never ending cold sore

[Judy]

I have had cold sore for 2 months simply because i have gotten infection 4 times continously.  I have been very careful to the lips; I have used very hot water to sterilize the utencil and everything that contacts with my lips.  The reasons why I got infection repeatedly is due to ChopStick lip balm.  For the first 2 repeated infections after the healing was almost completed (the cold sore ointment was used up), i used the old lip balm that was used when my lips just started to get the infection (so it might be contaminated).  After 2 weeks of developing and healing and using up the cold sore ointment, this time I used a brand new lip balm to my lips.  Only after a couple of hours, I started feeling itchy again.  I could not believe that lip balm which acts like a protectant to lips can be actually harmful to my almost healed lips.  Does it mean that I can never use lip blam again (I used it when all the blisters were totally gone; my lips were just a little dry)? A lot of cold sore ointment is also used for chapped or dry lips.  Both balms should be very similar; why my experience is so different for the two? for your information, the lip balm that got my lips infected contains:

44%petrolatums, 1.5%padimate o, 1%lanolin,1%isopropyl myristate, 0.5%cetyl alcohol

Thank you.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

With due respect, Judy, I think you are using the term, "cold sore" in the loose and incorrect way many people do.  True hepres infections recur a couple of times a year, last a week, and go away.  You don't "catch them" from anything--they recur when the virus, which hides in nerves under the lip, come back to life for a while.

I suspect, though I can't prove, that when you feel the itch, your brain says, "Oh-oh--another infection!" after which you rub the area, see the scab, and the whole cycle starts again.  

My suggestion?  Get some OTC bacitracin ointment, to eliminate any chance of bacteria.  Use that as a lip balm, as often as you like.  Take care to NEVER rub or pick at your lips.  The watch the "infections" mely away.

It's worth a shot.  If it fails, see a derm doc.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[kel]

Clarification:  no "real" doctor would ever suggest that merely rubbing your lip will give you a herpes like scab.   No "real" dermatologist would ever suggest that it's not herpes if the infection doesn't go away in a week.  The typical minimum is ten days, and many people take two weeks or longer to get rid of the infection.

Herpes can and does appear more than twice a year.

If you really are a doctor, you are in serious need of education.
Personally, I doubt that you are, and if you don't mind, why don't you post your credentials because I would like to do a little investigating...

[kel]

Clarification:  no "real" doctor would ever suggest that merely rubbing your lip will give you a herpes like scab.   No "real" dermatologist would ever suggest that it's not herpes if the infection doesn't go away in a week.  The typical minimum is ten days, and many people take two weeks or longer to get rid of the infection.

Herpes can and does appear more than twice a year.  

If you really are a doctor (which I doubt), you are in serious need of education.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Kel:

Herpes can recur more than tice a year, but in my experience it's rare for an attack to last for "2 months."  As for picking causing sores that look like herpes, I see this quite often.  Perhaps your clinical experience differs from mine.

In my reply, I said that I thought the questioner's condition was probably not herpes, and I suggested alternate approaches.  I concluded, however, that if the lip doesn't clear up, another dermatologist should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment.

I think this a measured and prudent reply, and I stand by it.

The folks at MedHelp have my credentials on file.  I'm sure they will be happy to supply them, if you wish.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[Andrea B]

I have suffered from cold sores most of my life.  I use Carmex and I make sure not to contaminate the tube or Carmex container with the cold sore by using my fingers to apply it.  Also - at the sirst sign of a cold sore coming on - the heat and tingling - I take two L-Lysine pills and the cold sore usually never gets beyond that point.  Lysine is a amino acid that your body naturally produces and it works wonders.  It's sold over the counter everywhere.  Please try it - I think you'lll be pleasantly suprised.

Andrea B.
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