Home Remedies For Cold Sores

Home Remedies For Cold Sores

By Chris Borg


With all the home remedies for cold sores circulating in the press and on the internet, you would think that everybody is affected with this malady. The truth is that more than 75% of the population is probably infected. Thankfully, the nasty little virus that causes cold sores, HSV-1, stays dormant most of the time. Once triggered, you would be well equipped to handle the outbreak if you know what works and what does not. We will talk about that in one minute but I would also like to include a few commercially available products that are available without a prescription simply because this second group of preparations includes the only F.D.A. approved medicine which will actually shorten the healing time and the duration of symptoms.
So, what home remedies for cold sores actually work? While this list includes many preparations from around the house, it can be safely assumed that not all of them will work for all people. We humans are very unique animals with different chemistries and such. Our individual state of diet, exercise, oxygenation and nutrition, plus our state of acidity or alkalinity is rather dramatically diverse from one person to another. All these factors and more will have a direct affect on how these home remedies for cold sores will or will not work for you! This list includes:

• Ice pack applied to sores for 5min every hour
• Damp teabag applied to the sore for 5 min every hour
• Toothpaste, with sodium bicarbonate dabbed on the sore
• Cold milk on a cotton square dabbed on the sore
• Vicks vapo-rub dabbed on the sore
• Apple Cider Vinegar in tablets or liquid
• Common table salt pressed onto the sore
• Teas of Echinacea, Peppermint, Hawthorne
• Teas of Orange Peel, Rose Hips, Chamomile
• Aloe Vera Ointment or the plant juice applied to the sore
• Spirit of Camphor applied to the sore
• Witch Hazel applied to the sore

And countless other homeopathic herbs and spices such as Herbal sage, violet, uva ursi, astrugalus, honey, oregano oil, olive oil, garlic, licorice, tea tree oil, lemon balm extract and coconut oil. Last but certainly not least is Lysine. This essential amino acid has been found to be lacking in individuals who get many outbreaks. As such, supplementing the diet with Lysine can certainly be at the top of the list of home remedies for cold sores.
If you have tried any of the above recommendations with little success, you might want to turn your attention to those preparations that are available over the counter without a prescription. The list of ingredients in these products runs the gamut from anesthetics, to moisturizers, to skin protectants, to drying agents, to antibacterials (even though we are dealing with a virus not a bacteria) and a true anti-viral, the only one approved for over the counter sale. The list is rather extensive and includes such well known names as:

• Zilactin
• Releev
• Zicam cold sore gel
• Nexcare cold sore treatment
• Campho-Phenique
• Ora Gel cold sore brush
• Neosporin cold sore preparation
• Abreva

This last entry, Abreva, is a true anti-viral chemical known as Docosanol. It works by stopping the virus from combining with human cell plasma membranes thus arresting viral replication. If you have never tried it, you should as you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly the sore will heal.
Chris Borg is a practicing pharmacist who writes on all aspects of health care. You can check out Chris's latest website on health care at Are Cold Sores Contagious, where Chris provides unbiased reviews and buying advice for a wide range of health care products and health issues such as Lysine For Cold Sores, and much more.

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Home Remedies For Cold Sores