Fall officially started one week ago and so the time of getting colds and with that cold sores are also part of many people’s lives. I used to suffer from frequent and very bad cold sores. As I got older and my hormones settled down, it fortunately became a lot less bad. Yet, I can imagine that some of you may be experiencing some bad ones and I have some tips and tricks how to get rid of them quicker and to make them less painful.
The first thing you have to do, is to make sure you get enough vitamins. Take extra if you have to, but having a cold sore is a sign of a malfunctioning immune system, so you might as well give your immune system a boost while you’re at it. The one thing that always helped me is to keep the area as clean as possible and the best disinfectant in the world is rubbing alcohol. Use a 70% solution, but it on a cotton pad and hold onto the cold sore for a minute or two. Repeat as much as necessary. The alcohol will dry out the cold sore and keep the rest of the area around it sterile so it can’t spread.
My main problem with cold sores was that I became immune to any of the standard remedies. Meaning I couldn’t use any of the drugstore solutions, and in the end even the stuff available through prescriptions. Even though, I still like to use drug store creams. I put a nice thick layer of this on the cold sore before going to bed. Usually the cold sore is a little less sore in the morning.
I also like to pile on the medicated chapstick when I have a cold sore. It is a lot more effective than regular chapstick and when you use rubbing alcohol, it will most likely dry out your lips as well. Medicated chapstick also has camphor and menthol which also helps with alleviating the pain and itchiness.
If you really need something a whole lot stronger, because like me, you get ginormous cold sores that impair you when eating and drinking anything, you can use the Orajel Cold Sore Brush and Overnight Cold Sore Patch. 
These two products are real miracle workers. I found out about them when I was in New York and was treated to some terrible cold sores. These are not available in The Netherlands, but you can find them on Ebay. The brush and the patch both contain ingredients that relief pain and itching and the brush actually makes your lip go quite numb as it clearly has a sedative ingredient. The patch is particularly handy: it’s a plastic looking sticker that adheres to your sore. It dissolves overnight on the places where it touches your cold sore and it works really well: it made my cold sores shrink by half overnight.
So there you have it: my tips & tricks for getting rid of cold sore. I hope it helps someone!
Q: Have you ever suffered from cold sores?