How to Get Rid of Cold Sores or Fever Blisters by Popping Them
What are Cold Sores?
Herpes Simplex 1, or HSV1 as it is commonly called, is oral herpes that causes fever blisters or cold sores around the mouth region, including nose and chin areas. Getting rid of cold sores is only temporary because there is no cure for the virus, but there are ways to control the number of outbreaks you experience. There are also ways to speed up the healing process and make the active cold sores disappear quicker. Anyone who has been cursed with HSV1 knows that a cold sore can take up to a week or more to completely heal. Cold sores are painful, unsightly, contagious, and just a huge, uncomfortable burden so getting rid of them in the fastest possible way is important. The herpes virus that causes cold sores lies dormant for long periods of time and attacks when the immune system lets its guard down a little bit. If you've had a fever blister in the past, a weakened immune system from fatigue, alcohol, dehydration or even stress can trigger an outbreak. Sunburned and chapped lips also leave an open invitation for an attack of cold sores. Knowing the stages of a typical herpes outbreak can help to speed up healing for some people and there are some home remedies that have actually healed my fever blisters completely in about 4 days time, which is the fastest I've ever managed to completely get rid of the sores, scabs and all.
Painful Cold Sore
Stages of Cold Sores
The prodromal stage of herpes is the very first indication that you are about to get a cold sore and it will be almost impossible to stop it from happening because the virus has traveled from your spinal cord, where it is dormant, to the surface of the skin where it is now active. During the prodromal stage the lip will feel a tingly sensation and the site on the lip will be painful when touched. This is the very beginning of the cold sore.
Next small vesicles or tiny bump-like blisters will form and begin to fill with watery liquid swell up rapidly. The lip becomes painfully swollen and red around the blistered area. This is the most miserable stage of the outbreak because your lip can literally triple in size and it can become hard to conceal that something is wrong with your lip. Eventually the blisters will become so full of liquid they pop and enter the weeping stage. The weeping stage is the most contagious stage of the outbreak and the liquid can actually cause more blisters and spread all over your lips. If the blisters are touching the skin around the lips it will cause itching and more pain. Then finally the blisters begin to dry out and scab over. Like any other scab, it will eventually fall off but not soon enough for those affected.
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Cold Sore Remedies
It is hard to say what remedy will work for the individual suffering from a cold sore. I've had outbreaks at least once a year for 30 years, so I've tried just about every remedy known to man. I've found that most products available on the market don't actually speed up the healing process at all, at least not for me. Abreva is an over-the-counter ointment that helps a lot of people get rid of their cold sores but it actually makes mine worse and didn't stop the progression of the sores at all. Lysine works for some people, and so does Campho phenique. Campho phenique is supposed to help dry out the sores, but when I used it on my cold sores, more appeared and it took the usual week and a half to get rid of the cold sores completely. After a particularly bad outbreak caused from a sunburn, I went to the doctor and was prescribed Zovirax pills and ointment. This actually sped up the healing process and caused the blisters to dry out faster, but after using it for a few different outbreaks it lost its potency and stopped being as effective. It seemed like the virus became immune to it.
At this point I became so frustrated I did some research on the web to see what home remedies other people were using. I was desperate enough to try anything that would clear up cold sores in less than a week's time. I experimented over the years with different methods and found one that completely stopped the cold sores dead in their tracks. It's not a method for the faint of heart or those with a low threshold for pain, but it eliminates the swelling and weeping stages completely which can last 3-4 days or longer.
The earlier you use this remedy on a cold sore, the better. If you attack the virus during the prodromal stage, at the very first indication that there is a cold sore about to emerge, you can eliminate the swelling and weeping and skip straight to the drying out phase. During the prodromal stage, prick the spot with a needle and immediately cover it with a mixture of salt and rubbing alcohol. Covering the spot with a paste of salt and alcohol prevents any of the contagious liquid from spreading and immediately dries out the "would be" blister before it forms and swells up in size. If you time it just right and keep the spot covered with this mixture of salt and alcohol, it will scab over the next day. Then once it is scabbed over, you have completely eliminated the most painful and miserable portion of the outbreak.
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Debate Over Popping Cold Sore Blisters
Some people are against popping the blisters, and warn against it. I say if you are desperate enough, you'll try anything you haven't already tried. I was apprehensive about popping the blisters at first, myself, because I was afraid that popping them would exacerbate the problem and I'd end up with 20 cold sores; but in all actuality, some of the over-the-counter medications caused spreading and I've never experienced that by popping the blisters. You have to be extremely careful that the liquid from the blister is contained though, that is why attacking it in the prodromal stage is best because there isn't much liquid to worry about in this stage, if any. If you miss the window of opportunity and end up with watery blisters, this method still works to dry out the sores and reduce the healing time. The only issue is that popping bigger blisters means more contagious liquid to contain and not let seep out onto other parts of the lip so applying the paste immediately to absorb the liquid is best. This method is stings pretty bad, but it isn't nearly as bad as dealing with the swelling and weeping stages of misery caused by the cold sores.
Other people have also had success with applying toothpaste during the prodromal stage. Some others have suggested a mixture of salt and toothpaste. These methods didn't work for me, and the cold sores still developed into a weeping stage. The size of the blisters were smaller and less painful, but took just as long to heal. Others have even suggested popping the blisters and applying acetone fingernail polish remover. I tried this and it hurt like hell and didn't seem to be any more effective than the salt and alcohol method, just more painful.
As I said before, everyone is different and what works for some people, may not work for others. What
ways have you found for getting rid of cold sores faster?
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