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Herbal Wisdom:  cold sores - yuck!  |
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Lynn B
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Lynn
Derry
NH
USA
113 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 18 2006 : 12:49:01 PM
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this may sound weird, but is there anything to help prevent getting cold sores, as well as healing them? I get them rarely, but frequently think I feel one coming on. Sorry, gross topic! 
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
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Meg
Moderator/Farmgirl True
974 Posts
Meg
Idaho
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2006 : 3:46:26 PM
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Don't you hate that little tingly feeling and then you know you're doomed to get a darn cold sore! One thing I found that seemed to really help. If I am at all stressed and the sun gets to my lips then I am getting one. So, I ALWAYS have a chapstick with spf 15 or stronger with me, no matter what. And have only had one in the last four years. Have you heard of Abreva? You can buy it at most drug stores and I am certain it is not a herbal remedy, but if you apply it at the first tingle it really does help prevent and shorten their longevity. But the spf has been my cure all. Then the abreva if I feel that tingle. Good luck!
MaryJane's daughter,
Meg
megan@maryjanesfarm.org |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2006 : 4:42:56 PM
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My husband gets them really easily too..I think some people are just more prone, don't you? I will sure be getting him a good chapstick with spf 15!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2006 : 5:10:55 PM
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the best thing I have ever found to treat them and dry them up quickly is the medicated makeup "coverup" by Neutrogena it's called "On the Spot" blemish wand. And that has been the best stuff I have ever used to dry it up and dry it quickly. I put it on mostly at night and it really dries them up in less than half the time products like camphophenique and other products.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~ |
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LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2006 : 5:12:48 PM
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I use a lip sunblock with 30 spf. If I am on a windy day, Like on the water I put in on once an hour otherwise forget it. I have a perscription from the Dr. I get them so bad. But I use abreva also and it helps. Also before I found out about the perscription stuff. I used to take L-Lysine every day it seem to lessen how many I would get.They also make a lip balm with it plus spf.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
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Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2006 : 10:32:23 PM
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This is all going to sound very weird but....I've been getting cold sores for forever. This is what I do. I know I get them if I get too tired or run down. At the first 'tingle' I start taking extra B Complex, Vit C and Zinc for about 3 days and I start applying Aloe Vera gel immediately. Sometimes I mix the gel with some lip balm...any will do. I can limit the cold sore to 4 days and sometimes they barely breakout at all. I tried L-lysine for years but finally quit because it didn't seem to make any difference.
"I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidence of the determination to live." Vita Sackville-West
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blueroses
True Blue Farmgirl
1323 Posts
Debbie
in the Pandhandle of
Idaho
USA
1323 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2006 : 4:33:46 PM
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Marcia,
It doesn't sound weird at all. My thing when I get stressed out, is "pink eye". When I start to feel it, I have to increase my Vitamin A (not too much - can overdose) and that usually will nip it in the bud. If not, I have to go to the Dr for a prescription.
"You cannot find peace...by avoiding life."
Virginia Woolfe |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2006 : 7:04:40 PM
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There are also foods that can aggravate the condition. I know chocolate is one of them and I forget what it has in it, but it's the thing that the lysine counteracts. I also just read, while I was trying to find what it is chocolate contains that's bad for people who get cold sores, that excessive doses of lysine can raise your blood serum cholesteral. I don't know if that's true or not. I'd never heard that until now.
Arginine! You want a diet high in lysine and low in arginine if you have a viral disease.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 11:09:14 PM
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Ick - I get these little beasts at times, too. Mine tend to be after too much sun or some other thing that "bothers" the skin on or around my lips. I'm definitely going to try some of the things you all suggest - in the past, because the sores that I get can get really big and painful, I've taken a one-time dose of the prescription Valtrex (3 grams at once, one time), and it just makes the sores or the beginning tingle GO AWAY. I'm not a big medication person, but this one has been really helpful to me at times.
Good luck and may all farmgirls be free (at least mostly!) of these little beasties!!!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Lynn B
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Lynn
Derry
NH
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 06:45:47 AM
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thanks everyone for the great advice! I will definitely have to get some sunblock! I am really good about putting it on my face, but for some reason seem to forget about the lips!
I have tried Abreva, but would love to prevent them as much as possible! I too get them when I am really tired or run down. Stress seems to trigger them the most!
Oh Laura, chocolate?? That would be a tough one..give up chocolate or get a cold sore??? Ugh! What's a girl to do?
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2006 : 12:17:26 PM
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Personally I'd risk the cold sore :)
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." -E. B. White
http://www.betweenthecities.com/blog/ljr/
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mommom
True Blue Farmgirl
854 Posts
Susan
Lancaster
Pennsylvania
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2006 : 8:51:23 PM
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| My medical doctor told me to take Lysine. I take one a day. My friend can feel a sore coming in her mouth and she starts taking Lysine right away. I swear by it. Susan |
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Herbal Wisdom: cold sores - yuck! |
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cold sores - yuck!
