Cariabu
12-30-2005, 05:58 AM
I was wondering how everyone prevents coldsores, and what they have found to be the best prevention and cure. And or how they have limited their coldsores to tiny breakouts? Sometimes I get one coldsore and it is off my lip and on the skin around my mouth and the size of a nickel, just ugly, big and gross, so embarrassing! WHAT is the best way to heal it QUICKLY?? Is it best to keep it lubricated and moist when healing (after it is crusting) or is it best to let it dry out and heal?? Sometimes the coldsore even leaves a red mark on my face for even a month or more afterwards that I need to cover up with makeup to hide. I try NOT to pick at it to prevent this redness or any scarring but it sometimes still happens. I just need to know how to heal them most quickly, I have a tendency to get large coldsores rather than just a small one in the corner of my mouth. But they are annoying and ugly no matter what!
Thank you
Cari :o
Thank you
Cari :o
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lysineuser
12-30-2005, 09:19 AM
Hi, it is nice to know that there are others like me who suffer from this. I have only had one real outbreak after thanksgiving this year. I think I am having another right now but it hard to tell. My doctor had prescrived me Zovirax ointment and I put it as soon as I feel anything. So far nothing has showed up. I also take lysine daily but not sure how that is suppose to help. it is not even a good month and here I am feeling like I am having another outbreak. I believe the trick is to catch it before it is visible and take valtrex or zorvirax or lysine. I hope this helped.
Gainup
12-30-2005, 11:09 AM
Coldsores are the worst!!! I have an unlimited prescription for valtrex. For some reason, I haven't had a coldsore in quite a while, but I was getting them on a regular basis about a year ago. I would take 1 valtrex everyday to prevent them. I also make sure I use a good zinc sunscreen when I am outside to prevent coldsores. Do you have a lot of stress? My stress has been lower lately, maybe that's why I haven't gotten one in a while. I probably just jinxed myself. :)
To heal quickly I would put vitamin E on it. Just break open a vitamin E gel caplet and keep it on your sore. That works pretty fast for me.
To heal quickly I would put vitamin E on it. Just break open a vitamin E gel caplet and keep it on your sore. That works pretty fast for me.
Audrey-B
12-30-2005, 10:54 PM
I went through a period of getting big and nasty cold sores and began taking lysine for quite a while. Now i only take lysine twice per year. I rarely if ever get cold sores and when i do it is very tiny and barely visibly. I apply carmex ointment the moment i feel a tingle. It is very cooling and soothing and is a clear gel, unlike a lot of other cold sore creams which are very white and obvious. Straight toothpaste also is very relieveing for cold sores and it takes away the stinging/itching/burning feeling. It might look odd, but it's something you can do if you are staying at home/indoors or at night when going to bed. You can apply tea tree oil to dry it up quicker and tea tree also helps take away that awful stinging sensation.
Cariabu
12-31-2005, 05:29 AM
Thanks for your replies!! I hadn't been getting coldsores for a long time and was very happy, and if I did get one it was very small and gone very fast... but now all of a sudden without even warning I woke up with a huge one, I was shocked!!! UGH!!!! :eek: I have been stressed lately, just went through lasik eye surgery and healing and nervous about it, taking a long time to see so I must be thinking about it more than I thought?? Just want to kill the coldsores asap!! And I hope this doesn't mean that more are on the way. Stress definitely activates them on me, or if I'm in the sun too much or get sunburn around my lips. And even if I have the flu or fever one will pop up, it's usually during the time when my immune system is low. stressed, sick or period times. what's left in life? ha... :)
Someone told me applying vinegar to them works to kill them when you first feel it coming or I've also read lemon juice mixed with salt. But I try everything. Just hate it when they are big and on the skin area, not just the corner of the mouth, they last so much longer. :(
Thanks,
Cari
Someone told me applying vinegar to them works to kill them when you first feel it coming or I've also read lemon juice mixed with salt. But I try everything. Just hate it when they are big and on the skin area, not just the corner of the mouth, they last so much longer. :(
Thanks,
Cari
keepsgoin
12-31-2005, 10:35 AM
I would try garlic oil on them if I were you...my BF gets cold sores and that's seemed to keep them from getting big.
Gainup
01-02-2006, 12:14 PM
Cariabu,
I had Lasik about 2 years ago and got a very small coldsore right before because I was so nervous. They told me if I got a cold sore they couldn't to the surgery, so of course I got a very small one. I was able to combat it with a bunch of valtrex. Sometimes I get a coldsore in the middle of my upper lip, between the lip and my nose. I look like Charlie Chaplin, those are the worst. Sorry about your Lasik stressing you out. My one eye was fixed pretty much right away, but my other eye took longer. I'm sure it will be fine!!!
I had Lasik about 2 years ago and got a very small coldsore right before because I was so nervous. They told me if I got a cold sore they couldn't to the surgery, so of course I got a very small one. I was able to combat it with a bunch of valtrex. Sometimes I get a coldsore in the middle of my upper lip, between the lip and my nose. I look like Charlie Chaplin, those are the worst. Sorry about your Lasik stressing you out. My one eye was fixed pretty much right away, but my other eye took longer. I'm sure it will be fine!!!
cincbcat
01-04-2006, 11:12 AM
I agree with using Zovirax in combination with Lysine. I had two tiny bumps last week pop up after I got out of the shower, and I put Zovirax on like 10 times that day as well as took Lysine. They never erupted or got bigger than a pimple and they were gone within a week, when usually they last almost two. I also popped the blisters with a sterilized needle and drained them, carefully. This was my most mild outbreak yet, but like you, I only get them every now and then.
madams2
01-04-2006, 04:53 PM
To try to prevent them I use HerpencinL on a regular basis, even if I don't have one. I use it just like I would use chapstick if I had dry lips. Also seems to help if I add a vitamin C tablet to my diet everyday. I was getting them almost every year when the seasons changed or when I get really nervous and now I might get one a year.
I also found a way to get rid of them quicker, or at least to hide the appearance. This might not be the right thing to do but....as soon as the little blisters start to form I pop them. I than put rubbing alcohol on them to dry them out ASAP. I have some other stuff to dry them out that is in a little bottle that is yellow but I have no idea what it is (the label is gone). After I feel it is pretty dried out, at night I out a little Neosporin on them to help it heal. I only do that at night so I don't look like a fool with this gloss mess on my lips
I also found a way to get rid of them quicker, or at least to hide the appearance. This might not be the right thing to do but....as soon as the little blisters start to form I pop them. I than put rubbing alcohol on them to dry them out ASAP. I have some other stuff to dry them out that is in a little bottle that is yellow but I have no idea what it is (the label is gone). After I feel it is pretty dried out, at night I out a little Neosporin on them to help it heal. I only do that at night so I don't look like a fool with this gloss mess on my lips