But this is ridiculous. I’m curious as to why the sun-burn induced coldsore above my upper lip (not on the lip itself, but the skin under my nose) is…not…going away. It’s getting smaller, and the blister is gone, (it looks like a scabbed over mosquito bite right now), but it’s been over a week and a half now! I’ve put all kinds of stuff on it, abreva, lipactin, I keep it covered with carmex all the time…and it just is being stubborn.
Interestingly, a cut that I got on my finger a week ago is gone…without a trace, no scar, nothing…so it’s not that I’m a slow healer.
Am I doing something wrong? And while we’re at it…how can I get rid of this before I go to Vegas on Monday?
jarbaby
Well, you could do what I did and grow a mousta/WHACK!/
HEY! WHAT?!
Before MONDAY? I don’t know…I’m cursed with a thin beard.
Seriously, though…
I’d try not using Carmex. Clean it well with an antibiotic soap. Apply a dab of hydrogen peroxide. Then use an antibiotic ointment like neomycin, bacitracin or polymoxin. You might even be able to find a triple-strength antibiotic ointment with all three of those in one tube.
Repeat twice daily.
Doesn’t sound abnormal, Jarbaby. Remember, the cold sore was an infected lesion, and your body has to clear both the virus and the infected cells to heal completely, as opposed to a pure traumatic wound, which can get busy healing within seconds of the injury. The virus needs to get inactivated intracellularly, substances to keep nearby cells from hosting the virus must be manufactured and excreted, and cleanup must be done. As long as it continues to slowly improve, 2 to 3 weeks for complete resolution is not at all abnormal.
Qadgop
Doesn’t sound abnormal, Jarbaby. Remember, the cold sore was an infected lesion, and your body has to clear both the virus and the infected cells to heal completely, as opposed to a pure traumatic wound, which can get busy healing within seconds of the injury. The virus needs to get inactivated intracellularly, substances to keep nearby cells from hosting the virus must be manufactured and excreted, and cleanup must be done. As long as it continues to slowly improve, 2 to 3 weeks for complete resolution is not at all abnormal.
Qadgop
Unless there’s something I am missing, I’m going to have to disagree with this. Cold sores are caused by a virus, so antibiotics aren’t going to do squat. Additionally, since it has already scabbed over, you should probably try putting nothing at all on it. Less moisture allows scabs to heal faster. Once blister has scabbed over, it’s no longer contagious (there’s no more virus to spread through it). Now you just need to treat it as you would any other scab. On the off-chance that it isn’t completely scabbed over, a clean, dry environment is the worst situation for the virus to be in.
Good luck, jarbaby! I hope it clears up in time for Vegas.