One in three people will get a cold sore at some point in their life and it usually doesn't stop at that one time. Here you will find 7 solutions that help with (and against) a cold sore.
A cold sore is an infection of the skin on or around your lips, where you have blisters that itch, burn, tingle or hurt. The blisters can also appear on your nose, chin, or eyelid. A cold sore is caused by the herpes virus. This virus is contained in the fluid of the blisters and is spread through hands and physical contact. You can also catch the virus through items such as cutlery, cups, a toothbrush or lip balm. But once you have the virus, how do you get rid of it?
Solution 1: Keep your resistance up:make sure you get enough rest, sleep and healthy food.
Solution 2: Protect your lips from sunlight with sunscreen or lip balm with SPF.
Solution 3: Do you feel that you are getting a cold sore because your skin is tingling or burning? Aciclovir cream can help nip the cold sore in the bud. If you already have a cold sore, this cream will no longer have any effect.
Solution 4: Do you only have blisters, no scabs yet? Then you can use an ointment with zinc oxide (white in color) or zinc sulfate (colorless). This protects and dries your skin and relieves the pain.
Solution 5: A hydrocolloid patch can help the blister to dry up faster and relieve the pain.
Solution 6: Has the blister dried up and do you mainly have scabs? You can soften it with a neutral cream, such as Vaseline.
Solution 7: If you have serious complaints, such as extremely many blisters or pain and creams and gels do not help, your doctor can prescribe antiviral tablets. Valaciclovir is a virus inhibitor and consists of a short course.
Image:Getty Images, source:Santé 10
We received a lot of good tips from our Santé readers. Such as an ice cube on it, sudocrem, toothpaste, a cotton swab with alcohol on it, eating a lot of apple syrup or not drinking any milk. The tips below were the most mentioned.
Herpotherm Cold Sore Treatment Pen
L-Lysine 1000mg – 1 tablet every day
Propolis Tincture
