I'm going to talk about something now, that's a shushed up and fairly unpleasant subject. Distinctly unglamorous.
Cold sores.
They're not nice to look at and quite frankly they're not nice to have.
They hurt.
And the virus which causes them is indiscriminate in who it decides to live with. Worse? They are a form of the herpes virus, and that's a horrible thing to acknowledge. The NHS website describes them as, "Cold sores are small blisters that develop on the lips or around the mouth. They are caused by the herpes simplex virus and usually clear up without treatment within 7-10 days.
The cold sore virus is highly contagious and can be easily passed from person to person by close direct contact. After someone has contracted the virus, it remains dormant (inactive) for most of the time, but can be triggered by various factors including fatigue, stress, and an injury to the affected area. I have a university boyfriend to 'thank' for ensuring that I have to be careful with any pimples that I get on my chin, for making me petrified to kiss my newborn child when I developed a cold sore post-pregnancy, and for spending a fortune on cold sore creams.
I've never had a cold sore on the edge of my mouth, which is the conventional place, instead they manifest in extremely painful, tingling pimples on my chin area, and they really hurt. I'm actually at the point where the creams don't really work because the cold sore never comes to the surface and the cream just burns my sensitive skin, so I end up having to have a course of antiviral tablets from my G.P. which are incredibly expensive and they don't like prescribing them.
I was recently offered the chance to try a LipZor cold sore remedy device.
Essentially this little 'zapper' shines a special wavelength of light directly onto the cold sore for three minutes which stimulates your body to rapidly heal up the cold sore.
I'm not a doctor or a scientist so I don't fully understand how the light therapy works, but what I can say is that it has worked brilliantly for me. The device should be used as soon as the tingling begins by holding the open end which contains the LED against the area affected, pressing the button and keeping the device in place until the beeper signals the end of the treatment. Twelve hours later repeat the process. For most people these two treatments should be enough to stimulate healing, but if the cold sore appears to progress after the second treatment it is best to treat four more times a day for two days.
I normally have two tubes of Zovirax on the go; one in my handbag and one in the house, to tend to the many cold sores that I get throughout the year (mostly caused by stress) and to keep the pain at bay until I can get to the doctor. However since I received this a few months ago, I haven't bought one tube. In fact, I couldn't even tell you if I still have the two tubes or where they may be. And I haven't needed to use the LipZor more than twice on the three occasions when I've had a cold sore develop.
The LipZor costs £27.95 which seems a large initial outlay, but when a 2g tube of Zovirax costs around £4.00 and need to be bought repeatedly, the value of the LipZor is even more obvious. And it is even more convenient as it is always readily available in the house, unlike tubes of cold sore cream!
I've got one LipZor to give away to one lucky reader, please fill in the Rafflecopter form below to be in with a chance of winning.
I received this product for the purpose of this review. My opinion, and lack of cold sores, is honest and unbiased. Well as unbiased as it can be considering I've not had a cold sore thanks to this product!
my GP advised me against Zovirax as it can feed the coldsore – I just dab with witch hazel now
I remember us talking about that before and I tried it, unfortunately it didn't work for me. This however works a treat!
Oh this sounds amazing – I get multiple clusters on my lips but I've recently started getting them on my scalp which can only usually be treated by tablets. I will definitely be looking for one of these!
My simplest health remedy is "don't kiss the boys as you get cold sores" least that's what my Mum used to tell me 🙂
I'm always blessed with one when I go on holiday it seems winding down & sunshine are my triggers!
Fortunately none of the children have had any yet.
That does sound like a really nifty device! I hate cold sores, don't get them often but always good to have something in store to deal with them.
I always seem to get them when I am under stress so my only remedy is to not get stress of buy you will be buying that cold sore cream.
EUGH Plagued by coldsores think everyone would love this
Wow, sounds great. Simplest remedy…rest…if only it were as easy to achieve!
My mum used to tell us to put toothpaste on a cold sore and leave on overnight, never worked for me.
Quark on sunburn – better than After sun gels
The simplest and yet quite effective health treatment I can recommend is for headaches! I went through a period of suffering really bad tension headaches and was constantly taking paracetemol, which I wasn't happy about, but I was introduced to Peppermint Oil and Tiger Balm. Simply massage some on your temples and it really does work!
salt water wash for mouth ulcers – if your brave enough!
the simplest health remedy I know – eat a healthy varied diet with plenty fruit and veg hopefully helping to keep you well.
Definitely definitely going for this one. I have suffered with cold sores ever since I was a small child. I get them when I am run down and can't really do anything to prevent them other than Zovirax when I feel the tingle (which sometimes doesn't work). In general though, my best health remedy is flat coke for an upset stomach – works wonders!!!
Liquorice tea for a sore throat – especially now it's easily available in supermarkets. It really does help too.
Fingers crossed I get lucky with this – Shaun gets horrid coldsores, me lesser so – this sounds great!
My Dad (and now me) swears by Boots cold sore lotion – we get everyone who comes to visit to bring us four or five bottles!
I don't know of any
My uncle used to buy warts and then bury them to get rid of them… I don't know if it works on cold sores but Car (5) is the only one who gets them in our house!
BNM
Tea Tree oil – seems to be good for almost anything!
Mine would be using a credit card to remove a splinter!
This sounds great,bright sunlight brings me out in one! My natural remedy is aloe vera gel,it's so soothing on your skin and great for sunburn.
Can only think of local honey to keep heyfever at bay.
Honey – for pretty much everything!
Dont kiss the hubby when he has a break out. worked for me so far. x
Have been having cold sores since my husband left me with 3 young children.. Doctors say it’s stress related….. Tried honey and Zovirax, but nothing helps