sore for me has always been full of serious burning pain, lots of swelling, and finally it is very very itchy as the virus starts to retreat. With Oil of Oregano I experienced almost nothing except a bit of redness and a warm sensation over my lip where the sore was. I can't say enough good things about Oil of Oregano and cold sores. I understand that I have only been using this product for about two weeks and this is my first cold sore that I have treated with it, but I can't tell you just how different this cold sore looked and felt from any other in the past 20 years. My husband couldn't believe it either. This is so much better than my prescription alone. Hopefully it will be a long time before I get another one since I'm taking the OoO to prevent them, but if/when I get the next one I will try OoO without my prescription at all. Hopefully I will have the same results as I really think it was the OoO alone that made the amazing difference in the pain and duration of this sore. I am going to check into how long I can take it daily. I don't want to do any damage to my liver or anything else by taking it for too long, but for now I am going to keep taking it for several months to try to eliminate my cold sores completely. If anyone has information on how long you can take it I would love to hear about it. I asked my pharmacist yesterday and he said that there has been no long-term research on daily usage of OoO, but he personally thinks this is much safer than almost anything else people use for cold sores.

If you suffer from cold sores, I hope this helps you as much as it has me!

In addition to the cold sores, I have used it to stop a sore throat within minutes, relieve my husband's migraine that his medication wouldn't touch, relieve my friend's bronchitis within 24-48 hours after two weeks on antibiotics weren't helping, clear an under the skin acne problem I wasn't even aware I had (experienced a bad breakout for a couple of days) and now my skin looks healthier than it ever has, shrink a cyst that my dermatologist wouldn't remove because it was too deep (within 2 weeks it has shrunk to half the size and is now flat), stop the pain and redness overnight from a hangnail that was really sore...and this is only after using this stuff for only a few weeks. I can't say enough amazing things about Oil of Oregano!! It is like a cure all for everything and that is just crazy!! Had I only know about this 20 years ago I could have saved myself thousands of dollars and years of pain and humiliation!!

Rhonda (Rockwood, Tn) on 10/01/2009:
5 out of 5 stars

I put oil of oregano (one drop) on my fever blister/ cold sore and withing an hour I noticed it was disappearing. I reapplied throughout the day and by the end of the day it was as if I never had one. It had started out that morning as a potentially nasty one - a lot of blisters covering an area about the size of a dime. As you know, what you see in the morning is just the tip of the ice berg as they continue to grow during the first day or so. I also put three or four drops under my tongue. I bought mine from a health food store. Get the kind that is diluted with olive oil not alcohol. Also, there are places on line that sell it cheaper and in a much higher strength. There are even places that sell it undiluted with instructions on how to dilute it with extra virgin olive oil. I've tried all the other cold sore cures. This is the only one that did anything for me.

Craig (Edmonton, AB, Canada) on 12/08/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

I use Oil of Oregano for cold sores, the second I feel that tingle i put a drop or two on the area that is tingleing and repeat a few times through out the day for about 2-4 days, it never blisters and breaks out, in fact its quickly regressed and dissapears within those days. I have been doing this for over a year and usually get cold sores about 4 times a year, and its worked every time...

Peter Hart (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) on 11/14/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

Manuka Honey was the only answer to the ulcer problem I was having. All natural and clinically tested. Complete a search under 'The University of Waikato' in New Zeland. Oil of Oregano is very effective for healing cold soars in a hurry! I always recommend you research a product on a crediable internet site before trying any remedy. Best Regards,

Briana (San Jose, CA) on 01/29/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

well - i have successfully avoided an outbreak for 7 years (had one outbreak in 7 years)- i am vegan and eat organic and use no chemicals in my home- but i did have a start of an outbreak once and i rubbed wild oregano oil on it daily for 3 days and it disappeared-watch out though it burns like hell - though within 3 minutes it passes- you can dilute i with olive oil if you prefer- but i like to use it strong to stop it dead in its tracks!

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Oregano Oil for Cold Sores