Cold sores

I have been suffering with cold sores for almost since I was a teenager I am 39 and still suffering with them I never brought this to my doctors attention, because I thought nothing can be done about it. I know the virus is living inside of me and everybody else who gets them, they hurt a lot yesterday morning when I woke up I already started with 3 of them on my upper lip.  Do you break out with them when you are stressed?  Yesterday my daughter had her 3rd hip surgery...

[crackerjack4u2]

Hello yes stress can cause the increase in bodily juices including those in the mouth causing cold sores.  Cold sores can also show up immediately prior to a person getting sick with virus.  Immune system issues, excessive sunlight, menstruation and pregnancy can also cause them.  

If you have had these that many years you might want to make your doctor aware because it could possibly be oral herpes that you are having outbreaks of several times yearly.  The virus sets dominate and then you have the outbreaks when factors in your body are right for them to appear, and like regular herpes they are contagious during outbreaks.  

I HOPE THIS HELPS

[lozzaj83]

Hi - I also suffer from the same - whenever I get run down or stressed out I break out in Cold sore which start on one side of my mouth and work there way along to the other crease of my mouth.

One thing that was recommended to me was that at the first sign of an outbreak - to take a vitamin called l-lysine. You can buy it from a chemist / homeopathic store. It basically boosts your immune system - which makes my cold sores heal faster.

Let me know how you get on.

[jefelex]

Yes - I have them as well, I got some prescription medication called Zovirax from my doctor - works like magic!!  as soon as you feel the prickling of a cold sore coming on, dab a bit of that on it and it will not appear at all, or very little anyway,  Very Very good med - I'm not a medicine kind of guy - I rarely even take tylenol or ibuprophen, or any other prescription drug, but I do swear by the Zovirax for cold sore relief!!  It's the super concentrated active ingredient in that Aleve stuff (the OTC cold sore med)  Ask your doctor for it by name - Zovirax -  acyclovir is the main active ingredient!

[gymdandee]

What to do for cold sores
The herbal infection fighter is one that’s a little less well-known: lemon balm. But creams
containing it can be very effective for relieving the cold sores brought on by the oral form of the herpes simplex virus (Type 1). In fact, one study found an improved healing rate for 75 percent of patients using lemon balm, as well as an increased time between outbreaks in 50 percent of cases. Compared to conventional treatments the average healing time
of lesions was halved to about five days and the time between outbreaks was approximately doubled. In another multicenter study on 115 patients, 87 percent of the
participants using lemon balm were completely healed within 6 days of treatment. And 69 percent of these patients had an extended time between outbreaks that was a full month longer than those using conventional drug treatment.7 In a more recent clinical trial, 66
patients with recurrent herpesrelated cold sore outbreaks were treated with either the lemon balm cream or a placebo. The cream was applied to the affected area four times a day for five days. Compared to the placebo, symptoms were significantly reduced by the second day, which is important because this is around the time when symptoms
are typically at their worst.Since these studies found that lemon balm cream effectively
lengthened the time between outbreaks, it’s reasonable to assume that it might also be able to prevent outbreaks altogether—or at least increase the time between breakouts
even more—if it’s applied regularly to cold-sore-prone areas. Lemon balm cream can also be used to treat herpes simplex Type II infection, and probably other similar viral skin infections including shingles. (A technical note: If you decide to try this approach, the creams used in the studies contained 1 percent of a concentrated 70:1 extract of lemon balm.)

[jefelex]

I never heard of this before - I'm going to try it next time I get one, but I do have to admit, that with the Zovirax, I hardly ever get them at all anymore.  But  I'd much rather go for the natural treatment - I am going to look it up and try it out!

Thanks for the info!

[gymdandee]

when you try it please let us know how it worked for you

[gymdandee]

P.S. I would start using it now before you have an outbreak apply it to the area that you get the cold sore