Cold sores are small blisters that develop on the lips or around the mouth. They are caused by the herpes simplex virus.
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First, a small red patch appears
A blister or cluster of blisters develops. You may just get a shallow ulcer inside your mouth.
The blister bursts, leaving a small raw area which gets infected by bacteria also.
After some days the raw area begins to heal and scab.
Moving your mouth can cause the scab to crack.
Various antiviral creams are available and are mostly completely useless even when applied at the first sign of the cold sore emerging.
Professor Giovanni from St Barts in a blog on antivirals for MS says:
"The earlier trials of the anti-herpes drug acyclovir were negative in MS, but this drug, and its derivative valacyclovir, are not really effective against most of the herpes viruses including HHV-6. "
The quickest way to resolve a cold sore is to keep applying salt to the emerging sore every hour or so. This often aborts the attack on the first day even before the sore has time to break into a blister. Since I put this advice out some patients have reported that not only did the sore not break out but the sores have never recurred either!
Reviewed January 2021
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