Home Treatments For Cold Sores
By Elizabeth C.
I’m going to cover here as many possible treatments as I can for cold sores, including the BEST home remedy for cold sore as well as some OTC (Over The Counter) medications. Don’t forget that prevention is the best treatment! I highly recommend you see this for information about the signs of a cold sore breakout and also, most importantly, about how to prevent one: How To Get Rid of Cold Sores: Prevention First
How To Treat A Cold Sore:
Clean the cold sore with hot soapy water (don’t scratch it!) and a clean washcloth to clean the cold sore and surrounding area at least once a day. Overscrubbing, however, may cause further irritation and prolong the infection. Avoid touching the cold sore, as skin-to-skin to contact can spread the herpes infection.
Cover the cold sore with a petroleum-based product, such as pure petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to speed healing and avoid additional bacterial infection. A pain-relief product like Neosporin will work to seal in the herpes virus, minimize irritation, and keep out further infection.
The treatments for cold sores have come a long way in recent years. There are several new medications, as well as home remedy for cold sore, that not only offer relief of symptoms, but they also shorten the cold sore’s life span. Some are available over the counter (Abreva, Viractin) and some by prescription only (Denivir), and sometimes a home remedy for cold sore can be effectively cooked up on your own. If you suffer from outbreaks, it’s a good idea to keep one of these treatment options on hand:
OTC virus inhibiting medications for cold sores:
Products containing docosanol.
Docosanol is a compound that is capable of having an inhibitory effect on the herpes virus and therefore it is suggested that it can help to limit both the duration and severity of cold sores. Clinical trials for one docosanol product showed that it reduced the median time-to-healing period for cold sores by (only) about one day.
Numbing agents for cold sores.
When applied, numbing agents can help alleviate a cold sore’s burning, itching, and pain. Some of the active ingredients found in these types of products are: tetracaine, benzocaine, lidocaine, benzyl alcohol, camphor, and phenol.
Products that limit cold sore formation or promote their healing.
The compounds zinc, lysine, phenol, and tannic acid have each been suggested to have antiviral properties, and therefore are thought to have an inhibitory effect on the herpes virus particles’ ability to form cold sore lesions.
Medications that moisturize cold sores.
Lip balms can moisturize and soften the scabs that form on cold sores so they are less likely to crack and bleed. Some common ingredients found in this type of product are petrolatum and allantoin.
Medications that provide sun screen protection.
Exposure to bright sunlight can be a trigger for cold sore outbreaks. Because of this many lip balm medications will contain zinc oxide or some other compound that provides sun screen protection.
A home remedy for cold sore or cold sore home treatment : these are too numerous to mention, and many of them simply do not work. My own experience on home remedy for cold sore is with something concocted by a close friend of mine, and even though I’ve never been big on home remedies I must say that this cold sore home treatment worked both times for me, and even more impressive is I’ve seen it work on about 25 other people she’s tried it on, consistently! Please have a look at my friend Grace’s solution for the matter:
Cold Sore Freedom – Cold Sore Home Treatment – Home Remedy For Cold Sore
Also, I would encourage you to check out my friends blog at: Cold Sore Home Remedies – My Experience
Best Wishes and Good Luck!
Elizabeth C.
