I first started suffering cold sores during the winter when I was about 12. I now play the trombone and have frequent attacks of cold sores around the base of my nostrils probably caused by the vibrations from the instrument. Usually, it is preceded by a tingling sensation. I used to use acyclovir cream with great success but more recently my doctor prescribed acyclovir tablets, which work extremely well as long as you catch the infection in time.

I have gotten cold sores all my life. I have tried about everything imaginable to cure them. About 10 years ago, as I was getting divorced and had lots of stress, I got a rather severe outbreak that sent me to my doctor. He prescribed a drug called Famvir, which is given to folks with genital herpes. Reluctantly I picked up my script (wondering what the pharmacist was thinking about me), and tried this drug. It has worked wonderfully, and if taken when I get the first feeling of a hot spot on my lip, will cut the duration to three days or less!

Rubbing garlic on the sore and eating garlic has helped me keep the herpes outbreak from recurring. Look it up. It really does work.

As soon as it appeared I pressed my wet aluminum sulfate pencil on it for a few seconds every half hour on the first day and few times the second day. This stops it from getting worse, and starts to heal in a few days. It helps a lot.

I've gotten coldsores since I was in high school, and I'm not sixty-four. I get them most often on my lip. Sometimes they're as big as a ping pong ball in which case I miss work, as my upper lip hangs over my lower. Yes, I'm a site to see. The only thing that works for me is to catch them early, right at the first tingle. I prefer Zovirax blue capsules. I usually take two right away and then take them on schedule but for just two or three days. This regimen works for me. As well, I have to avoid hot sauces, lemons, red wine and coffee. Yogurt, even rubbed on the cold sore, seems to help, as does the Zovirax ointment. I also heard that holding an ice cube to my sore helped so I tried it, and it did reduce the swelling. Ointments and over-the-counter products only seem to make my cold sores worse, as does lysine. My most recent outbreak occurred after eating very hot mustard at a chinese restaurant.

I find the Zovirax ointment works well. I did try Acyclovir 200mg, but find the ointment works best for me.

I heard a medical doctor on Chicago News Radio say that taking a small dose of acyclovir once a day for a year might prevent having a cold sore for the rest of your life. I used to get terrible outbreaks about four times a year. My personal physician said that she saw no problem with prescribing the acyclovir and did. Guess what? I am overjoyed that I haven't had a cold sore in 15 years!

I am 17 and have gotten horrid canker sores on my tongue every two months for more than eight years. In the fourth grade I started getting them, which made it almost impossible to want to eat, talk, or play my trumpet. They last for more than two weeks usually and are only on my tongue. I suffer as I write this.