I’ve been trying my best to bring myself good beauty karma – I’ve been religiously washing my face before bed, gifting beauty products to friends and family in need, and spewing advice.  But sometimes, no matter what you do, a beauty emergency finds you.  With all the travel I’ve been doing lately (LA with friends, and Albuquerque to see my new niece), it was only a matter of time before I got a dreaded cold sore.  Cold sores are the worst.  But where do they come from, and how can we get rid of them?

According to WebMD, cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). The herpes simplex virus usually enters the body through a break in the skin around or inside the mouth. It is usually spread when a person touches a cold sore or touches infected fluid-such as from sharing eating utensils or razors, kissing an infected person, or touching that person’s saliva. I notice that I tend to get cold sores when the weather is irregular and when I fly (there’s something about that airplane air that ain’t kosher).

But who cares how I got it.  How do I get RID of it? If you’re been reading Beauty or Bust for a while, you know that I am all about home remedies.  So, naturally, I’m trying the following home remedies from http://tlc.howstuffworks.com:

1: Cover the Cold Sore - Covering a cold sore with petroleum jelly will speed healing and help protect it from secondary infection with bacteria.

2: Change Your Toothbrush - Get a new toothbrush after the blister has formed and again after the attack has cleared up. Toothbrushes can harbor the virus.

3: Protect Your Lips from the Sun - Applying sunscreen to your lips may help prevent sun-induced recurrences of cold sores.

4: Don’t Touch It - Don’t squeeze, pinch or pick a cold sore. These actions can cause bacterial infection.

5: Ice Packs - If you ice a cold sore when it first arrives, you may cut down on the amount of time it hangs around. Ice packs and cold compresses will provide some temporary relief.

6: Milk - This remedy doesn’t involve drinking. Soak a cotton ball in milk and apply it to the sore to relieve pain. Better yet, if you feel the tell-tale tingling before the cold sore surfaces, go straight to the cold milk. It can help speed the healing right from the beginning.

7: Rubbing alcohol – Rubbing alcohol dries out the sore, causing it to blister.  Just be sure to add a protectant like petroleum jelly or Carmex to keep the scab from bleeding.

I’ll admit, I also picked up some Lip Clear Lysine Cold Sore Treatment – it’s only about $6 (much less than say, Abreva), and comes highly recommended. 

How do you fight cold sores?