Fever Blisters and make up or lip balms
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free skin care · Sun Aug 21, 2005 11:33 am

I get fever blisters often... usually when I get heated or wear lipsticks so my lips can't breathe... I had gotten very sunburned when I was younger and ever since had this condition.. I guess I ruined my upper lip when I got so burned. Sad

I was wondering if anyone knows of something that might help... do any of you know if a dermatolgist can cure this? I use abreve when I feel the tingle start and recently bought dermaseptic which is a little machine you put on your lip with a gel and zap it. The jury is still out on that one cuz the first time I used it I got a fever blister anyway.. what they don't tell you is you have to use the machine several times a day... I am going to try it a few more times and if it is useless send it back to where I got it from...

Anyone have any home cures or know of something that helps?

cheri

free skin care · Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:44 pm

I can relate to this one. I get them too, often when I get a bad cold or flu or too much sun exposure on my face. My husband gets them far more often than I do. He'll get one if his lips get even the slightest bit chapped. They have to be the most painful, awful looking things. Sad

The only thing we've found that works is acyclovir cream. You have to apply it as soon as you feel the tingle (which isn't always possible). It doesn't work everytime, with me probably only about 30% of the time, a little more often for my husband. Don't know why that is, maybe because I don't get it on soon enough. But when it does work, they completely go away overnight...literally. I can see the little blisters form and then gone!

It's only available by prescription, at least here in Canada.

Dianne

free skin care · Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:29 pm

If we're talking often as in every month or two you can look into valtrex. It's more for genital herpes, but have known people to take it daily to prevent cold sores/fever blisters..

free skin care · Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:22 pm

I have also heard that the acyclovir cream if used soon enough will work. Also, l-lysine and zinc taken internally are supposed to be good anti-virals. It's true that excessive sun exposure will weaken the immune system and thus the virus will show up and you will get a fever blister. I wonder if sunscreen would help to keep the "activation" from occurring?

free skin care · Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:35 pm

Thank you for the replies... I just wish I could find a cure for this... I found that abreve does work fairly well and has kept them from coming on but not all the time... I will try the other methods you have suggested!!

cheri Smile

free skin care · Fri Aug 26, 2005 10:31 am

Hi Cheri,
I can totally empathize with you on the cold sores. I have been getting them ever since I was a little kid (yay, genetics!). What I've found in recent years that has helped many times is l-lysine. It's an amino acid that you can get just about anywhere. When I start to feel the tell-tale tingle, I pop about 6 of them. If I catch it early enough, it just won't come up at all. Some people recommend to take one in the morning and one in the evening for daily prevention, but that regimen never seemed to help me.
Late last year I started getting outbreak after outbreak, as soon as one would heal I'd get hit w/another, and the lysine wasn't doing anything to help! I went to my doctor and got a prescription for Denavir (I believe that is the acylovir cream that was mentioned). I had used Denavir in the past and it didn't seem to make much of a difference in my healing time, or in keeping them from surfacing. He also gave me a prescription for Valtrex. You take one at the first sign of a cold sore, and another 12 (or is it 24?) hours later. This stuff works like a charm! The cold sores disappeared after about 2 days, instead of the normal 7+. My doctor told me that if I kept getting them that he could give me an Rx for a daily maintenance dose. But luckily they cleared up and stayed away.
Good luck w/whatever you decide to use!
Oh, one more note on cold sores. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I've noticed it is the case for me. If I have too much Vitamin C, I'm more susceptible. And also if my immune system is not up to par I'll most likely get one as well.

Beth

free skin care · Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:57 am

Beth,
you're right Vit C does do it!! I know citrus and especially orange juice are BAD! My boyfriend cut the OJ out of his diet and has been getting WAY less. Online you can find lists of triggers (many are food based)

Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:51 pm

are these fever blisters contagious? Is it viral like herpes, or cold sores? My boyfriend got sunburned, about 3 days later these "blisters" appeared. Should I trust him? He says they are fever blisters and he is using the abreva for them. I am very worried. Sad

Thanks for your rapid response Exclamation

free skin care · Fri Aug 26, 2005 7:05 pm

fever blisters are cold sores, and yes, coldsores are a form of herpes.

Avoid contact with the sores at all possible!

And be sure to take caution because those types of coldsores can transfer to the genitals (although the normal genital herpes is a slightly different strain of the virus). So don't let him lick his finger and then touch you, or use spit as lube....I'm sure you get the idea.

free skin care · Thu Sep 15, 2005 1:00 am

Nymue wrote:

Hi Cheri,
I can totally empathize with you on the cold sores. I have been getting them ever since I was a little kid (yay, genetics!). What I've found in recent years that has helped many times is l-lysine. It's an amino acid that you can get just about anywhere. When I start to feel the tell-tale tingle, I pop about 6 of them. If I catch it early enough, it just won't come up at all. Some people recommend to take one in the morning and one in the evening for daily prevention, but that regimen never seemed to help me.
Late last year I started getting outbreak after outbreak, as soon as one would heal I'd get hit w/another, and the lysine wasn't doing anything to help! I went to my doctor and got a prescription for Denavir (I believe that is the acylovir cream that was mentioned). I had used Denavir in the past and it didn't seem to make much of a difference in my healing time, or in keeping them from surfacing. He also gave me a prescription for Valtrex. You take one at the first sign of a cold sore, and another 12 (or is it 24?) hours later. This stuff works like a charm! The cold sores disappeared after about 2 days, instead of the normal 7+. My doctor told me that if I kept getting them that he could give me an Rx for a daily maintenance dose. But luckily they cleared up and stayed away.
Good luck w/whatever you decide to use!
Oh, one more note on cold sores. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I've noticed it is the case for me. If I have too much Vitamin C, I'm more susceptible. And also if my immune system is not up to par I'll most likely get one as well.

Beth

I think I am going to just call my doctor and see if he can give me a perscription for the valtrex... he is a good doctor and will do most anything I ask... I tried L-Lysine before and it didnt work... but then again... I was trying to use it as a supplement and I am not great at taking pills every day... I am trying to get better at it though!!

Thanks everyone... I got so much information here and I just love you guys tons! I am feeling much better and that I am not alone in this.. cuz it seems I am the only one I ever see have them...

Thanks again!

cheri

free skin care · Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:25 am

Hi there, I used to get these about once a year when i was a kid, but then a few years back I started getting them a lot more often (like every month!) and they were bad, my lip area would get all swollen. So, my doctor put me on preventative treatment, on Acyclovir, which I take everyday and I haven't had any more sores. There have been times too where I haven't taken it for 3 weeks or so and I still didn't get any sores. It really has helped me so much, because I couldn't stand how I looked when I had one/how much they hurt.

free skin care · Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:17 am

I heard taking "lysine" helps to control that, it's a natural supplement. Your body lacks that if you get cold sores etc....

HTH,
D

free skin care · Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:43 am

cheri wrote:

...I was wondering if anyone knows of something that might help...

I periodically get similar sores in the corner of my mouth (which royally piss me off because my lips are my biggest obsession!!), so you might want to check out this link for some advice that others gave me a couple months back when I was going thru a bad spell: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6986&highlight=cracks The Vit-E + tea tree oil really helped significantly, so now I keep a little bottle of it handy to apply at the first sign of the telltale tingling....

free skin care · Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:05 pm

carekate wrote:

cheri wrote:

...I was wondering if anyone knows of something that might help...

I periodically get similar sores in the corner of my mouth (which royally piss me off because my lips are my biggest obsession!!), so you might want to check out this link for some advice that others gave me a couple months back when I was going thru a bad spell: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6986&highlight=cracks The Vit-E + tea tree oil really helped significantly, so now I keep a little bottle of it handy to apply at the first sign of the telltale tingling....

Thanks!! I am willing to try anything!!

cheri

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