Well, there are a lot of natural remedies out there! Today, I went to buy lemon balm tea bags and got chatting to the manager of the health food store who it turns out, also suffers with cold sores (maybe it’s a more common problem than I realised). She kindly told me some of the things that have been recommended to her over the years. She did say that lemon balm tea didn’t really work for her but that different things work for different people.
She recommended I try Acidophilus which is a friendly bacteria that has helped some cold sore sufferers. Raw yoghurt is a good source of Acidophilus but it is destroyed by the modern pasteurizing processes, so she showed me that you can buy live Acidophilus in capsules which were stored in the chilled section of the health food store. They apparently work best when taken with a dairy product. Or, you can put the contents of three or four capsules into a container of yoghurt stir it well and leave it in the fridge for a day. Then you have an effective natural cold sore remedy which you can eat or apply directly onto your cold sores.
Garlic is said to be a powerful natural remedy for any virus or bacterial infection. Garlic oil can be applied directly to cold sores. Bottled garlic oil is ok to use, however, using fresh oil from crushed garlic is better. Or you can cut a clove and rub it directly onto your cold sores. Eating fresh garlic or taking odourless garlic capsules can also help.
The stress vitamins B and C are essential for helping your body to cope with everyday stress. As I have already discovered stress is one of the biggest triggers for cold sores outbreaks so taking a daily supplement of vitamins B and C has been shown to reduce cold sores outbreaks for many sufferers.
Herbal mint can help some cold sore sufferers as it has strong antiviral properties. Drinking mint tea will help as will applying the tea bag directly onto the cold sore.
Other natural remedies to try out include peppermint, crushed red grapes rubbed over cold sores as they contain Resveratol which can suppress the virus. Witch Hazel, Aloe Vera gel or oil can prevent the cold sores from spreading.
So many remedies to try! I left the health food store today with lemon balm tea, Acidophilus, odourless garlic capsules and vitamins B and C....I will have to start experimenting to see if any of them work for me as the manager also pointed out that it can be difficult to find a natural remedy that works immediately.
There is a complete technique for naturally treating cold sores in this ebook which was recommended to me by a friend recently. It looks very promising and apparently produces excellent results. Take a look here.