How to Shrink a Cold Sore

When a cold sore is about to form, a person may begin to feel a slight tingle. The skin may even feel a little hard, even if you can't visibly see anything yet. Then, within 48 hours a red blister appears. This cold sore is not only unsightly, it is also painful. Once the cold sore appears, a person can take action to shrink the cold sore and lessen the length of time the cold sore remains on the skin.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Antibacterial hand wash
• Water
• Cold compress
• Docosanol
• Zovirax or Valtrex

1. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap before administering treatment to your cold sore.

2. Place a cold compress on the cold sore for ten minutes. This will temporarily ease the pain, but more importantly it will reduce the inflammation associated with the cold sore.

3. Use an over-the-counter cream containing Docosanol. A common form of Docosanol is called Abreva. This cream is effective in shrinking cold sores. You will need to apply it to the cold sore five times each day.

4. Get a prescription from your doctor for a stronger medication if you have used an over-the-counter medication in the past without any success. These medications are in the form of a pill and are used to treat several types of the herpes simplex virus. A cold sore is caused by the herpes simplex virus. Two common medications used for cold sores are Zovirax and Valtrex.

5. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap after you have administered your cold sore treatment. This will keep you from further infecting and irritating your cold sore so that it can shrink much faster.

Tips & Warnings

• Cold sores will go away on their own without any treatment.
• Cold sores cannot be cured. Treatment can only lessen how often the outbreaks occur, and how long the outbreaks last.

References

• Cold Sore Treatment
• Cold Sores

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