Cold Sore Home Treatment

If you suffer from cold sores (herpes simplex), you will know the misery these little spots cause, and will probably have your own tried and tested cold sore home treatment to recommend to others. You will also know how sympathetic fellow-sufferers are and how unsympathetic those who have never suffered the blight of cold sores can be. Believe me, I speak from years of experience!

The herpes virus HSV1 is the most common cause of oral herpes. It is highly contagious and usually transmitted by close contact such as kissing and hugging an infected person. Once caught, the virus is with you for life, lying dormant until triggered by any number of factors such as pregnancy; trauma to lips or gums; cosmetic surgery; anxiety, stress or fatigue; hormonal changes and exposure to sunlight or extreme cold. For me, it’s impossible to get a cold without an accompanying cold sore and, over the years, I have tried every cold sore home treatment ever dreamed up.

Some of these have helped and some have not. What might help on one occasion has no effect on another, so every cold sore home treatment is worth a try. Although there are now several proprietary treatments available from pharmacies, keeping a few simple remedies in the bathroom cabinet is always a good idea.

My aim is always to dry the sore as quickly as possible and dabbing with simple baking soda is quite effective. You may look comical with a little snow-dusting around your mouth, but if you can knock a few days off the life cycle of your cold sore, what does that matter? Another favourite cold sore home treatment is witch hazel dabbed on at regular intervals to promote drying. At least this one will not cause visitors to smirk when you have to answer the door! Aloe Vera gel or oil and lemon balm are gentler and more soothing drying agents.

Your cold sore may feel like a golf ball is trying to burst out of your lips, but to others it is barely visible – which can be something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand it means you look less unsightly than you think, but on the other the sympathy stakes are definitely reduced if there’s nothing much to see. When you do get that golf ball feeling, an ice cube might help to reduce the throbbing sensation. My mother’s favourite cold sore home treatment was a tea bag and I spent many hours as a child with a brown-stained mouth and the smell of tea assailing my nostrils. This could well account for my life-long dislike of the cup that cheers!

Another useful cold sore home treatment is a coating of Vaseline, or petroleum jelly. This has the benefit of protecting the area from further infection. Any general local anesthetic cream or ointment can be very soothing, especially in the early stages of the sore. What is not advisable, however, and which I found to my cost, is to try to mask the cold sore with make-up. This only aggravates the sore and causes it to spread.