When it comes to researching cold sore remedies that work, there’s a lot of information out there online. I should know- I’ve spent years reading, cataloguing and testing people’s suggestions, from doctors to naturopaths to grandmas with home remedies they’ve developed over the years.
In general, cold sore remedies fall into three broad categories: prescription treatments, over the counter medications, and natural remedies. I’ll dive into each category of treatment and discuss which methods within each have been shown to work well, either for me or for many other people.
Cold Sore Prescription Medicines That Work
There are a couple of different options for prescription medications that can be used to treat cold sores. First up are topical medicines like Zovirax, which you can apply to the herpes outbreak to speed up the healing process and in some cases even prevent it from developing fully.
The other option is oral antiviral medicines like acyclovir, valacyclover or famciclovir. These can be taken either after an outbreak has occurred to try to speed up healing, or in the case of famciclovir, can be taken in between outbreaks to prevent them. Apparently famciclovir is especially effective if you get outbreaks quite frequently. If yours are infrequent, it might not be worth taking it all the time.
Personally speaking, I’ve used Zovirax for years and have always found it be very effective. If I can apply it as soon as I start to feel a cold sore coming on, it cuts days off the healing time, or sometimes can keep the sore from ever showing up or keep it to a small, relatively painless spot. The only downside to Zovirax is that it requires a prescription (at least in the USA). However, in addition to your doctor, your dentist can also prescribe it, and I’ve had dentists that are willing to prescribe it when I’ve mentioned it at a regular checkup or appointment.
Over the Counter Treatments That Work
The most popular over the counter (OTC) treatment for cold sores is Abreva, but there are several other options that have been around for quite a while and supposedly work pretty well. These are Campho-Phenique, Carmex, and Herpecin L.
Personally, I tried Abreva a couple of times when I had outbreaks and wasn’t impressed with the results. Compared to something like Zovirax, it didn’t seem to lessen the pain or “kill off” the cold sore and get to the part when it has scabbed over and is healing nicely. After a couple of tries I gave up on it, partially because it’s fairly expensive.
I’ve seen quite a few people online swear by putting Carmex, Campho-Phenique, or Herpecin L on their cold sores. From what I’ve seen it sounds like these are mostly good at alleviating some of the pain and burning, and keeping the sore from spreading much, but I haven’t seen much evidence that they speed up the healing process. However, dealing with the pain and keeping the sore a manageable size are both very beneficial things, so these treatments are worth trying.
One other interesting possibility that I haven’t tried myself but that a lot of people like is a styptic pencil. These are usually used to heal cuts when shaving, but the idea when using them on cold sores is that they’re designed to shrink blood vessels, and since these feed the cold sore itself, shrinking the vessels should cut off supply to the sore. Apparently applying it can be fairly painful, but many people swear that it works wonders.
Natural Cold Sore Remedies That Work
There are literally dozens of recommendations I’ve found for treating cold sores naturally, ranging from Lysine to vinegar to ear wax (yes, really). I won’t go into too much detail on these cures in this articles since I’ve already covered them in a different article about how to get rid of cold sores naturally, but a couple of the most promising natural treatments include rubbing a garlic clove gently on the sore, and eating licorice.
I cover both those cures in more detail in that article, but I wanted to mention an extremely helpful guide that can help you if you suffer from cold sores regularly. It’s called Cold Sore Free Forever, and what sets it apart from most of the natural cures I’ve run across is that it teaches you simple ways you can balance your body’s chemistry to keep cold sore outbreaks from happening at all, which is fantastic since you can never totally rid yourself of the virus.
If you’ve tried everything and still can’t get rid of your cold sores, I highly recommend checking it out. This guide has been a huge help to me, and I think it can be for you too. One great thing is that I’ve talked several times with the author, Derek Shepton, and got him to give my readers a $10 discount if they buy through my link! Believe me, getting this guide will be the investment you ever making in fighting your cold sores.
