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.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Isabelle (Vancouver) on 03/17/2015
★★★★★
I have been using tea tree oil to treat cold sores for well over a decade - it has never failed me. As a child I was very susceptible to enormous cold sore breakouts and my parents tried all kinds of natural as well as not-so natural remedies to no prevail? In my early sdulthood I decided to try applying un-dilluted te tree oil & magic! Undilluted tea tree oil is very string and can even burn your skin, so it is important to be precise & apply it only to the direct affected spot, without letting it run or spread over a larger area. A doused q-tip works well. If you apply it (and re-apply it several times, ie. every hour) when you get the first tickling sensation of a cold sore coming on before it actually appears, it will never appear! If you are a bit lit and the cold sore has already shown its face, apply it, and the sore will quickly dry up and die without going through the whole itchy raw stage?
Eliminating Mercury Fillings
Posted by Maxklug (Ma, Usa) on 03/05/2015
This is interesting. When one goes on a Ketogenic diet the body produces Ketones from your fat stores that are burned for fuel instead of glucose. One of those Ketones is Acetone. It would therefore make sense that those on Ketogenic diets would not have outbreaks. Perhaps the other ketones the body produces are equally effective against the virus.
There is one more thing that may be of interest to readers. I read somewhere else that outbreaks are tied to elevated levels of mercury in the body. I was originally infected in my late teens but then had years of never having another outbreak. Then in my mid thirties I had cavities filled for the first time in my life, the fillings were amalgam fillings containing mercury. I then experienced monthly outbreaks. I did not make the connection at that time as I was not aware of the connection between mercury and Herpes outbreaks.
For those concerned about mercury there is a cheap and effective way to chelate it from your body. That way is by consuming cilantro, otherwise known as coriander.
Another way to chelate Mercury is with a supplement called IP6, but that also chelates iron so women below the age of menopause should take precautions against anemia if they take this supplement.
I suspect that high levels of free iron in the blood also stimulate herpes outbreaks so men should avoid all "fortified" products that have ferrous sulphate in them. It would be hard to find a pasta or a flour sold retail that is not "fortified" but there are brands of rice that do not have it, usually jasmine rice in the asian food section of the market or at asian markets.
Monolaurin
Posted by Any (Az., US) on 02/26/2015
★★★★★
If you have an active cold sore, please do some research on Monolaurin. This is not a quick cure, but taking monolaurin everyday for 6 months while you have an active infection, has been shown to eradicate the virus permanently. It will also heal the cold sore faster than it normally would heal.
Hypericum
Posted by Anonymos (Kansas City) on 02/05/2015
Dr. Ritu,
Could you share more details about dosage, how to take hypericun etc.? The link you provided shows research for HIV, not herpes.
L-Lysine and Diet
Posted by Lorik (Va, Usa) on 12/31/2014
★★★★★
I have suffered from cold sores for years, mostly in my teenage years. I have used B-Complex and found that helpful to take a few times a week and my occurrences subsided. Then I discovered using Spirit of Camphor on the end of a q-tip or cotton ball helped dry them once they began. Now I strictly use L-Lysine as soon as I get an 'itchy' feeling that one is one the way. I take about 1000 mg per day for 2 days and the cold sores rarely come to a complete break out. Earlier this year I began to eat a good, healthy, balanced diet and haven't had a break out in months.. Healthy living is the best way for most issues, in my opinion.
Carmex
Posted by Dillon (United Kingdom) on 12/02/2014
I usually get cold sores around the time when it starts warming up or cooling down (spring and fall). I don't know why but I headed to the store today to grab some Hemoform. Long story short, the more Hemoform I spread, the more the cold sore spread. CARMEX works!
Acetone
Posted by Ems (Uk) on 10/31/2014
★★★★★
Felt the tingling early and thought I had stopped it with Zovirax but woke up this morning and it was huge. I burst it with a disinfected needle and have been pressing a cotton bud with nail polish remover into it and in 3 hours it has gone down in size by a third.
Acetone
Posted by Rachelle (Idaho, US) on 11/02/2014
Wow I have never heard of using acetone! I will be incorporating this along with what I have found to be most beneficial today! I'm 51 and have suffered all my life with cold sores clear back to my grade school days! I have always considered myself as the cold sore queen! hahaha With age comes experience for what has worked best for me. At the first sign I always take a fever reducer. I take this through out the day and I even take it at night before bed. This by far has been the best way for me to attack the cold sores before they attack me at night! This has kept that god awful swelling from happening over night! Along with helping out with the pain! Thanks for the advice on the acetone can not wait to try it!
Acetone
Posted by Kim (Ny, US) on 11/07/2014
Hi, read your post and really curious to know if it worked for you. I thought like we all do I suppose that I was the cold soar queen, but I see you are too. LOL... Mine come specifically with stress. I always know when it is about to come and can usually stop it with the medicine. They gave me a larger dose than I have heard normally because of how large one got once, so I get 1000mg of Valtrex. When it first starts the tingle I take 2 and if I was early enough it won't come at all.
This past week though I was away from home, knew it was coming and forgot the medicine... sure enough, BANG! However this time it is worse than it has ever been and I've had them so bad that once my lip was swollen 3" more than normal. This one goes from the middle of my upper lip two the corner of my mouth and that has never happened. Usually its one on the lip or above but this is like 4 of them together and is horrible. So I wonder did the acetone work for you??????
Transfer Factor
Posted by Hope (North Carolina, US) on 10/29/2014
To Ted:
Ted, I would like to know your opinion on Transfer Factor. Will it kill hsv1? Is it worth the money or should I be using something more powerful for herpes?
I want to Thank You for all of your information!
Peppermint
Posted by Ray (Boston, Ma) on 12/17/2013
★★★★★
Can you add Peppermint to the cold sore remedy list? I know it works.
EC: Hi Ray, do you mean peppermint oil or lip balm with peppermint?
Acetone
Posted by Maria (NJ ) on 05/04/2022
ME TOO! What is it with the RETIN-A!!
Avoid Orange, Grapefruit, and Cranberry Juices
Posted by Timauthee (Dallas, Tx) on 09/04/2013
★★★★★
Cold Sores: Tried ALL of the home remedies, drugs and L Lysine for prevention..... Nothing worked. Read 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).
Honey
Posted by Garion (New York, Ny) on 05/04/2013
★★★★☆
Honey usually works when I catch the cold sore during that "tingling" stage. But, just recently I think the sun did me in and 2 days later I broke out. I could fill my lip getting swollen and irritated and see it being red but I was at work and didn't have the honey available. I got home and did the honey but by the next day, full on blisters. I was applying the honey but it was too late. And the cold sore is now progressing thru the states.
So, for honey to work, for me, I need to catch it right at the tingling stage. Or else it seems it's too late.
Avoiding The Sun
Posted by Maremarecalif (Concord, Ca) on 04/19/2013
★★★★☆
For years I would get cold sores and I could not figure out why.. I'm 70yrs now and about 5 years ago the answer came.. It was the sun that brought them on for me... I am fair skin and I have a large lot.. I do all the yard work , that includes making patios with pavers, digging up sewer pipes etc... The days I'm in the sun too long, the next day I will feel bumps next to my lips and I know whats coming Blisters... So now I do most of my yard work late in the day or very early in the am.. If I do get one, I use camphor.
Red Marine Algae, L-Lysine
Posted by Kristine (Rome, Italy) on 04/18/2013
Red Marine Algae (difficult to find outside of the USA) and L-Lysine taken in the early stages of a heperes outbreak works wonders, even regarding furture break-outs!
Artificial Sweetener Link to Herpes
Posted by Art 1a. (Vancouver BC, Canada) on 04/05/2013
I have been off artificial sweeteners for some time now. The other day being 5 days ago I went out to mow the grass. I had a bottle of flavored water 1/2 full sitting in my cup holder. It had been there for 7 months since the last time I use the tractor. I drank it like I have done before, after all it, s just flavored water and it still tasted pretty good. The cap was on tight and the garage is cold. Anyway I got a Cold Sore 2 hours later on my upper lip. Now any time before if I was to hold my keys with my teeth and the key touched my lower lip I would get a break out on that spot. So this must be some kind of bacteria causing it.
I am taking BHT for another problem but it does not help with this. So I guess the next time I will try the ACV trick and see if that does the trick.
art 1a.
Colloidal Silver, Coconut Oil
Posted by Gonna Try Again (Fort Lauderdale, Fl, Usa) on 02/20/2013
★★★★★
Read on EarthClinic about both Monolaurin and Collodial Silver (CS) for cold sore, and fiqured that I would give it a shot. For about a month, I took CS five times daily and two coconut oil supps each time I took the CS. That was a year ago (Should note that I can go years between a cold sore). This weekend was a bit cold and I may have also had an allergic reaction to orange juice which caused my lips to burn/itch. I put Carmex on it and today woke up with a small cold sore. It is so small that it is barely visible. I added some topical CS and it is already drying up.
Obviously a month of CS and coconut oil supplements did not cure the virus, but I cant deny that this is probably the smallest coldsore I have had in a while. So I'm going to try taking the CS and supps longer to see if it will finally go away FOREVER!!
Colloidal Silver, Coconut Oil
Posted by Alakhi (Livingston, Mt) on 02/20/2013
Try DMSO, it really works on cold sores!
Vitamin C
Posted by Jamie (Los Angeles, California) on 02/07/2013
★★★★★
Hi! I just wanted to share my whole life I've suffered from having annoying cold sores right on my face and a couple years ago I found why I got them in the first place and how to stop them. I did some research and found out since cold sores are a virus, they can be counter-acted by boosting up your immune system. I guess I must've just had a weak immune system for my life and so a couple years ago I started taking 500-1000mg Vitamin C per day and have not gotten them since! At one point I lazed off from taking the vitamin c, and what do you know I got one again! But as soon as I noticed it/ felt it I took about 3000 mg Vitamin C per day and it disappeared! My self confidence is so much higher now and I feel way better myself and no more stress/worrying about when I'm going to get one!
Vitamin C
Posted by Neukoln (Edinburgh, Scotland, Uk) on 02/08/2013
This is a fabulous result, and I know it will help lots of people.
I was taking vitamin C in similar doses and still got cold sores - at least once a month, for over 15 years. It was only when I started taking 1000mg of lysine powder, on an empty stomach first thing in the morning that they finally stopped. I've been doing that for 5 years - and the only time I've had one was when I went I ran out for 3 weeks. It's important that lysine is taken on an empty stomach because otherwise it is mixed with amino acids in food to make protein. It's tasteless and dissolves easily, so mixing it with water is fine.
