Cold Sore Relief: Top Natural Remedies

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!

It WORKS like magic! I have fought this virus since my college days. I have tried oral L-lysine, topical L-lysine, ice, 3%H2O2, 70% Isopropyl alcohol, and every other idea. Acetone nail polish remover on a Q-tip right on the cancker sore dried it up right away. Thanks so much, I have an interview on Tuesday. I was so worried I would NOT get it cleared up in the next 4 days. NOW. No worries!

So I woke up with a bump on my lip the other day... I freaked cuz I knew it was coming I went to the store and got everything to try to keep it from bursting into a full on cold sore... Too late!! Ugg. I work as a host at red robin and I have had 2 days doing everything I can to get rid of it before I go back to work. I came across a few sites and found this... Nail polish remover it sounded scary but it has dried it compleatly. I mixed it with rubbing alcohol and used a qutip to put chapstick all around the sore cuz I am afraid that the nail polish remover would kill the heathly skin on my lips then I dapped the mixture on the sore for 5 mins every 20 mins with out touching it or irritating it in between, I work at 5 today and it looks like I'm not going to have to worry about ppl staring at my mouth, if only I knew about this sooner.... It really does work ppl

This past week I had been stressed out. Yesterday I noticed some itching at the edge of my bottom lip. Oh great! A cold sore is coming. I get these all the time, recently not so much, but ever since I was a yonug child (I'm in high school now). It's horrible! People make fun of you, it's so embarrasing. I kept searching on the internet of ways to make the damn thing go away. All of them said: you can prevent them, but once you have them you have to wait 7-10 days for it to go away. I kept searching on yahoo answers, and found something that didn't involve me going out to buy abreva or any other expensive products that only shorten healing time.

You take a sterilized needle and poke into the sore. You will see clear liquid ooze out of the sore now. Immediately take a cotton ball with acetone and press onto the sore, but after about 5 minutes change the cotton ball and do it again, because if you take it off and put it back on again an infection may form. It worked perfectly! It was gone instantly. I put [again] a new cotton ball with acetone on, and kept it on for an hour and a half. Please try this! But be careful because sensitive skin may have a chemical reaction from the acetone.

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.

I had a cold sore pop up on Friday and I had a Christmas party that night so I started freaking out! I read about acetone so I started putting it on that day and it never got swollen at all. The next day the blisters had dried almost completely. And on Sunday it had completely dissolved. Acetone is amazing!

Have to say after trying over the counter things, muipricin, benzoil peroxide, peroxide, alcohol, salt water, and over the counter cold sore treatments for the past week nothing has worked. I came on line this morning and I saw people trying nail polish remover. I was willing to try it anything to get rid of this. I have had to take pain relievers where the pain of this was outrageous and even they didn't work. I have covered the sore with a bandaid it didn't work. This is the first sign of relief in over a week.

I get these cold sores everytime I try to wear lipstick or lip balm if it's not made of lysine never again. For my birthday for pictures I put lipstick on not thinking it would create a huge problem- it did. So now I am trying to get rid of this before Christmas. These are miserable and embarrassing so I am giving this a try and if it works then I am sticking to it.

So I had my first GH outbreak in quite a while and this one was waaaay worse then they normally are. I decided to search around a bit and found this thread. I bought some nail polish remover with acetone last night, applied it to "the bump" which was easily the size of the marble (with no signs of giving up any time soon), let it dry and then put clear nail polish on it over night. The itching and pain was gone within 10 min. Woke up, showered, applied more acetone and then more clear nail polish, and now two hours later.... The skin is still not healed but the bump is GONE!!!! I would guess this event will be a nightmare of the past by tomorrow morning at the latest!! Absolutely recommend giving this method a try!!!

Okay, I don't think I have ever written a comment on any of these sites before but I know how awful cold sores are and I wanted to tell you all that nail polish remover with acetone in it WORKED! I was so upset because I am a freshman at college, just got here a month ago, and already got a cold sore. I was too embarrassed to leave my room other than to get food. Thankfully (kind of... ) I have strep throat too, so not leaving the room wasn't that ridiculous. I got cotton swabs and Q-tips and put the nail polish remover on my sore for 5 hours and its all dried up! Its still not completely healed, but I only started when I woke up at 11, and it is 5:00 now. I haven't put any on in an hour but I will again soon. Thank you soooooooooo so soooooo much

I woke up a couple days ago with that dreaded familier itch on my bottom lip.... I get these cold sores a couple times a year and know I'm in for a red, sore lip for about 7 days. Not this time... Treated it with the nail poslisher remover a couple times and this morning (ALL GONE)

I felt a cold sore coming out & then another & another, all on the SAME day!

Dabbed acetone on them, gave about 1 hour & 30 mins & then did it again, twice with 1 hour 30 mins intervals, then the next morning again. Dried them out & now they're almost gone, just slight little scabs. Thanks so much for this guys, it really helped!

IT WORKS! It's a miracle cure, I got a cold sore yesterday, used the nailpolish remover in the morning and by 5 or 6 pm is was almost gone, and this morning you can barely see anything! ONE DAY and I can leave the house! AMAZING

I've had herpes since I was 20. I though my life was going to end. I started on Valtrex and soon realized that when I would take it, I seemed to have an outbreak every other month. When I didn't take it, I would have an outbreak maybe once a year. I found staying healthy, eating plenty of foods rich in antioxidents and staying away from stress is the best therapy for me.

Yes, it works! I had a fever blister pop out last week and I stayed in the house for 5 days. I missed work 3 of those days. I read about the acetone at that time, but was a little afraid to try it out. Soon as my blister was healed and I was ready to get back to my life again.... Another very small one started to appear. I was very upset because I missed so much time from work already, I felt I had to try the acetone treatment. I applied with a Q-tip, held it on for 10-30 sec's. I did that for most of the day and this morning it is completely dried out.

To help avoid them take lysine & Vitamin C. Go to Herpe Nutrution website to find out what things are good to eat and have Lysine in them. I hadn't had one in 4 years until I ate Pumkin Seeds... Stay away from these... I hope this helps...