When you hear the phrase home remedy for cold sore it can bring up questions about the validity of those kitchen recipes and if they are valid. Looking on the internet can reveal a variety of suggestions which may be overwhelming. More importantly, the lip is a fragile area and if you have a fever blister or herpes sore there, you don't want to aggravate it or create additional problems or infections.

First of all , look at your diet to see if you are eating a lot of foods high in argine (an amino acid). Foods such as peanuts, peanut butter, protein powder or certain grains can put your system vulnerable to cold sores. Taking a lysine supplement and minimizing these foods high in argine is helpful. Argine is in a lot of body building products. Lysine supplements are in the health food store and the body doesn't produce lysine.

I've read that some people recommend vaseline, but my own experience is that when I was camping once I used it and the cold sore on my lip then became three cold sores! Although vaseline softens the skin, for me it spread the virus. When you read a recommendation on the internet, be sure to see if there are more testimonials for that approach to try to validate it. Remember that sometimes people also try to sell products and prey on people on forums to sell their wares.

Remedies that people seem to agree upon are applying ice, applying a tea bag (due to the tannic acid), increasing b-complex vitamin, taking lysine regularly and sage tea. Also getting enough sleep and improving your immune system is helpful because we are susceptible to viruses when it is weak. In fact, the term cold sore is used since people get it before a cold at times when their immune system is low and they are run down.