It starts with an itchy, tingly or burning feeling… and then the dreaded cold sore arrives. The hallmark of a common virus that potentially impacts 80 percent of the United States, cold sores can appear out of nowhere and look like small blisters, which eventually crust over. You can get them anywhere on your face, although they typically appear around the mouth, and unfortunately they can be unsightly. So, what can you do about them?
“If you’re in the first five days of having a cold sore, then you can take a medication called valtrex” explains dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne, founder of bespoke prescription skincare company Klira. Available on prescription, it’s an antiviral medicine that’s available in tablet, liquid, ointment or cream form.
If you’re not up for taking tablets, or you’ve already passed day five of cold sore hell, then a cream version (other names include aciclovir and Zovirax) can be applied to help take it down. “I would also typically suggest placing a cold sore patch over the cold sore,” says Dr Craythorne, like Mederma’s. “It does two things: helps it heal a little more quickly because it’s hydrocolloid [meaning it’s breathable and actively helps heal the skin], but it also hides the area, so it doesn’t look quite so unsightly.” These patches also reduce the risk of transferring it to someone else, too.
In severe cases—like if a cold sore has spread over the face, mixed with eczema, or made traveled to a different part of the body, then Dr Craythorne recommends seeing a professional: “We can either inject aciclovir or, sometimes have to give a steroid to calm down the immune response.”
