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Cold Sores and Isoprophyl alcohol

Submitted by Wil

When you first feel the tingle put on 70% Isoprophyl alcohol right away this will stop the cold sore from forming quick!

Visitors comments

This isnt true Comments By: Anon on 2004-08-16

This isnt true I done it and now my mouth is blistered big time. I had to got to the Dr. It looks like a gaint bump hanging on my lip.

Isoprophyl alcohol Comments By: Chrissy age 14 on 2004-08-25

Alcohol does work, when I first got my fever blister I poped all the little blisters and then I put rubbing alcohol on it like a bunch of times a day and now its a scab. It worked with in one day, but don't pop it because I'm lucky it didn't spread.

It worked like a Champ. Comments By: Canibus on 2004-12-06

This is probably the best remedy, however, I also used petroleum jelly to seal in the alcohol to make it most effective... The way I applied the alcohol was with a Q-Tip, constantly over a 2 day period. Great remedy.....

yes that does work however .. Isoprophy alchohol is poisonous Comments By: io on 2005-01-25

I have found this to work in my experimental days but I'd be afraid to recommend this since it's poisonous .. I found that alcohol (sake, wiskey, etc - anything really strong and not sugary) works almost equally well..

definitely works Comments By: anon on 2005-02-01

yep, i've been doing this for a while--it definitely works--they won't get any worse once you start putting alcohol on, just make sure you do it like 5 times a day with a q-tip and put on some polysporin or antibacterial creme after.

Tried and True Remedy Comments By: RJMcMillan on 2005-03-04

I've been using rubbing alcohol on cold sores for years. As soon as I feel one coming, I start dabbing alcohol on it as many times a day as I can. Usually, withing 2 days it's completly gone, if it even comes at all.

I Love This Techniqe Comments By: Anon on 2008-04-26

I have had a cold sore for almost 2 months every time one would go away another would pop up, so i finally decided to try doing something, and i love it worked so much quicker than just letting it heal on its own, id say maybe 2-4 days, i would put alcohol on it to dry it out and kill the virus on the outter part, and then put abreva on it after that and id repeat this 5-6 times throughout the day and then at night clean it with alcohol and then using a "true" aloe vera plant i have i would coat it with that, makin sure it was caked on there and it healed so much quicker alcohol does work, but not alone.

Valtrex is the only think that works Comments By: herpetologist on 2008-06-16

Whereas cold sores used to last for 2 weeks, but taking the two-shot Valtrex treatment AS SOON AS YOU FEEL THE TINGLE and long before the blisters form, you can have your cold sore NEVER APPEAR. Amazing and well worth the $40 the Valtrex costs.

alcohol does work Comments By: Anon on 2008-11-09

I have been using alcohol for a few years now on cold sores and it does work. I also use alot of chapstick with aloe & sunscreen in it everyday to help prevent them. I only have a few outbreaks a year.

ANYTHING THAT DRIES Comments By: Hank on 2008-12-17

I have about 2 or 3 outbreaks a year and usually one very large sore. The Amish natural cure for them is Apple cider Vinegar - which dries them really well. Anything that keeps them dry will make it quicker - but nothing cures them!

Alcohol Comments By: Tyler on 2009-10-05

yes alcohol works! but you just cant only use alcohol on cold sores, you need a cream like abreva which works really well. kill the germs with the alcohol then apply abreva or some kind or cream to help help. do this about 3-5 times a day. also very important, do not touch your cold sore, IT WILL SPREAD! clean your hands through out the day and use hand sanitizer. do this and in about 2-4 days your cold core will be gone.

AMAZING blog on isopropyl alcohol killing a cold sore Comments By: Danny on 2009-10-13

I ran across this blog a few weeks ago talking about the prolonged use of isopropyl alcohol zapping out a cold sore and tried the treatment. With out a doubt, it’s the most effective program I came across - period. The blog is called "How to kill a cold sore in one day" by Lab Rat v-Ki-ras2. Here are two links to the same blog.

http://cureacoldsore.blogspot.com/

http://killacoldsore.blogspot.com/

don pop it Comments By: rtizzle on 2009-12-15

when i first got my freakin blister or cold sore, i put alcohol on it n it didnt work so i poped the lil blisters n some how spread it to the left side of my mouth wich now look freakin horrible! i don kno wat to do, im on my 5th day with this

Isoprophyl Comments By: Jeff on 2010-02-12

It works Awesome. I had a big one come on - it would have been on me for at least 2 weeks or more. Abreva cream just couldnt do it for me so I tried the Isoprophyl - had nothing to loose anyway. It worked so well - at day 2 it has a little scab and clearing up! all without the "ugly painful phase". What I did was use isoprophyl with Q tip then when it was dry use abreva. I repeated this process constantly 6-7 times daily.

THANK-YOU FOR A GREAT POST

works for me Comments By: anon on 2010-10-17

when i get cold sores, i wet a washcloth under very hot water and press it to the cold sore. this opens the blister and all the fluid comes out. then i dab on alcohol and it dries straight up. within 2 days i'm back to normal

It's magical! Comments By: mAgIcMaN on 2010-10-25

This really does work, I've been doing it for years. I haven't had a cold sore in three years because as soon as I feel it coming I put on alcohol and it doesn't form; I have one right now but I'm confident it'll be gone before long. The more frequently you put alcohol on it the better.

Abreva + Alcohol Comments By: Anon on 2011-01-30

I actually discovered this (using Isopropyl alcohol) on my own and it was amazing how quickly it made my cold sore disappear. They used to last about 10 days minimum, but this pretty much eradicated it right away! I still use Abreva with it as well.

Trilex and alcohol Comments By: Kristy on 2011-02-10

I live and die by Trilex. I use to have cold sores at least 3-4 times a year, but have only had 2 in the last three years. Trilex is a herbal suppliment that you take immediately once you feel the tingle of the sore. You take 1-2 pills up to three times a day. If you catch if early usually it never blooms. If you let it start blooming this definitely still helps with shortening the life of the sore. If that happens this is where I use the alcohol or campho phenique to dry it out. You can find Trilex on naturalwellbeing.com. I high recommend it!

More about alcohol Comments By: Joe on 2011-05-10

BTW The alcohol doesn't work by just drying out the sore - lots of less toxic things can be used for that - like witch hazel for instance.

By soaking the sore with isopropyl alcohol for an extended period its absorbed into the lowest layers of the skin which literally kills the virus where its breeding.

For all the prescription medication users... What happens if you don't get the medication applied right at the first tingle? It doesn't work so well after that short window does it? Ever go to bed without feeling the tingle and wake up with a surprise? Thats pretty common I think.

Once the sore erupts things like lemon balm (melissa extract) have been shown in studies to be at least as effective as any expensive medication in shortening the duration of a cold sore. I'm sticking with isopropyl although i'm looking into grain alcohol (90+ % ethanol) as a less toxic alternative.

The KEY is PROLONGED exposure. Comments By: Joe on 2011-04-20

As mentioned somewhere above everything you need to know about treating cold sores with rubbing alcohol is found here

http://cureacoldsore.blogspot.com/

The KEY is PROLONGED exposure. The whole idea is to kill the infection using the alcohol. Its not very effective to do this by dabbing some on a couple times a day. 45 minutes STRAIGHT!!!! Thats what is required. By the next day all you will have left is skin abrasion which will quickly start healing. You should never get to the painful pustule phase. Once its dead i help the healing phase with lysine + and aloe.

cold sores Comments By: Shawna Hardy on 2011-06-05

i get them from the sun, and i figured out if you take acyclovir before you go out in the sun or if you feel one coming on it wont progress. I however did not feel this last one coming on till it was already there. i have had them for years and have never used alcohol on them. This time I did and it worked so well. it has dried up in 3 days and is almost gone. Sorry for all who have to deal with this it sucks! I work in healthcare so, I have to stay home during this. It makes summer really hard. The beast advice I can give is that if you get cold sores from the sun, take Acyclovir before you go out and use sunblock.