First aid question

[stretch3144]

Are there any natural ie plant cures for coldsores?
I've had a recurring one for the past couple of months, but off-the-shelf medicines do not seem very effective.

[deenewcastle]

I've been plagued by cold sores at my job, although much of it I'm sure is stress or sudden weather change induced, but a while ago someone mentioned a herbal remedy called Echinacea. They are a one a day tablet and cost about £1.50 for a month supply. I don't know how they work, and I can't recommend them, so you would need to do your own research before choosing to take them. What I can say is that as a factual statement, I've not had one cold sore since I started on them

[Scots_Charles_River]

Witch Hazel ? Although the bottle says to be careful with broken skin.

Nick

[soloman]

Im lucky not to suffer them myself but shmbo often has quite severe cold sores.
The item she uses is made up by the owner of mystic moments in aberdour fife (green witch)and she swears by it.
I think its a blend of natural oils etc and probably avalable from her website,if you have any trouble getting hold of it pm me and we will send you some.
No connection with above shop etc.
Soloman.

[nicodiemus]

They use Dandelion sap for warts. It might work OK on coldsores, but I couldn't recommend it until I check out the implications of the sap and / or get a doctorate.

Edit - Or was that milkweed?

Edit 2 - It was milkweed!

[tjwuk]

You could try Willow bark. Try chewing then rubbing the mush onto the sores, its slightly antiseptic besides the analgesic effects.

No good though if your allergic to aspirin products!!

Could also try, blackberry leaves. Just a thought more than anything written down anywhere. Does stop bleeding gums, and very drying.

[coln18]

Batrams encylopedia of herbal medicine mentions the following,

balm tea,melissa officinalis is active against the herpes simplex virus. Garlic leaves - ramsons, macerated in vodka for 7 days, 1-2 teaspoons in water, 3 times a day.

garlic, echinacea, aloe vera, yarrow, elderflowers, burdock, wild indigo and st johns wort are also anti viral and can be used..

colin....

[Toddy]

Many of the essential oils help a great deal with this type of recurring sore.
Mix a little honey with tea tree oil, or rose, or myrrh or even lavender and use it as a balm.

Generally they erupt when someone is under the weather or stressed. Melissa is a wonderfully soothing tea, so is blackcurrant.

cheers,
Toddy

[Broch]

As I’m sure you are aware, cold sores are caused by a virus in a similar way to veruccas and warts; in the case of cold sores it’s the herpes simplex virus. Viral infections are notoriously difficult to treat and can re-occur because they have not been completely eradicated.

Plants known to include antiviral properties include garlic, elder flower and elder berries, blackcurrant, and lemon balm (I’m sure there are more but I concentrate on ones I have). The latter is reported to be effective against the Herpes virus. An infusion mixed with honey will give both anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. The effectiveness of these types of treatment varies between people and I confess I’ve never had to test lemon balm on a cold sore.

Incidentally, the antiviral properties of blackcurrant and elder have been used to treat flu for hundreds of years – maybe we should start harvesting for the expected pandemic

Cheers,

Broch