immaculate cold sore

dag,

If you are not opposed to prescription medications, get ahold of some acyclovir ointment, brand name in US is Zovirax. It will shorten the duration and severity of the outbreak. It can prevent them if you catch them early and slather the stuff on. I carry a tube with me at all times. I have not noticed any side effects.

I have REAL problems with that...
There are about a thousand things that people tell you to do, to make it get better, and I have tried every single one of them.
Zovirax is the only thing that has helped me so far.
Use as soon as you feel a tingling and often it doesn't even break out fully.

I used to have them 6-8 times a year and at one point I kept note on when the outbreaks occur.
I had often heard that they can be stress related, and I know that once you are infected, you will NEVER get rid of it totally.
I realized I always got it, when I was on holiday, and then usually again two to three weeks after the first outbreak.
That sounds stress related to me. Always just as I started to relax.

Since I was pregnant and had my son, I have only been getting it twice a year, which is a major improvement.
I don't think I have less stress now, but maybe I don't relax as fully as I used to...
;o)

No idea, but back to the point of my answer.
Use Zovirax, that stuff is really good!

Add-on: I did not know it was a prescription drug over here.
In Germany you buy it over the counter...

And perhaps changing jobs, countries and, indeed, continents might count as stress.

I have only (touch wood) ever had one cold sore.

lk, it could be bacteria, too...staph or something...after all, i DID hit the pavement pretty hard the day before and scraped knee and arm.... good 3 inches of skin off of each.
i found Anbesol - cold sore therapy...which has a numbing side effect, and that is nice.
the worst is over- the hotness was what was really bugging me, plus i had a mild fever yesterday. today all is better, i just look like a bloody monster.

Oh, by the by -- Preparation H is good for reducing the inflammation of a cold sore (and it is an inflammatory lesion, after all). Just be sure to use a fresh tube...

I hear it's also great for getting rid of wrinkles and bags under eyes.

Yep. Helps old brown-eye, too, of course, hence the need for a fresh tube for other applications.

recommendations from the BBC : how to avoid cold sores

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/coldsores1.shtml



the BBC was right there with a photographer !

but i wasn't kissing anyone. which is why i state with some authority that life just isn't fair.

Other types of infections you may have had are most likely unrelated to the current cold sore infection.

The following medical info is excerpted from:

http://www.animated-teeth.com/cold_sores/t1_cold_sores.htm

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. There are actually two types of herpes simplex virus, "type 1" and "type 2."

Type 1 herpes simplex virus.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 ("HSV1") generally only infects those body tissues that lie "above the waistline" and it is HSV1 that causes cold sores in the majority of cases.
Type 2 herpes simplex virus.
Herpes simplex virus type 2 ("HSV2") usually only infects those body tissues that lie "below the waistline" and it is this virus that is also known as "genital herpes." Herpes simplex virus type 2 is not usually the virus that causes cold sores, although it can.

When you think of having an infection you usually assume that you were recently exposed to the germ that has caused your problem. With cold sores this is not the case. Cold sores are not a sign of a recently acquired herpes simplex infection but instead a reactivation of herpes virus particles already living in your body. Cold sores occur when latent herpes simplex virus particles, which have been lying dormant ("asleep"), become reactivated.

The dormant virus particles come from a previous herpes infection. A person's initial herpes simplex virus infection, termed "primary herpetic stomatitis," does not usually take the form of a cold sore and therefore a person may not relate their initial exposure to the herpes virus to the recurrent cold sores that they get.


Each of the following items has been found to be an event that is often associated with the formation of cold sores. Many of these factors seem to correlate with time periods when a person's immune system would be expected to be weakened or stressed. If compromised, a person's immune system, which under normal circumstances would be able to keep the herpes virus particles in check, can be overwhelmed and a window of opportunity for cold sore formation can be opened.

Emotional upset and stress.
Physical stress and fatigue.
Illnesses (including a cold or the flu).
Injury to the lips or skin, such as physical trauma or severe chapping.
Injury to the lips from excessive exposure to bright sunlight or ultraviolet lamps.
Menstruation or pregnancy.
An immune system deficiency.

I just read where (if what you have it IS Herpes Simplex), the initial exposure to this infection could've been sub-clinical and could even have been in your childhood.

This info may help:

"Research has shown that today's antiviral medications for cold sores can significantly minimize cold sore severity and duration if their use is started early enough. By observing which factors typically trigger their cold sores a person can learn when to expect an outbreak. If a person begins the use of antiviral medications early enough (preferably during the Tingle stage) they can quite possibly reduce cold sore symptoms dramatically."

A cold sore is a viral infection.

It is not bacterial, at all.

As has been pointed out, the virus can remain inactive in your system - and a variety of things can trigger it. I like p'dawg's description.

Acyclovir, famciclovir, valaciclovir - are all reasonable treatments. Aciclovir (Zovirax here, and in US) can be purchased over the counter in a pharmacy. The others may need prescriptions.

Stress is a common trigger - I don't suppose you've had any stress in your life lately, have you??

Was it diagnosed as a cold sore or are you assuming that is what it is? Maybe you just bit your lip in your sleep or your lips are chapped and you peeled off some of the dry skin in your sleep, causing a sore, or maybe you just have an ingrown hair or pimple.

Or maybe a wasp came to you while you were sleeping, chewed a hole in your lip, and laid a thousand eggs there.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to apply an insecticide...

or a fly-swat!

When i was a liddle chile, and first heard of a flice water, i wondered how it differed from regular water . . .

Hi dag. Too bad about that whopper on your lip. Not a nice thing to experience, I know ...

Some years ago, when I experienced a similar whopper, someone (whose opinion on such things I respected) suggested Lysine - an amino acid. In pill form, bought from a chemist or health shop. Not at all expensive.
So I tried it (in rather larger than the recommended daily quantities) & it cleared up the nasty blighter a treat! In a matter of days. I was very impressed! I'd think using one of the cold sore creams containing Lysine at the same time would help, too, with dry lips, etc ....

As I'm hardly an alternative health expert, I can't vouch for the rest of the information on the site linked below (not that it looks dodgy, or anything ... I just googled "lysine + cold sores" & this is one of the links that appeared.)

:

http://alternative-medicine-and-health.com/conditions/coldsores.htm

Good luck!

I haven't read the other responses so forgive me if I'm repeating what has been said.

It seems to be a truth that redheads are more likely to get cold sores - I heard that somewhere years ago and I call it a truth because the two red-headed sisters in my family were always getting them and none of the rest of us ever got one. They also were the only ones to blister when they sunburned too badly. Of course, I could be wrong, but it seemed to be right.

Anything with alcohol in it is what my mother used - it dries them up. She would dab a bit of perfume on them and a few days later they were gone.

Okay, Patio... What the hell is that a picture of in your avatar?

It's a pair of boots, darlin' . . .