Eating Raw Garlic For Cold Sores, It Seemed To Work For Me

[Jingthing]

Cold sores in the mouth, lips, face, sometimes eyes are a kind of herpes. Most of humanity has the virus dormant in their body, once you have it, you have it for life. It stays dormant and erupts sometimes for different reasons. Then you've got a cold sore.

Well, this week I was out and about and the biggest cold sore I ever had erupted on my central inner lip. It was so big and ugly. OMG. So anyway, it was so big in such a central eating place that I checked the net on whether I should pop it. Absolutely not! That's because its full of live virus so if you pop it, you spread it. However within a few hours the thing just blew up on itself due to eating friction. It left a rather larger irritated area.

Anyway, I immediately bought some antiviral cream but didn't use religiously 5 times a day as suggested. What I did do instead is to start to eat RAW garlic.

2 large cloves, chopped up, and left to sit for 10 minutes to release the needed chemical. I learned later don't chew the garlic if you want to avoid mouth smell, just swallow the chopped garlic like a bunch of pills instead. Don't take on an empty stomach!

I happen to love garlic anyway but for those who hate it, even if you do just swallow the sliced garlic you will really feel it in your system, so this isn't for everyone. Just for people who can at least tolerate lots of garlic.

Anyway, the popped monster sore did spread and there were about 3-4 new small sores starting.

But here's the weird part, the garlic appears to have majorly suppressed the development of these new sores, and it was limited to 3-4 anyway (after the explosion, I expected more).

Four days into it, I'm keeping on the garlic and don't see any point in using the cream at all.

I have had outbreaks like this generally every few years for decades now. I never tried raw garlic before. I SEEMS to have worked really well for me. So just sharing so you might want to try it yourself the next time you feel a sore popping out.

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jingthing

[LucidLucifer]

I'm glad to hear garlic worked for you. I get the occasional cold sore so I will bare your advice in mind, very useful and definitely worth a try....

I just hope nobody reads your very graphic account while eating....

[Jingthing]

I happened to see a British show called Embarrassing Bodies where they were talking about cold sores. They didn't mention garlic but did say they didn't think the antiviral creams were very effective. You're supposed to use the creams at the first sign of an eruption, the tingling phase, even BEFORE they manifest themselves. People who have had cold sores before will know what that feels like. They also said what works better is an oral antiviral medication, also important to take at the tingling stage, which they suggested people should keep in stock at home to take at the first sign of tingling. They didn't mention the name of this oral medication. So, what medication were they referring to?

BTW, on the garlic, I have been eating the two cloves DAILY, one dose with breakfast. That seems to be plenty!

Edited June 16, 2012 by Jingthing

[LucidLucifer]

The active ingredient in all the creams is aciclovir. That's the generic name, maybe that can be obtained to take orally?

Thankfully mine are quite minor compared to what you described, and maybe only once a year. The creams do the job for me.

[Boycie]

Jingthing and LucidLucifer forget the garlic and creams. Get yourself some Zovirax 400mg tablets from your local chemist.

Take 1 tablet, twice a day. Stops the itching and the flaring up for me. Within a few days to a week, mine have disappeared. Also suffered with them for years, before discovering the tablets in Thailand.

Hope it works for you too.

Dr.Boycie

Edited June 17, 2012 by Boycie

[Dork]

Jingthing and LucidLucifer forget the garlic and creams. Get yourself some Zovirax 400mg tablets from your local chemist.

Take 1 tablet, twice a day. Stops the itching and the flaring up for me. Within a few days to a week, mine have disappeared. Also suffered with them for years, before discovering the tablets in Thailand.

Hope it works for you too.

Dr.Boycie

Absolutely correct! I've suffered from these dam_n things since I was a small child and used to be prescribed the cream which is fairly close to useless. Oral Aciclovir changed this affliction from a real nuisance to a minor problem for me. Just a couple of things to add.

Zovirax is the original brand name for Aciclovir (as mentioned in an earlier post) but the patent has expired so there are now lots of generics available which are identical but cheaper. Every pharmacy in Thailand stocks this stuff.

It is absolutely essential that you start treatment as soon as you feel the tingling, hence the advice to keep stock at home (& in yr travel kit). Even half an hour can make a difference. If you hit them hard & fast it is possible to stop them breaking out in a blister so that they are barely noticeable & completely gone in 2-3 days.

I'm pretty sure that the recommended treatment is more like 5 times a day than twice daily. My own treatment is 2 x 400mg for the first dose, then another 400mg every 2-3 hours during the first day continuing with 5 times daily for the next 3-4 days. I must stress though that this dosage is something I have devised by myself by trial & error and it works for me without any side effects. I'm not recommending anyone else follow the same regimen without getting proper medical advice beforehand.

[marshbags]

At the first sign of any sensation on my lips relating to possible cold sores I rub some after shave / e.d. toilet into them and it usually prevents any full blown sores happening.

Just before bedtime as well.

I have also used it when any have physically started to develop and they have dried up and has stopped them going any further / spreading.

You will get a fair bit of stinging mind but it is worth it.

marshbags

Edited June 21, 2012 by marshbags

[Lazy Sod]

I've suffered from 2-3 big outbreaks of cold sores a year since I was a kid and can strongly recommend the newer drug Valtrex. Works much better than Zovirax for me. Available at most of the big chemists here. Amazing results for me - always stops the attack. Like Zovirax it works best if taken as soon as possible at the tingling phase, but I've also experienced cold sore swellings reduce and disappear in 2-3 hours when I've missed the tingling phase.

[Maestro]

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