Cold Sore Relief: Top Natural Remedies

Acetone is working really well. Had the worst cold sore of my life a month ago and now a month later another one. I felt the tingling and immediately started with Hydrogen peroxide. Later read on here that acetone works very well too so I started using that. It has dried out the cold sore better than the HP. The cold sore is barely visible and has not swollen huge or burst or anything. it is Just red and a little swollen, It is very dried out and seems to be going straight to scabbing, although you cant really see a real "scab" its just dried out and dry skin but you cant tell unless you look real close in the mirror. This sore is in the same spot as the really bad one a month ago but also spread down the lip even more than the really bad one. I feel that if I would not have used the acetone this sore would have been the worst one ever. The first day I felt the tingling I used HP. The next day no sign of a sore but still put HP on it for about 10 min twice that day. Day 3 I woke up and the sore started to pop up like normally, reddish and a glossy bump. It wasn't too big, yet! It was about the size of Lincolns head on a penny. Immediately started to soak with acetone. It went down in swelling and dried out quick. Still red though. Next day, day 4, which is today, I woke up and it looked really good. swelling down still, still dried out, still a little red. Soaking in Acetone again this morning. Worked all day and it barely noticeable, barley swollen, barely red. Applying again tonight. I'm hoping that it continues to go down and not have a brown scab. Hopefully just dry crusty skin scab that you can't really see like it is now. So it should be healed within a week hopefully. which is amazing because before it would be a week before it even scabbed and then at least another week with bleeding nasty huge scab on my lip.

This is a GOD send, helping soo much. I am truly grateful!

Sorry, for me acetone didn't seem to help even least. The only thing that has shown any evidence of helping me reduce the growth of a cold sore (especially if started early) is Lactoferrin (taken orally).

OMG!!! God bless the founder of this miracle. I AM ABSOLUTELY GRATEFUL IT WORKS. I woke up yesterday to the most disturbing painful sore on my lip. I used a warm green tea bag every 3 hours and pressed it against the cold sore for about 20 minutes. Later in the evening using a cotton swab I applied 100% pure Tea Tree Oil. (Please dilute with equal drops of water if you have sensitive skin) I searched the web for another home remedy and stumbled across this blog. To my surprise using the acetone for 5 minutes every 30 minutes dried up the remainder of the sore almost immediately. I felt the burning sensation but it was worth it. Thank you for this magical remedy.

Felt the tingling early and thought I had stopped it with Zovirax but woke up this morning and it was huge. I burst it with a disinfected needle and have been pressing a cotton bud with nail polish remover into it and in 3 hours it has gone down in size by a third.

I have been using Retin-A for wrinkles. Problem is that everytime I use it, I break out in a cold sore. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I am sick of it and was driven to try the nail polish thing again so I bought some today because taking L-Lysine wasn't touching this one. My lip was so swollen it wasn't funny. Then, another started to pop out in a different after I started to use the nail polish.

I had to use it more than a couple times. I have been putting it on with a cotton bud every hour or so by dabbing it until the cotton ball dries out . I haven't just let it sit there for five minutes because I don't really want to breathe the fumes in. So I dab it, breathe, dab it, etcetera until it dries out and then I do it again a bit later when the thing tries to moisten back up.

It is working because I am diligently attacking it.

The thing is already crusting over after one day and normally it would take five days to get this stage. I will definitely keep putting the acetone on until it is all dried up and gone.

I am also taking L-Lysine, which wasn't really working that well, along with Vitamin C. I am planning to continue to do both as a daily preventative.

Thank you - Earth Clinic folks. The acetone works miracles! I awoke with that dreaded tingling feeling and tried using an 11 month old tube zovirax to no effect for the first half a day the cold sore just kept growing - and getting redder and itchier.

Then I jumped on earth clinic - and remembered the acetone trick. Thank goodness, the tingling stopped, it dried out and started to recede within 48 hours. It is taking a while to heal but is continuing to get smaller and smaller.

Chocolate is my #1 cold sore trigger. Each outbreak I have had in the past few years can be traced back to the effect of an overindulgence. Well THIS time I have learnt my lesson for sure.

Just wanted to say that acetone for nose ulcers work very well. Just just a cotton bud dipped it into acetone and applied to the sore for one minute. I did this every moring and niht for two days.. The tinggling sensation went after the second application. Thank you Earth Clinic.

YEA Acetone really does work - it's amazing. I wanted to explain a few details I experienced with the acetone treatment.

I've been getting cold sore outbreaks for about 15 years now - I'm 39 - I found that taking 1000mg Lysine daily has kept me free of outbreaks for 4 years - I ran out, didn't take lysine for only 2 days and BAM my upper lip had the start of BIG nasty large vesicles - Couldn't believe it - no prodrome tingling, no warning. It was slightly obsured by my moustache so I didn't really notice it right away. This one just by the initial size was gonna be a major disaster.

I read all the miracle stories about it, so I tried the acetone on a cotton swab placed directly onto the sore for 5min at a time every 30min for the first day. To stop evaporation I used clear packing tape to press the swab right onto the sore. Don't be afraid to PRESS the acetone into the sore - it will burn bad but it's like you can also feel the acetone destroying the HSV inside.

The next morning I woke up and I thought Lisa Rinna's plastic surgeon had snuck into my bed and plumped up my lip with silicone - It was HUGE, I actually laughed in the mirror because it looked so ridiculous. However, the sore had gone directly to scab healing stage.

The following morning the swelling had almost completely gone and after my shower the scab had worn off and the final pink healing scab remained. So literally 48 hours from the start of what was to be a colossal large sore on my lip it's already to the point of what normally takes about 10 days to get to.

1000mg Lysine daily is the long-term cure you want to get on - but if you miss a Lysine and one pops up Acetone is what you need 100% - Do not even bother with anything else and start it as soon as you see or feel one coming on.

Acetone is also totally safe for your skin - read up about it on wikipedia - It's even used as a food additive!

Acetone works. I am 59, and have suffered from cold sores all my life. The last 2 years were the worst. I get irritation in the right eye, then irritation around the nose as the early signs of a virus attack when my body immune system is week. One never knows the status of one's immune system, but sometimes there might be early signs.

I take Famciclovir when the irritation starts and apply apple cider vinegar to my lips at work, or Acetone with a cotton Q-tip at home. I figure the complicated use and smell of Acetone at work might draw the attention of co-workers.

Here is what I have learned,
1- Stress life is present all the time.
2- Acidic foods help virus activation.
3- Do not eat fruits or too much meat. Meats including fish and specially shell fish are very acidic. Fruits are acidic and have lots of sugar that contributes to virus activation and growth.
4- Do not drink coffee or tea. Do not eat chocolate.
5- Do not eat animal products more than 3 times a week.
6- Eat green leafy and root vegetables.
7- Lime or lime juice is the best. Include a lime in your daily diet.
8- Eat a cucumber and a tomato every day, or make a cucumber, tomato and onion salad with a fresh lime juice and some cayenne pepper part of you daily diet.

My thanks for another wonderful and effective remedy from the Earth Clinic forum.

Every time I have a cold I get a runny nose. From all the wiping and irritation I develop a cold sore... In my nose!!! They are always painful and last a long time. I tried all the OTC products, they only cover up the sore and keep it moist; the exact opposite of what I should have been doing.

A few days ago, I took a q-tip and swabbed all the small blisters in my nose with acetone. I did this once an hour for 3-4 hours. The first thing I noticed was that the throbbing pain went away. I continued to apply the acetone throughout the day. Before bedtime, most blisters had dried up. I applied it once more before I went to bed. Then next day there were no more blisters.

Three days later, the skin is a bit red and needs to heal. I am using a combination of 100% aloe covered with antibiotic salve because I still have the cold and want to protect the area.

Thanks again for the great advice!

Acetone really works! I wanted to share all the info I have with cold sore sufferers as I know how detrimental they can be to the quality of life.

I have been suffering for years and years now from cold sores. My immune system is weak to them and I suspect my partner carries the cold sore virus without any symptoms and infects me every time he eats lots of chocolate and nuts. Sometimes these cold sores are around my nose, on my cheeks, on my chin or above my mouth and I have had some terrible scars in the past from cold sores that became huge and lasted for weeks. These scars sometimes took over 6 months to disappear.

This used to be the bane of my life. It really ruined my existence, to the point where I did not go out for weeks as my face was marred with huge weeping sores or large crusty scabs sometimes several nasty cold blisters would spread in a line across my cheek and they were so painful. It was one of the worst periods of my life and lasted over 2 years during which I felt ashamed and disgusting. People would look at me with horror and no amount of make up could conceal these terrible sores.

Thank goodness for acetone. I cannot believe this works but it really does! The minute I feel a sore coming on or itchiness I swab the area with acetone several times, often the skin turns a little red. Then on top of that I put some cream containing acyclovir like zovirax. I keep repeating every couple of hours. Usually the next day the sore is gone or on its way out.

Just to give advice to others out there, there is a link between foods and cold sores especially sugars, processed red meats (avoid these like the plague) and foods containing lysine and arginine to my break outs. If I eat foods high in arginine like nuts, seeds, chocolate, soya, shellfish etc. then often a cold sore will come up, it is important to balance this out with either foods containing lysine or a lysine supplement.

Foods highest in lysine are chicken, tuna, cod, grouper, pollock, haddock etc. Foods highest in Lysine and lowest in arginine are plain yogurt, most cheeses, milk, kefir and many fishes.

Sticking to a good ratio of more lysine than arginine in your diet plus the acetone trick should mean no more cold sores!

I wish everyone well and no more cold sores, ever!

At 33 years old I, for the first time developed a cold sore which started in the corner of my mouth but after a few days increased to the size of a silver dollar on my face. Desparate to make it go away I scoured the internet and found this page. Against my husbands wishes I tried the nail polish remover on a test section of the sore by applying twice within an hour to a small section of the sore. To my surprise I woke up the next morning and it was dried up and left a very small scab in that location. I was shocked so of course I did this to the whole sore by washing it with peroxide and then applying nail polish remover after with a cotton swab. Even though it stings, it was well worth it because the next morning it was all dried up and left small scabs. I followed it up with another treatment of nail polish remover that evening just to make sure the sucker was dead. The next morning I put first aid ointment on a few times and in two days later all scabs are gone and I am back to normal.

My best advice is to apply the nail polish remover instantly and not wait the five agonizing days that I did before I found this wonderful site!!!

So started getting a tingle on my chin and I immediately started applying cream it did nothing by the morning my whole chin was covered I read this post around noon it is now 4 and holy crap they're almost gone!!! Got a needle gently pricked each lump then got the nail polish remover soaked them for 5 min since every hr I have been applying a bit and it's almost gone awesome thanks guys

Hi - I can't thank the people here on Earth Clinic enough! I had success using suggestions from here before and, yet again, I love you guys!

I was really skeptical about trying out acetone for cold soles, but I went ahead and tried this out. I had a cold sore that had developed for about a day, so I wasn't sure if this would work since most of the posts said to apply the acetone when the first symptoms appear.

Here's what I did:

Cold sore appeared for a day. It was still tingly, warm and the blisters and lip were definitely swollen.

Day 1: Applied acetone by dabbing the area in 5 minute intervals. I did twice before bed, maybe 1-2 hours apart. After each dabbing session, I rinsed the area with very cold water and applied a generous amount of vaseline.

Day 2: I did the same as above, about 3 times during the day.

After the first day I thought my cold sore felt better (less burning, less pain), but I couldn't tell if it mattered in any way because it was still pretty swollen.

After day 2 I the swelling and pain went down considerably and it scabbed over. I'm not sure if 'scabbed' is the right word. It was more like I could tell the acetone dried out the area.

Today is day 4. The last two days I discontinued the acetone. The swelling and burning are gone. The blisters are also gone. It's more of a crusty-dry area now. It's still noticebly red, but I went out and was able to cover it up with a bit of make up.

Does anyone else have any idea on how to speed up the healing at this point? I'm just using a liberal amount of vaseline in the evenings before bed, and I was hoping to speed up the healing. Thank you!

Last week I was under a tremendous amount of stress and ended up with a huge sore on my lip. I awoke with it and immedietly started applying Acetone several times a day. It was all dry within 2 days. I am now dealing with the dry scab but never had any pain or discomfort. My husband was very upset when he saw my lip cause he isn't allowed to kiss me while I am healing. It usually takes me a couple weeks to heal. Needless to say he is very happy with the fact it only took two days to go away. I will definitely be letting others know how to get rid of their sores also.