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.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Toni (Netherlands) on 05/12/2015
★★★★★
ACV it is! Applied a soaked in Apple Cider Vinegar cotton ball on my sore and put a bandade over it and just left it there, reapplying the Apple Cider Vinegar every hour and within 2 hours the sore was dry....but kept the bandade on after that I applied aloe vera to keep it moist constantly to prevent a scap from forming bye bye sore! So happy with this! It took me 1 day!
Hypericum
Posted by Dr. Ritu (India) on 02/04/2015
Tissues with Lotion
Posted by Tracy (Ohio, US) on 12/31/2014
While it could very well be herpes, mrsa, staph or some other virus... it could also be from your tissues! It took me months to figure out what was causing my nose sores - TISSUES WITH LOTION. I don't know what they are putting in those tissues with lotion, but they were causing my nose to break out inside every other day with crusty, cracky, weepy, hurty, open sores. As soon as I stopped using tissues with lotion, they cleared up.
Acetone
Posted by Rick (Des Plaines, Il) on 11/30/2014
★☆☆☆☆
Sorry, for me acetone didn't seem to help even least. The only thing that has shown any evidence of helping me reduce the growth of a cold sore (especially if started early) is Lactoferrin (taken orally).
Acetone
Posted by Thehandyman1947 (Poland, Ohio) on 12/17/2013
Cold sores, the virus is highly contagous, when the blister is present, also you have a viral shedding once a year, no sign, but contagious. try DMSO and lugol's solutition in a spray bottle, ( lugol's solutition is a mixture of potassium, and iodine) 50/50 mix, this will take care of just about any infection, iodine is very powerful antiseptic, also myrrh oil or oil of wild oregano. Also when you have a blister it's a clear sign that your immune system is down so try to build up your immune system (vit c).
Bee Propolis
Posted by Bodulica (Barrie, Canada) on 12/12/2013
★★★★★
Herpes: Bee propolis applied topically significantly shortens the duration of the outbreak. Be careful: it permanently stains textile!
Acetone
Posted by Lisa H. (Santa Barbara, Ca) on 11/18/2013
★★★★★
Thank you - Earth Clinic folks. The acetone works miracles! I awoke with that dreaded tingling feeling and tried using an 11 month old tube zovirax to no effect for the first half a day the cold sore just kept growing - and getting redder and itchier.
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.
Acetone
Posted by Clare (Australia) on 09/02/2015
Thankyou thankyou for listing that Chocolate is your trigger. In my 46 years, I have never ever made that connection. I have the worse cold sore epidemic on my mouth and chin at the moment after eating kg's of chocolate & cupcakes this week. Yes I'm a little piggy but the kinder. I blame my son's birthday party & the kinder for all that chocolate I should have sold for fundraising as I know I'm just gonna gorge. Now to find a piggy anonymous thread on google. Hope the acetone works.
Acetone
Posted by Bronka (Vancouver) on 12/09/2017
Thank you so much for pointing out the chocolate - cold sore connection!!!
I do not like sweets very much, but yesterday I got these delicious chocolates, I tried one and then I just could not stop eating them last night!
This morning I woke up with a cold sore. This will teach me a lesson.
I tried the acetone before and it definitely helped me . So I am going to do it again now.
Acetone
Posted by Littlewing (Boston, Ma) on 07/06/2018
Chocolate is definitely on the list of triggers for cold sores. My trigger is nuts, mostly peanuts and walnuts. It's the Arginine in them, which is the trigger and I believe counteracts Lysine as well, so do try to avoid overindulging. Others are seeds, carob, coconut, lentils, soybeans, spinach, raisins and a few others you can google.
Bitter Almonds
Posted by G (Nederland) on 10/12/2013
★★★★★
Have anyone tried bitter almonds on cold sores. I have now been eating them for half a year and have no outbreak of cold sores.Also I mix some bitter almond oil with sweet almond oil and rub it on my lips every night. You can also use 100% bitter almond oil but it burns like hell
Aloe Vera
Posted by Jayne (London) on 09/15/2013
★★★★★
As soon as I feel or see a cold sore developing, I put some aloe vera toothpaste on, (the kind you can buy in any healthfood shop), and leave it on overnight. It's normally gone by morning. This also helps with other sores and blemishes. It helps to dry them up and, although tingly at first, feels very healing.
Garlic
Posted by Vanessa (London, UK) on 04/17/2014
This is the first time I've commented on here but I was compelled to write because of the success of using garlic, ice and coconut oil for my cold sore. I woke up in the night to feel a bump and tingle on my top lip, I immediately applied Zovirax but by the morning the sore was already blooming. I iced the sore for 10 minutes at a time, four times in the day and applied garlic for 15 seconds in between, putting a layer of VOC after each time. It's the smallest and the quickest recovery I've ever had from a CS.
Licorice and Peppermint Root Extract
Posted by Jazzz (Delta Junction, Alaska, Usa) on 03/19/2013
★★★★☆
While I have yet to find any success curing my cold sores, I have found one particular thing which prevents them.
It seems that certain remedies work well for one type of person but not the other, in the past I have tried Lysine, over the counter meds (they worked for a while), ice cubes, finger nail polish remover.... Ummm just about everything. Non of those worked well for me, for the past three years I have been using a licorice/peppermint root extract in gelled form. When I feel a cold sore coming on and I use this (I apply it every several hours at the onset) it never comes, I use this if I know I might get a cold sore (I'm sick or something), and I use this on my son. Unfortunetly, he doesn't know when a cold sore is coming on so it is usually already surfaced by the time I see it. However, when I put it on him the cold sore goes away very quickly and stops growing. I have noticed that over the years my cold sores are getting farther apart. I use to get them about 8 times a year and now its about 3-4.
If nothing else has worked for you, this might be the one- because nothing ever worked for me!
Royal Jelly
Posted by Amy (Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA) on 01/31/2013
★★★★★
To my surprise, this worked really well. I just applied it several times a day and it went away.
Manuka Honey
Posted by Sms27 (Princeton, Nj, Usa) on 01/14/2013
★★★★★
Manuka honey applied topically on the lip helps diminish the virus outbreak and significantly shortens the healing time. The trick is to keep the honey on for as long as possible until the sore heals. To clean use witch hazel.
Iodine
Posted by Candy (Brooklyn, Ny United States) on 12/13/2012
Are you completely healed from herpes or the symtoms are gone?
General Feedback
Posted by Bess (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) on 01/08/2013
Hi Gerrit - You mentioned that you would prefer using a roll-on for transdermal magnesium oil.
I apply magnesium oil (homemade) by refilling an old deodorant bottle. I pop off the top part (that contains the ball) with the thin part of a dull knife. Then I fill it with magnesium oil, add a few drops of essential oil and use that. I found it works much better than spraying it on. I even found glass deodorant bottles at London Drugs (just empty the contents which are full of chemicals). Hope that helps and good health to you!
Acetone
Posted by Gracie (London, UK) on 12/02/2012
★★★★★
Acetone really works! I wanted to share all the info I have with cold sore sufferers as I know how detrimental they can be to the quality of life.
I have been suffering for years and years now from cold sores. My immune system is weak to them and I suspect my partner carries the cold sore virus without any symptoms and infects me every time he eats lots of chocolate and nuts. Sometimes these cold sores are around my nose, on my cheeks, on my chin or above my mouth and I have had some terrible scars in the past from cold sores that became huge and lasted for weeks. These scars sometimes took over 6 months to disappear.
This used to be the bane of my life. It really ruined my existence, to the point where I did not go out for weeks as my face was marred with huge weeping sores or large crusty scabs sometimes several nasty cold blisters would spread in a line across my cheek and they were so painful. It was one of the worst periods of my life and lasted over 2 years during which I felt ashamed and disgusting. People would look at me with horror and no amount of make up could conceal these terrible sores.
Thank goodness for acetone. I cannot believe this works but it really does! The minute I feel a sore coming on or itchiness I swab the area with acetone several times, often the skin turns a little red. Then on top of that I put some cream containing acyclovir like zovirax. I keep repeating every couple of hours. Usually the next day the sore is gone or on its way out.
Just to give advice to others out there, there is a link between foods and cold sores especially sugars, processed red meats (avoid these like the plague) and foods containing lysine and arginine to my break outs. If I eat foods high in arginine like nuts, seeds, chocolate, soya, shellfish etc. then often a cold sore will come up, it is important to balance this out with either foods containing lysine or a lysine supplement.
Foods highest in lysine are chicken, tuna, cod, grouper, pollock, haddock etc. Foods highest in Lysine and lowest in arginine are plain yogurt, most cheeses, milk, kefir and many fishes.
Sticking to a good ratio of more lysine than arginine in your diet plus the acetone trick should mean no more cold sores!
I wish everyone well and no more cold sores, ever!
Acetone
Posted by Kilgore (Jackson, Ms) on 12/06/2012
Please try iodine for cold sores, 20 drops of the 5% solution in coffee or milk. Resolved my case in two months.
Alcohol
Posted by Lisa H. (Santa Barbara, Ca) on 11/18/2013
When I was in Nepal earlier this year I got a cold sore and I was staying a top a mountain, a three hour return trip to a pharmacy. I had failed to pack any zovirax, which has been successful in the past, so my friend and I went digging through our first aid kits and came up with alcohol swabs! Ah huh!!
After the first swipe, the burning started, but it was that good burning like you can feel the virus shrinking away from it as fast as it can kind of burning. It took about three days of day with the alcohol wipes every couple of hours to turn it completely around and kill it.
I have subsequently found acetone to work faster and be more effective, but if you are working with what you have available in a first aid kit - I can 400% recommend the alcohol swabs!
Lemon Balm
Posted by P (Shawnee Mission, Ks) on 10/24/2012
The herb Lemon Balm There is actually some research to support its effectiveness against the herpes virus. Take it when you first start to feel the pain. 2 or three capsules, Then back off and use 1 maybe 3 times a day. Zinc oxide ointment on the sores at night. I use coconut oil in cooking. May help.
Lemon Balm
Posted by Cris01us (Honolulu) on 07/07/2017
★★★★★
You are spot on. Lemon Balm is my main weapon now (liquid form with dropper). I also take coconut oil (1000-5000mg) depending on how I feel, and having enough Zinc is also key. I rotate in Echinacea with Goldenseal every so often and always take L-Lysine. Thanks for sharing!
Aloe Vera
Posted by D M (Orlando, Fl) on 10/14/2012
★★★★★
Apply ice and aloe vera. Keep the skin cool as soon as tingling starts. Works like a charm.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Timh (KY) on 03/06/2015 2048 posts
Licorice is a potent antiviral and worth the recommend, but, yes, the Glycyrrhizic Acid makes it unpopular as the bad side effects of elevated Aldosterone thus sodium retention and hypertension. To reduce these side effects one can go on a very low sodium and increased potassium diet for the few days of taking Licorice.
Also, most folks take advantage of the deglyccerinated form of licorice or DGL. Therapeutic doses of DGL could be taken together w/ minimal doses of regular strength Licorice (also w/ low sodium diet) for maximum benefit and minimal side effect.
L-Lysine
Posted by Timh (Louisville, Ky, Usa) on 08/01/2012 2048 posts
Becky, the herb St John's Wort is both antiviral and antidepressant. Outside of the typical vit/min used to boost immunity, of which some it seems he's taking, try the Thymus Gland support I posted a few days ago, here:
https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/lyme_disease.html#MR_71105
Cold Showers or Cold Baths or swimming is a powerful whole body/mind booster w/ immediate as well as long-term benefits; you can find it in the "remedies" section at the top of the E. C. page.
Hope this helps and good luck.
L-Lysine
Posted by Sherry (Vancouver, Bc) on 12/08/2012
RA and Mania are both tied to gluten intolerance. It has incredible systemic reactions. Do some research and get him off gluten and dairy. It'll make the world of difference.
Ear Wax
Posted by Latonia (Marshallville, Ga, United States) on 07/19/2012
★★★★★
I was told many years ago from a friend that ear wax works well for cold sores. I thought it was a grotesque thing to do but it worked instantly. The minute I felt one coming, I would apply my ear wax or the residue if you didn't have any wax to pull from your ear. That worked as well. It will heal a cold sore in one to two days. It doesn't burn at all. It's very safe and economical!
L-Lysine
Posted by Susan (Bklyn, Ny) on 07/21/2012
Well, Well, I feel your pain but you do not have to live this way. Do not listen to the doctors, there is help out there. The problem is people do not want to change their diet. If u read my post on the "onion family" cure u would c that two people were cured passing on info to the next. I just found out that one of them had it for 7 yrs before she got cured. Upon finding out she immediately chnaged her diet, ate organic produce( only from the land and NOTHING processed). She does not use deodorant but makes her own from fresh lemons/limes. Drinks distilled water/minearl water. She takes cold pressed coconut oil daily and has been retested multiple times and the result is still negative. She has stopped taking the onion drink after her kidneys were messed up(she drank it excessively). She still maintains an extremely healthy lifestyle. Her shower has a filter and so is her tap. She uses no flour, rice etc. But this is what cured her. She also used lots of herbal stuff, no pill nor capsule.
Acetone, Aloe Vera
Posted by Merrin (Perth, West Australia) on 05/30/2012
G'day! After suffering from unsightly coldsores due to stress a friend recommended Lysine, an amino acid. I take a 500mg tablet every day or two. If I feel the "tingle" I increase the dose and that seems to do the trick, stopping the nasty beast in its tracks.
