Wellness

[flickerbulb]

I have been plagued with cold sores for most of my life and there was not much in the way of treatment for them.

I have had prescriptions for Acyclivor and it is expensive and does not work that well.

Apparently, I was stressed out recently and one came up on the corner of my lip. It kept cracking and bleeding and was healing slowly.

I had a dentist appointment today and warned the DA that I had a breakout. Instead of recoiling, she said that it could be lasered. Why did I not know about this before?

So, the dentist does his thing and then gets out the laser. Now, I have had my gums lasered before, but this is new to me.

He took the laser and hit it three times. It will kill the cells and I will never get one there again! He said if I get another one to come in and he will do that one too!

Everytime I yawned or ate, it broke open and bled. After this treatment, it looks like it is on its last legs and is healing.

So, if you also get these nasty sores,

check with your dentist to get lasered! He did not charge me, but it would have cost me under $60 with my insurance. To me, it is totally worth it!

Lasers are amazing!

[DeeDT]

Thank you for that information. when I go to my dentist next month I'll ask if they provide that service.  I like you, have suffered with cold sores all my life, usually mine come out when in the sun to long, which is great when your on vacation.   My PCP gives me Valtrex to carry with me all the time and if I feel the tingling I take two pills right away and one the next day.  This usually stops it from forming or not being to bad if it does. 

Not sure of your age but be prepared for shingles too, same family, I think.  I had shingles once on my leg at age 50 and again at 54 on stomach.  What a picnic, you think cold sores are bad until you get shingles.  Funny thing is I never knew you could get it more than once, but you can.  Since I'm not 65 my insurance won't pay for the vaccination so I am crossing my fingers I don't get it again.  Second time was worse than the first.

[pegsue]

Thanks for that information!  I get them too, once or twice a year but that is enough!  I have Valtrex also and use it with abreva and the acyclovir.  That works ok IF I catch it immediately.  Sometimes I don't so then it seems no matter what I do it still is there 7-10 days.  I have a dentist appt. in October and I am going to ask about the laser.  Boy-would that be nice to not have those anymore.

[SilleeMee]

I used to get them all the time! I hated it so much. All my life around the ol' kisser. Sometimes the traveled up inside my nose...OUCH!

Then one day, a few years ago, I had a laser facial rejuvenation procedure done. At the time I had no idea about lasers and cold sores. The derm doing the procedure told me that the laser could possibly spur an outbreak and it did. But after that I don't get them ANYMORE! Hallelujah!! The little buggers sang their last hoorah on that glorious day for me.

[MalteseMomma]

OH WOW!!!      Thanks for that info.

This is very good news!

[Havarti]

@flickerbulb  

Thanks for sharing this information; I was not aware of this procedure.

L-lysine is an amino acid supplement that helps speed along recovery from any form of the herpes virus.  I have had shingles four times (and I did get the shot)!  While it was still miserable having it, taking good sized doses of L-lysine helped me tremendously.  I found out about it when my mother had shingles years ago and suffered horribly…nothing gave her any form of relief until she tried L-lysine.  Just passing it along in case it helps someone else. 

[flickerbulb]

I have a funny story regarding the difference between H1 and H2.

Several years ago, I saw a doctor for some other reason who was not my regular doctor.

I was having an outbreak and asked for a prescription for Zovirax. He asked me "What for?"

I told him for the herpes on my lip. He then asked me where I got it and I told him it was probably from my mother, who also got them.

He looked at me funny and told me I could not get them from my mother.

I think he thought we both had H2! I don't think HE knew the difference!

I still think of that stupid comment to this day! LOL

[SilleeMee]

@flickerbulb,

That was kind of dumb of him to say that. lol

One thing I know for sure is that the two types, 1 and 2, are interchangeable. They can be found anywhere on the body. I know this because I am a retired med lab technologist and ran the tests to determine their type. For the longest time scientists did not believe this. DNA  has confirmed it. So as far as categorizing the two...it doesn't make any difference other than pure academic curiosity.