Cold Sores: Home Treatment

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Home Treatment

Most cold sores heal on their own. But, you can manage your symptoms at home by:

• Placing a cool, wet towel on the sores 3 times a day for 20 minutes each time to help reduce redness and swelling.
• Taking ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) or acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) to reduce pain. Do not give aspirin to anyone younger than 20 because of its link to Reye's syndrome.
• Using a mouth rinse that has baking soda to soothe a sore mouth.
• Avoiding foods that contain acid (such as citrus fruits and tomatoes).
• Using nonprescription ointments that can relieve pain or help heal the cold sore. Some products, such as Abreva, Zilactin, and Ziladent, can speed the healing of cold sores or prevent them if applied early enough. Other products such as Orajel and Anbesol can numb sore areas in the mouth or on the lips.

You can reduce the frequency of cold sore outbreaks by taking the following steps:

• Avoid prolonged exposure of your lips to sunlight. (Wear a hat to help shade your mouth.)
• Avoid intimate contact (such as kissing) with people who have cold sores or genital herpes.
• Use sunscreen at all times on your lips (in a lip balm form) and face, especially in the areas where you tend to have cold sores.
• Avoid foods that seem to cause your cold sores to recur.
• Avoid sharing towels, razors, silverware, toothbrushes, or other objects that a person with a cold sore may have used.

These measures may help prevent the spread of cold sores in children:

• Encourage frequent hand-washing.
• Do not let children share toys that other children put in their mouths.
• Clean toys occasionally with a disinfectant.
• If children have open or weeping cold sore blisters, keep them home until the blisters begin to scab over.
• Do not let children kiss each other while they have cold sores or uncontrollable drooling.
• Use gloves to apply medicated ointment to a child's cold sores.

Last updated:	March 13, 2008
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Michele Cronen