Treating Cold Sores
December 12, 2007
Having a cold sore is no fun. Cold sores are ugly, embarrassing, and they hurt!
Although there is no miracle cure, there are several products that work particularly well as cold sore treatments. Both are a bit pricey when compared to the standard tub of Carmex, but they are well worth the extra cost.
Abreva Cold Sore/Fever Blister Treatment is the next best product I have used. This cream also claims to be able to stop cold sores from fully occurring if used at the first signs of them. It has never worked quite that well for me, but it has cut the healing time substantially. I also know several people who have had it work as claimed. I particularly like to combine Releev and Abreva, since Releev does nothing to moisturize, while Abreva does that a bit. Abreava is also now available in a pump tube.
Something that does not seem to work as well as a cold sore treatment is the use of products that contain petroleum jelly. I have found that while they initially feel soothing, they seem to actually slow down the total healing time and can cause the problem to spread to other areas of the lips.
I have used Abreva for a few years now and it does seem to shorten the healing time. However, even if I use it at the very first sign of my cold sore it never seems to keep it from coming. One thinng that I have found that is particularly effective is taking L-Lysine 500mg with every meal when you have a cold sore. I did that with my last one and it barely lasted a week. I usually have thenm for almost 2 weeks when I get them.