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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
cold sores
cold sores
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kudzurunner
598 posts
Jul 22, 2009
9:30 AM
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Since there's a thread on canker sores, I thought there should be a specific thread for cold sores, a.k.a. fever blisters.
I've had a fair bit of experience with these. They're caused, as far as I know, by the herpes simplex virus. Once you get this, it stays in you, but it doesn't become active very often--or at least it doesn't in my case.
I used to get a cold sore on my lower lip roughly once every six months. Precipitating factors are stress, exhaustion, dry lips (in the winter, for example), and any of those things mixed with lots and lots of harp playing. This is another way of saying "the road life," which is to say that I often got them when I was touring, or about to tour.
Prevention is best. Get sleep. Take vitamins. Drink water. Use Chapstick or Blistex.
Signs that you're about to get a cold sore: very slight itchyness on your lip. Swollen lymph node up under your jaw, more or less under the place where the cold sore is going to erupt. The lymph node is a terrific early warning sign, if you learn to look for it.
What medicines work? I've tried most of them.
Acyclovir certainly does. It requires a prescription in the US, but not in Holland. It comes in two forms: ointment and pills. Generally the pills are better, but I used the ointment when I was in Holland last fall and it worked well.
Abreva is an OTC medicine available in the US. I've had mixed results.
Many years ago, somebody on Harp-L told me about Tea Tree Oil. Yes! You need to get the real stuff, which can be found online or in good health food stores. It is a powerful, naturally-occurring antiviral/antifungal/antibacterial. It has the texture and somewhat the smell of turpentine. The smell isn't bad or good, just.....memorable. The moment you sense you're developing a cold sore, pat it on. Pat it on every hour. One small drop on your finger will spread, and is enough. Not for internal use!
Blistex and that yellow greasy gunk called Carmex are MUCH less effective. Don't expect them to help.
If you're developing a cold sore, speed is of the essence. The MOMENT you feel that telltale itchiness, check the lymph node under your jaw. If it's a little swollen, you need to run out and get some Acyclovir, Abreva, and/or Tea Tree Oil.
The key thing is to prevent blisters--any at all, but especially large ones--from forming.
Once they've formed, you're doomed to have some sort of sore, which will only heal by developing a scab. It's that process, the healing-from-a-scab process, which gets in the way of your harp playing.
More than once during my professional life I've been forced to play gigs with an active or healing cold sore on my lower lip. It's not fun, but it can be done. In most cases the pain wasn't that bad--i.e., it didn't make me cringe and didn't really impact my playing. But it's certainly possibly that all that rubbing will make the healing wound somewhat worse. I've played under such conditions, too. I played my one and only tour of Australia--one week--on an open cold sore. Drinking helped.
Any other remedies? What's your experience been with the three medicines I've mentioned?
When I was touring with "Big River," I tried putting something called "Second Skin" (or "New Skin"?) on my lip. Basically it was airplane glue of a medical grade. A very, very bad idea. I was picking little bits of hardened plastic out of my lip for two weeks afterwards.
One final note: I no longer get cold sores once every six months. Sometimes I'll go a whole year, or more. Living a clean, happy, sensible life, with good food, lots of exercise, and enough sleep makes a difference.
Last Edited by on Jul 22, 2009 9:32 AM
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harpcrab
16 posts
Jul 22, 2009
10:23 AM
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IF you are in a stage where you are getting these repeatedly, you may want to consider taking acyclovir (Zovirax) daily, or even twice daily as a preventive. My wife used to get at least one a month in the summer (sun exposure). She started taking Zovirax 400mg bid May thru Sept., and I don't think she has had one for several years, or if she does get one it only lasts a day or so and is minimal. Now she only takes them preventivly after an "event"- such as a day in the sun, being around a bonfire, extra stress etc. Made a world of difference. Occasional headache was the only side effect, but worth the effort.
Like Adam said- if you take it immediatly whey you notice the prodromal stage (tingling sensation) it is much more effective. The virus lives in your nerve cell forever, and is just waiting on a stimulus or dip in your immune system to flair up- no cure, just prevention as best as you can.
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nacoran
125 posts
Jul 22, 2009
12:21 PM
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And don't share your harmonicas!!!
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