blister on end of nose

I am 57 years old, female.  I have suffered with fever blisters all of my life.  This past weekend I ran a fever of 102.9 with aches and pains.  This only laster one day.  Three days later I developed a blister on the end of my nose ( I also think I may have blisters inside my nose, I can not tell if it is just dry sore membranes or blisters).  I looked up on the internet about this blister and I am reading something called Hutchinson's sign.  This sounds serious and has me frightened.  My eyes don't hurt or burn, they just feel tired.  My question is if I call my primary I always have to wait to get an appt. but dont want to sound like I am crazy, so what do I tell him???  I have a blister on my nose???? Do I immediately make an appt with an opthamologist or just see my primary.  I have no health insurance to see an eye doctor but this is beside the point.  What should I do and do you think this is very serious??

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

You need an eye exam once a year to make sure your general eye health is OK.  You don't need to worry about this blister affecting your eye if you have no pain or vision change in the eyes.  If it is bad enough though you need to call your doctor to see if you need antiviral pills to treat this breakout.  Hutchinson's sign refers to involvement of the nerve at the tip of the nose with Shingles or Herpes Zoster.  Fever blisters are usually caused by Herpes Simplex virus.  You are at increased risk of getting eye problems if the nasociliary nerve is involved but unless you have eye pain, irritation, or vision change, likely it hasn't hit the eye.  If these symptoms develop then you need to see an ophthalmologist right away for treatment.

HV

[LouAnn53]

Thank you very much for this very important post.  I contacted my primary and he is going to start me on Valtrex generic.  I have used Zovirax on the blister and it is beginning to crust over.  I will absolutely watch for any kind of irritation or change to my vision.  Once again, thank you for your expertise.