Winters finally here and everyones getting close and snuggly where you see many people sharing things… including sickness and disease (mind you, not always intentionally). I remember I got my first cold sore when I was maybe 12 years old and my cousins had used my lip balm my mum had gotten me and hadn’t told me, nor had they any idea of self hygiene whist having a cold sore of their own. So by the time it presented itself my mum, having had them herself told me to burn it out with the cheapest aftershave in the cupboard drawer which was not at all pleasant and hurt a thousand times worse than what I’m about to recommend instead. I must admit, I swear the aftershave idea also made it react a thousand times worse with all the perfumes in it. Since this day, I think I’ve had about 4 small ones in total which is a pretty good number considering I’m now well into my 20s and over the years you hear of people who have these regularly occurring that can even leave permanent marks and scarring.
Ok lets get into it- just for reference today is Wednesday. On Monday afternoon I made myself a tea and noticed my bottom lip felt fat as it touched the side of the teacup. I touched it with my finger and thought omg I DO have a lump! But even though I didn’t feel my lip tingling I still grabbed some topical cream to apply asap anyway. For anyone who has had a cold sore in their life, knows that exact moment when you dread a festered lip for the next week and no matter how many creams you put on it, it’s going to take its time to depart. Well that was on Monday afternoon and its now wednesday morning and its just about gone! Yep- let me tell you what I did…
In an attempt to make it go away quickly, I must admit I have never popped one up until now but I did wonder about doing so and researched the pros and cons of popping them early and stumbled upon one website in particular. Knowing quite a bit about the human body I could second everything that was said to be true so in reality I had no doubts and did give it a try and in future will not do anything else different! I’ll copy in the link below, but the whole idea is to pop the blister early and sterilise it with alcohol and salt to dry it out and rid of the blister before it starts. I will second that it is not for the faint hearted and it does sting a little but it is very worth it for its outcome- feels nothing like the aftershave thankfully! Please don’t ever try using the aftershave, it’s horrendous and doesn’t work. I do however recommend clicking on the original link I found to learn about the stages in which a cold sore develops but the summarised steps are as follows:
- Gather the following materials: bag to dispose of, sterile gauze or tissue, rubbing alcohol and table salt, safety pin or needle and a lighter or match.
- Wash your hands so you don’t spread germs or reinfect yourself. Lay out the materials so they are easily accessible. Try not to over-handle the gauze or tissue so that it remains clean.
- Hold the needle under a flame until it glows red, wipe it with some alcohol then place it down with the other materials.
- Clean the blister and the surrounding areas using a bit of the alcohol and pat dry with a towel.
- Apply the folded gauze or tissue under the blister to absorb any liquid that will come out and at the same time apply the needle to the blister until it bursts. Absorb all of the fluid with the gauze or tissue. Dispose of the gauze or tissue without letting it touch anything else- bag it up prior to putting in the bin so no-one else can touch it unknowingly.
- Now mix a droplet or two of the alcohol with the salt and apply to the cold sore area as a paste. It will sting for a few moments while you’ll feel its drawing action taking affect and you may also feel a bit of your heartbeat in your lip at the same time but thats a good thing. Leave the paste on to work its magic. I did this right before bed so I just went to sleep with it left on overnight to wake up with a tiny scab-like mark and a brand new lip. This method bypasses the fester stage if you get it early enough and just like me, you can have it gone in just 2 whole days better than any bought topical cream could ever do.
I don’t know about anyone else but I’m sure I can guarantee that having a cold sore is no ones favourite pastime and this saved my face from a week of yuck. Goes to show that something as simple as salt could be so handy in a time like this- some wives tales actually work… Here’s the original link I found:
https://healdove.com/disease-illness/Getting-Rid-of-Cold-Sores
Best of luck guys, now its time to strengthen my immune system to get through the rest of Winter.