Frugal Fever Blister Remedies?

[latierra84]

I have the nastiest fever blister right now!

I've used abreeva in the past but it didnt do anything for me, carmex usually cuts my healing time down and at about 99cents a little jar - its a decent price too.

But this one is not on my lip, its more on my chin. I knew when it was starting that it felt like a fever blister but then i woke up this morning and it had exploded all over my upper chin (the area right underneath my chin.. i think this is considered chin territory..)

anyone know any home made fixes?

i've currently got a bandaid over it. yes its that bad. a fellow at work and i had a semi-lengthy conversation and he didnt say a thing about the bandaid, then someone walked right up to us and asked about it and i told them i had a painful blister, and the man i was talking to said, "oh... i just thought your cat had gotten a hold of you" - i thought it was funny.

[Jayne]

try peroxide on it

[nodmicks]

I use a wet tea bag on the blister a few times a day. It works faster than anthing I'd bought. Gotta love grammy's remedys!

[YankeeMom]

I've heard tea tree oil works a bit.

I got a prescription from my doctor a couple of years ago. It keeps me from getting a full blown blister and now I don't get them even 1/3 as often as I used to.

[ktsmama]

I know this sounds nasty, but I pop the blister several times a day and dab alcohol on it. It dries mine up faster.

[starsapphire]

I just let mine heal up. I don't put anything on them. Whatever I've tried never seemed to make them heal any faster. Tried Abreva exactly twice and got a weird reaction from it both times.

[Tamerama]

Abreeva works AWESOME for me!! I used to get them and my lip would puff up twice its size..GROSS!!! Now, as soon as I feel one coming (itchy tingly feeling) i dab some on it and although its still there it NEVER swells up. Love that stuff!!
Sorry it doesn't work for you. I would call the Dr and ask if they have any suggestions..or ask the pharmicist????

[jacqueline]

it's so horrible having cold sores--you never forget that itch that says there's one on the way!

ive never tried abreeva-i just can't get past the cost. carmex keeps them moist but i don't think it helped mine heal any faster. that's me i guess.
the main thing i do when i get one--at the first sign of itching if you can catch it that quick, start taking L-lysine. you can take a lot of this. ive take 1000-2000mg on some days. it does cut down on the swelling and it has even kept mine from puffing up when i did catch it in time.
i was getting them so frequently a couple of months ago that i've started taking L-lysine 500mg one each day in the mornings. so far so good.
ive also heard taking vit c helps. i don't know about this since i take vitamins everyday anyway. i've had some very painful cold sores before where i took ibuprofen for the pain and have even held an ice cube in a washcloth on it. the last time i had one, i searched the internet and found people saying they had done all kinds of things such as putting fingernail polish on it (yes i was going crazy and tried this--it didn't help and hurt!) i think everyone is different though and you should try out whatever you can until you find something that works for you and then next time (cause you know there is always going to be a next time unfortunately!) you can jump right in and start treating it. i think a big key with cold sores is start treating them as soon as possible to shorten the duration of it.
good luck--hope this helps.

[Jaded]

Believe it or not, of the two things I use, one is found in every home....chlorine bleach. Yep, it kills the herpes virus, and if you just dab a little on the cold sore before it gets bad with a q-tip, it will dry it right up almost overnight. For the ones on your chin, use camphor. Doesn't burn like bleach, but it too, dries up cold sores quickly, especially if applied several times a day. It's liquid, can be bought in any drug store (I get mine at Walgreens) and just dab it on with a q-tip.

This is all I've used for years. I used to get really bad ones, and they spread to my chin once. I used the bleach. Just wiped it on, left for a few seconds, and wiped it off so it wouldn't burn me. I've never had them on my chin again.

[fizzie]

I've been dealing with these things for 25 years now. When I was 12, I had a terrible one all around my mouth including chin, lips, face. Kids at school called me mean names and ran away from me when they saw me coming. It was so traumatic. I have one now too and it's almost gone only two days into the outbreak. Here's what I do:

1) If I'm going to be in the sun, under a lot of stress, sick with a flu or a cold, or starting to get a tingle, I take an acylovir pill. My doctor prescribed these. With my insurance, it's only $5 a bottle. This stops 90% of my cold sores/fever blisters in their tracks.
2) At first tingle, apply Blistex and/or an ice cube.
3) If I wake up with a blister already formed, I put Zilactin on it. This stuff lasts a long time because you only need a tiny dab. It forms a film over the blister and dries it up.
4) Once the blisters are dry, I put Blistex, Carmex, Burt's Bees or whatever balm I have handy to keep it from getting cracked and scabby.

But you asked for a frugal remedy. I would say prevention w/ the Rx is best for me but I think I will start the lysine as suggeste above.

[claimsgirl66]

Daily Lysine helps greatly and is worth the money. When I am sick, run down or have dental appt, I pop a few extra and take the prescription I also have from my dr.

I also use a little cup coldwater ( or shotglass ) with ice cube & little witch hazel. & pinch of salt. Dip cotton ball in it and hold on the blister. Frequently dip cotton ball into water so is it icy cold. The coldness helps with swelling, and the salt water helps draw out fluid. I would do this every hour or as often as I can to speed healing. Then once fluid/blisters gone, use tea tree oil or neosporin to held skin heal.

[Buckeye5]

If you have a good prescription plan, I would ask the doctor for a herpes medicine. You could take it when you feel the tingling coming on, and it should help the pain and clear it up quicker. Good luck, those things hurt like none other!!!

[NanaDebbie]

I used to get frequent cold sores until I started eating yogurt everyday. Yogurt is high in Lysine which is probably the reason. I prefer to eat yogurt instead of taking Lysine supplements...plus you get the other nutrients and probiotics from yogurt that you don't get from a Lysine supplement.