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.
Ice
Posted by Joy (Zimbabwe) on 06/19/2016
★★★★★
I used to suffer terribly with cold sores, until I discovered that holding an ice cube on my lip directly over the tell-tale "tingle" that I came to dread!!! Hold it there until the cube has melted, and hey presto, no more tingle and no outbreak!! This discovery has revolutionised my life... perhaps a bit dramatic, but it sure feels wonderful to no longer suffer with a dreaded fever blister!! :)
BHT
Posted by Cris01us (Hawaii) on 06/18/2016
★★★★★
I have been taking BHT for a year now and haven't had an actual outbreak since. In 2015 I had three in the course of 6 months, which is the most I've ever had in that amount of time. Now here's the disclaimer, I've had what I thought were the tell-tale signs of one coming on (you know that little bit of irritation). Now this could be paranoia and nerves or an actual outbreak, I never am 100% sure. Anyway, I always up my regular 250mg dose of BHT to 500 or even 1000mg (never more), apply some Lemon Balm to the suspect area and ta-da, and up all my other vitamins (L-Lysine too) and it never comes to fruition. Maybe one of these times I will be brave and just stick with the 250mg of BHT and see what happens (too bad my outbreaks last at least 2 full weeks! )!?
Acetone
Posted by Ethnie (Fl) on 05/26/2016
Thank you for speaking about the Chicken Pox...it clarified my outbreak
Colloidal Silver and Aloe Vera
Posted by Rianne (Canada) on 03/27/2016
★★★★★
I woke up one morning with a large "cauliflower" cold sore on my upper lip. I could also feel that it was sore and still growing. I broke out my colloidal silver gel (1:1 mixture of aloe vera gel and 10 ppm colloidal silver), and was amazed to watch it shrink to nothing in 4 he's, with repeated applications of a small amount of the gel! It usually requires a 7 day healing time. wow! I have found my answer to my cold sores now. Thank you, Earth Clinic, for everything I've learned here for I had never even heard of Colloidal silver before this site. Thank you again.
Gluten-Free Diet
Posted by Sc (U.s.a) on 02/01/2016
★★★★★
I used to get cold sores ALL the time. when I went gluten free I have had none . I know if I even get a tingle something has happened in my diet!
Coconut Oil, Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Sharon (Pennsylvania) on 01/25/2016
★★★★★
Love the coconut oil for cold sores. So much better relief than anything I've tried. Also used tea tree oil this time soaked into a q-tip. But I think the coconut oil worked first. Love both for cold sores.
Acetone
Posted by Concerned (Georgia ) on 01/12/2016
★★★★★
I have suffered from cold sores ever since I was in elementary school. I am currently 20 years old. I usually get cold sores once a year. But this past year (2015), I got two of them. To top that off, I got one at the beginning of the new year. These are the WORST. I have tried nearly everything. This past time I had a cold sore, I read on the internet that nail polish remover really works. And man was that right! I caught mine before it got too bad.
I put the acetone on it once every hour of the day. Hold it for 20 seconds, IT WILL BURN! But it works. The next morning, my cold sore was almost gone. It wasn't even noticeable! I continued the process of applying acetone every hour of the day until it was gone.
It also helps to take the vitamin L-lysine. I also drink plenty of milk when I have cold sores, because milk also contains lysine.
I hope this was helpful!
Acetone
Posted by Ed (Seattle, Wa) on 01/01/2016
★★★★★
My diet is somewhat acidic. I would experience cold sore attacks every other week. I stopped taking daily multivitamins due to high L-arinine content of solid multivitamin pills. I have been eating roman lettuce, green cabbage, carrots and other vegetables every day starting this summer.
I had only 1 instant of tingling and reddish color on my lower lip where cold sores would appear before. Tingling, inflammation and skin redness went away in minutes after applying acetone.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Tmccallum (United States ) on 12/29/2015
★★★★★
For years I would get re-occurring cold sores when a change in the weather would come;typically from warm to cold. However, this year I used HP and soaked a cotton ball in it and applied (ran back and forth) on my upper lip for repeatedly until I felt it tingle on my upper lip. The tingling helped me to know that it was working. I did this until the tingling stopped. NO cold sore! Not sure this will work for everyone but I can feel when something is not working right on my body and I try to be proactive in stopping it. I hope this helps!
Oil Pulling
Posted by Don (Tel Aviv) on 12/15/2015
Hi, since this is a very old post I would be very interested in hearing if you are still oil pulling and if you had any amalgam issues since? Thanks! Don
Cold Sore Prevention Tips
Posted by Rr (Tennessee) on 12/10/2015
★★★★★
Any one who gets cold sores try this. This is to keep from getting them. Don't wash behind or around your ears. I swear there is something about oil being behind the ears that protects you from outbreaks. I was getting one after another until I realized it started when I switched from body wash to real soap which strips all your natural oils. I remembered how I had one almost all the time growing up and guess what we used...soap.
I stopped washing around my ears all together. I just wipe the area with a wet wash cloth occasionally, no soap or body wash. It has been more than a year since I got one and that's a long time for me. I also haven't had a cold since I started this.
I also only clean the ear out with a cotton swab when it feels like I have to.
I hope this helps someone.
Acetone
Posted by Annie (Providence, Ri) on 11/18/2015
★★★★★
Acetone worked very well for me. I get cold sores about once a year, usually in the Fall, when my lips start to chap from the cold. I didn't hear about Acetone soon enough to prevent the outbreak of my first cold sore this year - I was already on day 3 after the blisters had broken when I discovered this remedy. I started using it then - and it did speed healing greatly! In fact, it worked so well that I figured I didn't need to use it anymore, that my cold sore would be nearly gone by the next day or so, so I stopped using it. Unfortunately, when I stopped, it got worse the next day. I had to start using it again to see improvement. It made a huge difference in the speed of healing and that was with spotty/very late use!
Also - normally when I have a cold sore outbreak I get at least one or two, sometimes up to four in a row. Sure enough, I started getting not one but two more as the first began healing. I hit them with the Acetone on a cotton swab, pressing it into the newly forming bump/blisters, for at least 30 seconds, at least once every two hours for one day. By the next day - both were completely gone - they never continued forming!
A couple of days later, I started getting yet another, right next to where the first one was. I put Acetone on about every two hours or so, all day long. The next day - the swelling, bump and forming blisters are GONE! Completely! I feel confident that I will never have another cold sore again as long as I catch it in time and always have 100% pure Acetone on hand.
Acetone
Posted by Anon (Anon) on 11/09/2015
★★★★★
Acetone is working really well. Had the worst cold sore of my life a month ago and now a month later another one. I felt the tingling and immediately started with Hydrogen peroxide. Later read on here that acetone works very well too so I started using that. It has dried out the cold sore better than the HP. The cold sore is barely visible and has not swollen huge or burst or anything. it is Just red and a little swollen, It is very dried out and seems to be going straight to scabbing, although you cant really see a real "scab" its just dried out and dry skin but you cant tell unless you look real close in the mirror. This sore is in the same spot as the really bad one a month ago but also spread down the lip even more than the really bad one. I feel that if I would not have used the acetone this sore would have been the worst one ever. The first day I felt the tingling I used HP. The next day no sign of a sore but still put HP on it for about 10 min twice that day. Day 3 I woke up and the sore started to pop up like normally, reddish and a glossy bump. It wasn't too big, yet! It was about the size of Lincolns head on a penny. Immediately started to soak with acetone. It went down in swelling and dried out quick. Still red though. Next day, day 4, which is today, I woke up and it looked really good. swelling down still, still dried out, still a little red. Soaking in Acetone again this morning. Worked all day and it barely noticeable, barley swollen, barely red. Applying again tonight. I'm hoping that it continues to go down and not have a brown scab. Hopefully just dry crusty skin scab that you can't really see like it is now. So it should be healed within a week hopefully. which is amazing because before it would be a week before it even scabbed and then at least another week with bleeding nasty huge scab on my lip.
This is a GOD send, helping soo much. I am truly grateful!
DMSO
Posted by Melisa (Texas, Houston) on 10/18/2015
★★★★★
Fever Blisters:
I wanted to add my experience using DMSO helped me. I just clean my lips with hydrogen peroxide with a qtip then I apply DMSO with another q-tip leave it on for a few mins or untill it dries then I rinse with water n add olive oil for moisture. I used to get them every month before since I started I havent gotten them anymore for months now. I'ts great.
Manuka Honey
Posted by Carrie (Galena) on 10/07/2015
★★★★★
I was recently affected by something (likely a Bloody Mary Drink) I think I ate/drank along with another friend. Some other friends suggested maybe it was msg. I will never have another Bloody Mary drink there again. Maybe, but who knows for sure. I started with a swollen mouth. Gums sore and places where I have chewed my cheeks, etc.
My friend woke up with swollen lips that did not go away for a week. Since I am prone to cold sores, I found myself with one that next day as well as the swollen mouth. During the next couple of days my lips were swollen as well and canker sores developed all over them as well as the cold sore. I came here and found someone said something about manuka honey. I had recently purchased some good stuff with a 10+ UMF rating. I started by putting a 1/2 teaspoon of it in my mouth and pushing it around for about a minute. I did this about 3 or 4 times for 2 days. It burned like h... for about a minute and pain and swelling subsided. I stopped doing it when I no longer felt any pain from doing it. I created a paste using it with some coconut oil and applied it to my lips and cold sore about 5/6 times a day.
Within 2 days my mouth was completely healed with the cold sore gone in less than a week. Truly amazing as they usually last for 2 weeks for me. It's expensive, but it was well worth it for me as I'd never had canker sores and they hurt really badly. I had about 10 or more all over my inner lips which I think was a reaction from them being swollen. My friend never developed any other problems but the swollen lips.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lou (Tyler, Tx) on 09/27/2015
Catfish, cajun fries and crawdads? You eat like my husband and he has a cold sore tonight that erupted into a facial infection of sorts. Not a good diet. Eat a salad!!! Alkaline diet!!!
Lecithin
Posted by Gwendolyn (Miami) on 09/24/2015
Is lecithin in capsule form or in fresh granular form?
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Mike (Los Angeles ) on 09/14/2015
Do you know if it's bad to use it with regular filtered water?
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.
Grapefruit
Posted by Adina (Ottawa) on 07/06/2015
★★★★★
This is what happened to me: I used to have so often cold sores that I was desperate. Is hard to believe, but I was getting cold sores even when I looked to somebody else with cold sores. Was absolutely crazy. And one day, many years back, when I was having cold sore I eat a grapefruit and I noticed that instead to grow, started to get dry. I was not 100% sure if was from the grapefruit. Was kind of strange. Usually I had my cold sores 2 up to 3 weeks (so bad they were). In the same time I did nothing unusual beside eating the grapefruit. So, I eat another one and I made sure that I touch the lips with the juice. In 2 days was gone. After that every time when I felt a cold sore is developing I was eating a grapefruit and the next day was gone. What is interesting is that now I do not get them anymore. I tested on somebody else also. I worked with a lady she used to have them very often. I told her about my discovery, she has been using since. She also does not get them very often now, but she still does.
I have to mention that mold in food or in the house can give cold sores. Maybe she has mold in the house that she still get them or in my case was not the house.
To go further, I tried with lemon and vit C. Lemon does not work so well as grapefruit and vit C is better then lemon, but the best I found is the GRAPEFRUIT.
Good Luck
And thank you to EC and all the people who share there knowledge.
Ear Wax
Posted by Shannon (Toronto, On) on 07/02/2015
★★★★★
I get cold sores at least 3-4 times every year. The last couple years I do everything I can as early as possible to try and reduce the sore and get to the scab phase. I use ice, hydrogen peroxide, l-lysine tablets and oregano oil but no matter what I do it always lasts about 5 days to a week. I got a bad one two days ago, I noticed it as I was on my way to work and unfortunately couldn't do anything about it all day. By the end of the day it was a full-blown nasty, throbbing sore that spread half way across my lip! I tried all of the things that I normally do and nothing seemed to be working in the slightest because I didn't catch it fast enough. I
finally decided to try the ear wax method and within an hour of applying it, the pain started to go away and the sore reduced drastically. I applied some more a few times throughout the day yesterday, and today it's already at the scab phase. This will be the first thing I try from now on.
Fresh Avocado
Posted by Clare (Penzance, Uk) on 07/01/2015
★★★★★
For cold sores, smear a small amount of avocado pear on it. If you catch it early enough it will stop it immediately. Even if you do it later I.e. the next day, it will stop the cold sore from developing. Just keep smearing it on; it will dry and you might look like an extra from a horror movie but it has to be better than some of the things that people say they are using. Marvellous cure!
Acetone
Posted by Mk (Ky) on 06/10/2015
★★★★★
Straight Acetone is the best, and at night I use calamine lotion to aid in the drying, makes you look funny, but it works! Two to three days and gone! Completely!
