Avoid Caffeine
★★★★☆
(Boston, Ma)
11/07/2011
★★★★★
(Bendigo, Australia)
12/15/2011
I have suffered coldsores since I was 2 months old. I have found that I can greatly reduce the frequency of them if I totally avoid Oranges. I recently discovered that if I eat even the smallest hint of orange I WILL the next day have 1 to 6 coldsores around my mouth.
When I spoke to my doctor about this he told me it was a food allergy. Like how some people have anaphylaxis over nuts, I have coldsores from oranges. I don't only have cold sores from oranges but I also get them before I get sick, when I am sick, when I am tired and when I am stressed. I find overdosing on lysine can help as well as applying peppermint oil or this foreign cream called Yeao Paya Brand Balm that my uncle brought over from Thailand (I think). (it contains camphor, cinnamon oil, menthol, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and olive oil. ) I find this cream burns the skin around the coldsores and builds a thin scab where the coldsores is and stops the burning and itching as it kills it from the outside.Avoid Citric Acid
★★★★★
(Macomb, Illinois)
06/20/2011
Thanks definitely going to give it a try. I drink TONS of mt. Dew on a daily basis, it's practically what I live on. I've concluded it IS something I do on a daily basis considering since I was infected six months ago nearly not one week has gone by that I haven't got one. I absolutely am the most vein person in the world, and am not at a job I can just continuously take time off. I've considered quitting my job over the situation, which would leave NO way to pay bills... But it's that bad I consider it almost evey day. Fortunately I'm with the woman I'm going to marry, but it's still unsettling. I seriously am breaking down. As soon as the excitement of confidence is coming back because one healed, another pops up. I can't take it much more! Thanks for your info...
(Chicago, Il)
06/28/2011
Definitely! I have had the same experience with orange juice and cranberry juice. They definitely cause more outbreaks.
Use Campho-Phenique (walgreens) all around your lip every four hours during the day and before sleeping to stop outbreaks there. Then, for when blisters may appear ON your lip, pour some 3% hydrogen peroxide (walgreens) in a tablespoon and soak the blisters in it for 10 minutes every half hour until you notice shrinkage in the blisters. Visually inspect the blisters every half hour, if they seem to be growing, soak in the 3% solution again for 15 minutes, but if they have stopped growing, soak again in the solution for 10 minutes every 2 or 3 hours. This should help kill the blisters that are ON your lip in about 24 hours. The blisters that appear ON your lip (the purple area) are the hardest one to treat, but with practice you will get better and better at it and pretty soon you'll get the situation under control.
(Dallas, Tx)
09/06/2013
Thanks! For cold sores I tried ALL of the home remedies, heavy drugs and L Lysine for prevention for years..... Nothing worked. Read here and on the genital herpes site that Orange, Grapefruit and Cranberry Juice causes outbreaks. Past years would have on average of 8 major occurrences per year. Stopped drinking these juices and had 1 minor occurrence in the past 2 years (side-note, the last two years have been anything but stressless so its not due to a low stress levels)."
Avoid Orange, Grapefruit, and Cranberry Juices
★★★★★
Avoiding The Sun
★★★★☆
Baking Soda
★★★★★
Been having cold sores all my life but it effects me more now as I have fallen in love. Massive cold sore came up yesterday (Thursday )above my lip found this site and made the paste put it on the sore and it went down within an hour. I covered my whole face with it and my skin is so soft and glowing now thank you so much
inez
(Fort Wayne, US)
07/26/2014
★★★★★
Inez from Kent UK. Inez, I too suffered from cold sores till I started taking baking soda mixed with water in the morning on an empty stomach. I have 1/2 teaspoon baking soda with a cup of water four to five days a week. I have not had one outbreak since I started years ago. there is much written on the subject here on EC. It works, it's cheap and I feel great.
Baking Soda
★★★★★
Baking Soda
★★★★★
Bee Propolis
★★★★★
Bentonite Clay and Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
BHT
★★★★★
(Emerald City)
08/20/2016
BHT
★★★★★
BHT
★★★★★
(Fremont, OH)
06/11/2008
★☆☆☆☆
Ok after reading the above blog on BHT, I thought I would give it a try. So I began taking 250mg per day and over the course of a week or two ramped it up to 1000 mg per day. i continued this for 2 months not always taking 1000mg but varying between the 250 and 1000, and during this time I had far more (3 to be exact) and more severe outbreaks than I'd had in the 5 years since first realizing I had genital herpes. So, I would say BHT is an emphatic NO. I even combined it with ST. Johns Wart (hipericin). I have been outbreak free since quitting the BHT and thought well maybe this stuff actually worked and I had rid myself of the virus, but just last night I began feeling the familiar pain, like somebody punched me in the vag and it has continued onto today. No blisters yet but I'm sure they are coming. Since quitting the BHT, I have been boosting my immune system with extra zink, resveratrol, flax seed oil, mega doses of vitamin b, vitamins a+d, vitamin c. The boosting of the immune system seems to be the only effective therapy.
(Orange County, Ca)
12/06/2010
★★★★★
BHT works. I read about it and immediately tried it for a year, everyday (without fail). Combined with my normally strict diet, no nuts, no alcohol, no chocolate, no soda, no caffeine. Started with 500mg then moving up to 750mg a day and sometimes 1000. I never had a outbreak during this time. My year long experiment ended roughly 2 years ago and I'd say I've had 3 minor outbreaks since the experiment ended, although I have started to occasionally enjoy alcohol again and chocolate and some seeds and nuts, but no caffeine. My opinion is BHT has greatly reduced my outbreaks and improved my life.
(Bc Canada)
09/08/2016
Bingpensan
★★★★★
Many years ago in China, a local doctor gave me a vial of Bingpengsan (borneolum and borax), which is a white or pink powder. She told me to rinse my mouth three times a day with diluted hydrogen peroxide (4 parts water, 1 part hydrogen peroxide). After rinsing, I was to use the equivalent of a Q-tip to spread the Bingpengsan lightly on the cold sore. This must be done immediately when the cold sore just emerges.
Within a day the cold sore will dry up, but keep using the treatment. About day three, the cold sore will have turned into a scab and will fall off. I've kept the vial for more than 25 years and use it whenever I feel/see a cold sore emerge. It has never failed to eliminate the cold sore immediately. I'm not sure where or how to get this type of powder in the U.S., but my acupuncture doctor has provided to me a powdered preparation in capsules called Tianqi, which has the same effect on open wounds (like blisters, burns, scrapes, bed sores). Just take the the powder out of the capsule and sprinkle or spread it on the open sore (if it's a blister, just put the powder on it). The wound will dry up and scab over very, very quickly. I've never tried the Tianqi for cold sores, but it seems to have the same action as the Bingpengsan.
Bitter Almonds
★★★★★
Bitter Melon
★★★★★
