Was this a cold sore?

[mako1189]

About 6-7 weeks ago, I developed a small red bump on the lower right part of my lip. It did tingle and itch a little, but nothing too serious. It did not pop and scab over, which I believe is a trait of a cold sore so I did not think anything of it. However, 4 weeks after this incident, I developed another small red bump, but this time it was on the bottom left side of my lip. Same symptoms (some tingling/itchiness), but this time I went to see my dermatologist. However, the bump appeared on a Monday evening and I did not see my dermatologist until Friday and by then, he said he couldn't find any signs of a coldsore or bump because it had basically went away. So, my question is were these two incidents cold sores? I have never had anything like this happen to me before until the first incident. Also, should I consider getting a blood test for HSV? I'm worried that I'm overthinking this, but any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thank you.  

[mako1189]

Thanks for your reply Grace. I will be getting a blood test. However for the time being, I guess I just wanted your gut feeling about if you thought these were cold sores or not. I thought cold sores last more than a few days and usually pop/scab over which did not occur in my situation. Thank you for your time.

[gracefromHHP]

certainly follow up with a type specific herpes igg blood test to see what your status is. if it's negative for hsv1, it could be a false negative so the next best thing would be to be seen within 48 hours of the appearance of symptoms in the future for a lesion culture. unfortunately even the best blood tests for herpes we have still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections which is why lesion cultures are more helpful.

grace

[mako1189]

Also forgot to add that the second red bump appeared after I was outdoors for about 1.5 hours. I have read that sunlight could trigger a coldsore to appear.