Valtrex, the current antiviral of choice of my dermatologist employers, can be taken every day for prophylaxis of HSV types I and II, or taken per episode for two days at the first sign of tingling or itching.
I’ve personally found Abreva to be a wonderful thing- shortens the duration of mine by at least half. Don’t buy it at Walgreen’s though- they way overprice it compared to other places.
If I ignore the signs of the incoming and end up with one, I’ve found that hot compresses will bring it to a head quickly and will speed up it’s resolution.
See, at the first tingle, I just douse a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and apply to the area every ten minutes for an hour or so and it never surfaces.
I’ve already got the RA in the house, so it’s fast and cheap to boot!
I absolutely hate them. I get them on average of about once a month. They are always in the same two or three spots on my lips so they are permanently scarred. The scarring isn’t terribly bad unless you are really looking though.
It’s amazing. I get them sometimes because I am stressed, when I am in places with a lot of people (sporting events, etc. maybe that’s part of the stress though), when I eat a lot of citrus fruit, when I am around someone else who had them, etc. The most amazing thing is that I inherited them from my mom. If I drink after her I will get one., but even when we haven’t been around each other for months and are a few hundred miles away from each other we will get them at the same time. Crazy stuff.
The thing that works the best for me is that as soon as I get the damned tingling or burning lips (lips literally turn bright reddish-orange around the outer portion) I put on some Carmex and take some Acyclovir. I have never tried Abreva, but Acyclovir is terrific. Always gets rid of them in a day or so if I have them or if I catch it before they form I will never get them.
I take Valtrex whenever I feel a cold sore coming on. That is what my doctor prescribed years ago and I’ve never tried anything else because it works so well. 2 days of Valtrex and my cold sore doesn’t even have the chance to come to a head. It just quietly goes away.
My sister takes a dose every day because she gets them worse than I do and she’s not had an outbreak since she started Valtrex. Damned expensive though!
Thank you for this information! My son suffers from canker sores so badly! I never once considered it could be his toothpaste, wow. I love this message board!
Yep. Sodum Lauryl Sulfate. Has no medical purpose, just makes a nice foam, but nearly everyone, including Toms of Maine, puts it in their toothpaste. Biotene is the only major brand that doesn’t, and my dentist also like it.
*SDS is known to cause aphthous ulcers, commonly referred to in some countries as “canker sores”.
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The large majority of toothpastes sold in the U.S. contain Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which is known to cause aphthous ulcers in certain individuals. Using a toothpaste without SLS will reduce the frequency of aphthous ulcers in persons who experience aphthous ulcers caused by SLS.