I hate cold sores. I HATE them. I hate them with such unbridled fury and passion that if I were to be judged at the time of my death, and the subject of my blistering hatred came up(no pun intended), Heaven wouldn't want me, and Hell would just plain fear me. But after so many years of putting up with this plague, there is a solution.
I usually get fever sores(cold sores) about 8-10 times a year. Usually every 2 months, I get a new outbreak around my lips. It could be a minor outbreak, with a simple little bump on the upper or lower lip, or a grotesque outbreak cluster of about 4-7 sores at once. Usually, these sores last 1-2 weeks, sometimes longer. The day I discovered Abreva, that all changed.
As it states, Abreva cuts down the duration of cold sores quite dramatically. If you manage to detect a cold sore as it just begins to form (usually indicated by a burning or tingling sensation on the lip area), application of Abreva will possibly event prevent the outbreak entirely. Upon a breakout of sores, I find that consistent application cuts the duration of sores from 1-2 weeks to a mere 1-3 days! Don't beleive the utterly ridiculous accusations that Abreva is a placebo...this stuff works, and it works well.
Aside from cutting down the duration of the sore, Abreva also releives any burning and itching you may get from them, so after a while you may not even realize that they're there. The cream is comfortable, and it doesn't sting, burn or itch after application. Though the white cream leaves a film after application, if you rub it in strongly the film disappears. Though the box recommends 4 applications a day, I usually double that to 8, and up to 10 times a day for those particularly brutal outbreaks.
There are some disadvantages to Abreva, and perhaps the greatest of all: the price!
Amazon.com, bless them, has this item listed at 13.99...try finding Abreva at that price anywhere else and you're in for a shocker...it usually goes for $18 on average, and we're talking a VERY small tube here. Don't let the size of the box fool you, the actual tube is less than half the size of my pinky finger! So in short, the cream is a marvel, but the price is simply outrageous. If you are plagued with cold sores on a routine basis, then its worth the price. If not, then I can't justify spending $18 on Abreva if you only get cold sores once in a blue moon. But like I said, thank you Amazon for the much cheaper price!
Another disadvantage is that the tube tends to leak. Upon opening the tube for the first time, the cream tends to stat pushing itself out. When you open the tube for next use, you may find that alot of the cream has been squished into the cap, and that more of it will push out immediately upon the cap being removed. This leads to a lot of waste of the product.
Another disadvantage is that the cream is virtually ineffective at treating cold sores that appear on the underside of the lip closer to the inside of your mouth, mainly because you'll end up inadvertantly licking the cream off or it will get washed away by your saliva.
Finally, the cream dries your lips up quite alot...I would recommend using chapstick to moisturize your lips while using Abreva, because they will become very dry and chapped with continued usage.
Overall, Abreva is one of the greatest things to happen to us cold sore slaves ever. Herpicin-L is utterly useless, Campophenique does little more than burn, dry out and taste awful, and chapstick only exacerbates the sore. Abreva is the way to go. If you can justify shelling out the cash for Abreva, then by all means, do it. Those of us that get multiple outbreaks a year will love it. Others who rarely get them needn't apply, unless the breakout is particularly brutal.
Abreva helped me on several occasions. I think it is a good product. It does not work as well on my wife. Since my wife has more frequent (and severe) outbreaks than I do, we have done quite a bit of product testing. Here is what we found:
First, sun exposure is her #1 trigger for an outbreak. Lip balm with SPF 15 has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the number of outbreaks. Chapped lips also trigger an outbreak, so a quality lip balm (other than Carmex) again works well.
Second, there is a product called Viroxyn that works better than Abreva. The active ingredient is .13% benzalkonium chloride. The same active ingredient is also found in Bactine. Viroxyn is $10 per dose, and generic versions of Bactine are very inexpensive. Both my wife and I have used Bactine for our last couple of outbreaks, and we believe we have found the next-best thing to a cure. If you have success with Abreva, then you know that catching the cold sore early in its development is key. Same goes for our Bactine treatment. At first tingle, we saturate a q-tip with Bactine and rub the spot firmly for about 2 minutes. Repeat 4-6 times the first day. We find that the growth stops quickly, and the remaining (tiny) sore heals in a couple of days. If we catch it fast enough, it doesn't even scab over. I am not a doctor, and I am not qualified to give medical advice. I am sharing my personal experience in hopes that you can also find a way to reduce the pain and embarrasment from cold sores. Always follow label instructions for OTC medications.
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Psst! Let me tell you a secret. I've been plagued with cold sores for perhaps forty years. I've never kept a detailed record, but it seems one has appeared on a semi-periodic basis every three to six months or so. (When I lived in the South Mississippi, actually for 15 months, I was curiously unafflicted for the entire time. Perhaps it was the diet of spinach greens, grits, fried chicken and Moon Pies.) I've tried everything. Applying hot poultices of puréed whale blubber and the rattles from two-headed rattlesnakes. Dancing naked under a full moon belting out the theme song to "Green Acres". Consulting shifty-eyed herbalists in refuse-strewn back alleys from Cairo to Lhassa. Sacrificing virgins. But, nothing has had the slightest therapeutic effect until ABREVA.
After forking over Big Bucks the first time for a teensy-weensy tube, it was a shattering self-revelation to consider how desperate I'd become. But, outside of that rip-roaring good time I once enjoyed in that flyblown Tripoli hotel room, it's the best money I've ever spent.
The key to using ABREVA is to get it on the site of the embryonic blemish as soon as you can, and ideally when you first feel that special tingle that screams, "You'd be better off with leprosy!" Without even excusing yourself to visit the loo, apply it during that power business lunch if you have to. In my experience over the last year and a half, the ointment stops cold the development of the blister. It's effective stuff.
Now, I realize that my endorsement here is purely anecdotal and not based on any scientific study I've done on a pork-barrel government grant. But, hey, what have you got to lose? Especially if you're discovering, as I did, that two-headed rattlesnakes are becoming easier to find than virgins, and those Third World back alleys are being bulldozed for McDonald's franchises.
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I am a dentist who sees a lot of people with cold sores, which is reactivation of the Herpes virus. The cold sore is the virus replicating usually as a result of some sort of stress that decreases one's the immune system.
Abbreva has been shown in clinical studies to be effective, but the key with this treatment or any other for that matter is to start when you first feel the tingling of another cold sore coming on. If you wait and the cold sore erupts, virtually nothing will relieve it except time and your own immune response. So start applying Abbreva immediately for the best chance to limit the development of the cold sore.
Your dentist or doctor can prescribe anti-virals in either a topical form or a tablet form for severe cold sore cases, but once again, if it is not started immediately, the cold sore will develop and stay with you for 10 days or so. Ask for Zovirax or Denavir.
Always use a lip balm with sunscreen and too much sunlight can trigger a cold sore.
Abbreva is a good product. As with any product, it will not work in everyone who tries it but it is certainly worth a try.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig, DDS
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The abreva product says for best results, begin using at the first sign of your oncoming coldsore. Well, I was one of the unlucky coldsore victoms who didn't catch onto the tingling warning sign soon enough. In a desperate attempt to at least sooth my new sore, itchy little pal, I started applying the Abreva every hour it seemed. At first i thought it was not doing me any good, but i kept on applying. Wow, does it work! My coldsores usually last about a week before starting to go away. Here i am...3 days later, and its already starting to heal! It didn't help ease my symptoms right away, but it really has helped to speed up the healing time.
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