Since my early teenage years I like many others have suffered from randomly occurring outbreaks of cold sores. These unsightly lesions seem to occur at the most inconvenient times such as just prior to a long anticipated first date, the night of the Prom or the day photographs are taken for the school yearbook…and in later years just prior to that big job interview.
While pharmacies had available many over the counter remedies such as Blistex and Sorebegone nothing seemed to help. Most of these ‘Treatments’ could help ease the pain of the cold sore, but did little to prevent the occurrence or shorten the life of the unsightly lip blister which would always start with a painful tingling of the lip, followed by a slightly swollen red area which grew rapidly in size and in soreness. For me the typical cold sore would swell to anywhere from 1/8 to ½ inch in diameter and with the increasing size bring a proportionate amount of discomfort and pain, not to mention embarrassment.
From the very first sign of the cold sore (lip tingling) to final healing would typically take 10-14 days in my case.
Recent studies have shown that the herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, type 1, which is most often acquired in childhood either by contact with an infected person or by inheritance from a parent.
The type 1 virus often lies dormant for months, even years before being triggered by a cold, the flu, high fevers, and exposure to ultra violet light, and in particular, sunburned lips. These studies have also confirmed that stress and trauma play an significant role in triggering the virus, which explains why these unwanted cold sores appear at the least desirable times (an important meeting, a speech, an interview, etc.)
Little is known as to how to prevent cold sores occurring. The most obvious prevention steps include avoiding physical contact with anyone with active cold sores (can be spread by kissing, etc.), avoiding stress to the extent possible and avoiding exposure to sun and sunburn. During exposure to summer sun coating the lips with sun block SPF 17 or higher can help prevent sun related flare-ups.
Most home remedies for the treatment of cold sores do little to cure the problem and focus instead on reducing the discomfort of the infection. These steps include:
– Coating the sore with Vaseline, which is thought to reduce the spread of the virus.
– Coating the sore in a local anesthetic, such as Blistex.
– To reduce the pain take over the counter painkiller such as aspirin, Ibuprofen, etc.
– Avoiding citric (fruits) or salty products (potato chips), which will irritate the blister and cause discomfort.
In my experience in dealing with this problem the above home remedies provided little relief and did nothing to reduce the discomfort, or to shorten the life of the virus. Without exception, once the dormant virus was triggered I could depend on the same terrible cycle of painful tingling, followed by rapid swelling of the lip, and increasing pain until an unsightly blister formed on the lip where it would remain for 7-10 days.
After living with this problem for the first twenty years of my life I was convinced no cure or preventative was forthcoming. It appeared that I would have to live with treating the symptoms (through home remedies) rather than finding a cure.
After expressing my frustration with my doctor he mentioned that recent medical studies had shown that large doses of selected amino acids had proven effective in inhibiting the growth of the herpes type 2 virus and that doctors were now recommending the use of one particular amino acid, lysine, to reduce the effect, and in some cases prevent the outbreak of the herpes type 1 (cold sore) virus.
As I was unfamiliar with amino acids my doctor explained that amino acids play a vital role in our health as these serve as the ‘building blocks ‘ for the development of protein in the human body, and play a significant role in the body’s metabolism. He further explained that protein development requires 20 different amino acids of which the human body can produce only 10. The rest must come from food or supplements and that the absence of any one of the required 20 amino acids could cause serious health problems.
One theory being considered is that people with a high occurrence of herpes type 1 outbreaks may be deficient in one essential amino acid, that being L lysine. This deficiency allows the dormant virus to activate resulting in the cold sore.
Assured that lysine supplements are a safe and effective as an alternate treatment for herpes type 2 I decided to conduct my own test with the next sign of an impending outbreak.
Following my doctor’s suggestion I purchased one bottle of 500 mg L lysine pill supplements. At the first tingling indication of a cold sore coming on I took two pills in the morning and two with lunch and two with dinner for a total of 3000 mg per day. The results were immediate. The tingling sensation disappeared and the virus did not spread. No cold sore appeared.
I continued this dosage for three days after the tingling stopped and the redness on the lip disappeared. For the next two weeks I reduced the dosage in half taking one 500 mg pill with each meal.
This routine has proved to be very effective in reducing the number of cold sores and in instances in which the sore still appears significantly reducing the severity and duration of the outbreak.
Only once since starting this routine has a cold sore made a re-appearance once I reduced the dosage back to the 500 mg level. On this occasion I immediately increased the dosage back to 1000 mg and stopped the recurring cold sore in its’ tracks.
I now maintain a maintenance dose of lysine consisting of three 500 mg pills with meals three times a day. I believe this has significantly reduced the frequency and number of outbreaks. Should one occur I begin the 3000 mg a day regimen.
I am very appreciative of my doctor’s finding and recommending L lysine as a an effective treatment for cold sores. L lysine has proven to be a safe, inexpensive and effective remedy for me.
