Complaints & connections · borters.ch
The virus stays in the body for life — outbreaks are annoying but harmless.
Also known as: cold sores · herpes simplex · fever blisters · lip blisters
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Most people carry the virus, often since childhood; it lies dormant in a nerve ganglion and reactivates with sun, fever, stress, exhaustion or during menstruation. An outbreak is almost always announced by tightness, tingling or itching in the same spot — those who know it can start an antiviral cream early, which shortens the episode. The blisters are contagious while weeping: no kissing, no shared dishes, wash hands. Keeping distance matters especially with newborns and people with atopic eczema, for whom infection can be dangerous. See a doctor for very frequent outbreaks or if the eye is involved.
At the first tingling and tightness, cool it, keep the spot dry, do not touch it, use your own towel.
The antiviral creams and tablets work in the first hours, while the virus is still multiplying. Anyone with a pack at home gains exactly those hours.
Strong sun, a feverish infection, menstruation, lack of sleep, stress, dental work. For most it is two or three — and then one can prevent instead of react.
Ultraviolet light is one of the most common triggers. A stick with a sun protection factor in the jacket pocket is the simplest lever for mountain sport and summer holidays.
Wash hands after touching: the virus in the eye is a serious matter, and newborns are especially sensitive. During the active phase no kissing of infants and no shared glasses.
From about six outbreaks a year there is a daily preventive intake over months. That is worth a conversation before settling in with it.
The tingling comes six to twenty-four hours before the blister — exactly in that window aciclovir cream and tablets work, and barely afterwards. Untreated, the episode lasts seven to ten days. More than ninety out of a hundred adults carry the virus; it sits for life in a nerve ganglion and reactivates with sun, fever, stress or the cycle. It is mainly the fluid in the blister that is infectious.
Aciclovir inhibits the virus from multiplying — it only works while the virus is multiplying, so during the tingling before the blister and in the first hours. Once the blister is there, it shortens the episode by less than a day. Tablets work better than cream, because they bring the drug into the skin through the blood. No treatment reaches the virus in the nerve ganglion; the zinc and lysine connection is traditional and has been examined in smaller studies.
Six to forty-eight hours before the blister: tightness, itching, burning or a numb feeling at the same spot on the lip every time. Most recognise it reliably after the second time.
Redness, then a group of blisters, then bursting and weeping, then a crust, then healing without a scar. The weeping phase is the most catching.
The first infection mostly hits small children: many painful blisters and sores throughout the mouth, swollen gums, fever, refusal to drink. Afterwards the virus stays silent in a nerve node.
Blisters at the eye with redness and disturbed vision, on a finger after nail biting, or spread widely over skin with eczema: these three pictures belong looked at quickly.
Fever, sweating and faster breathing clearly raise the need. Drinking enough keeps the mucus thin and the circulation steady — in children and older people it is the most important point of all.
With low levels airway infections occur somewhat more often; correcting a deficiency makes sense, a high single dose during the infection does not act on it.
Needed by the defence cells. For lozenges at the start of a cold there are hints of a slightly shortened duration; at a high dose over months zinc lowers copper.
Antibodies and defence cells are protein. After several days with little appetite it is worth at least keeping the protein up — soup with egg, quark, yoghurt, lentils.
The classic remedy for it: 1–3 g a day for prevention, with inconsistent results in studies — some showed fewer outbreaks, others nothing. The thinking behind it is the ratio to arginine, which the virus needs to multiply.
The other side of the same reckoning: arginine-rich preparations — sports and erection products — are linked by some with outbreaks. This is not proven, but it explains why lysine gets taken against it.
As a cream with zinc oxide from outside, studied in small trials with a shorter duration. Swallowed and without a deficiency nothing is shown for cold sores.
Clearly worthwhile and well studied when deficient; fewer data for the wider uses. Fat-soluble — check blood levels at high doses.
Stress is the best-known trigger, and it works through dampened defences — the virus is not newly caught, it was there all along. Sun, fever and exhaustion act through the same route.
Many women get the outbreak regularly just before the period — hence the old name “menstrual herpes”. Knowing the pattern allows treatment to start at the first tingle instead of the first blister.
Studied at 1–3 g lysine a day for prevention. Some studies found fewer outbreaks, others no difference. The triggers sun, stress and infection are better established than any diet.
A study with 3 % propolis ointment found faster healing than with aciclovir cream. The study has remained a single one — this is not confirmed.
Traditionally used for relief. It does not belong on the broken area — pure essential oils irritate open skin.