Cold sores are the absolute worst!

Let's talk about cold sores. I don't know how they happen to other people other then what I have found through research, but I have had them since i was a child. When I was young they seemed to only occur while I was sick or before I got sick. As I have gotten older, the arginine triggers have become more sensitive and my newest and most devastating trigger - the sun. I love the sun, but sometimes I forget my sunblock lip balm and if I get burned badly enough, at least one cold sore is almost mandatory. I think it really has more to do with immune function overall, and due to my chronic illness, I have a hard time keeping mine as strong as I would like...

So, last weekend my boyfriend and I attended a regional burn (for non-burners, these are held in many states as a ramp up to Burning Man or for some of us, the only burn we can attend), and that means extreme camping for days on end. I promptly forgot my sunblock lip balm as we had planned to leave a day later then we did, but the excitement of the upcoming burn was too much - had to go early. Realizing my folly too late, I busted out the coconut oil I had packed for seasoning my pans and slathered it on as much as I could while still having tons of fun with my friends. Needless to say, I failed to save my lips from the worst burning ever. Three days in the high desert will do that to a person. Upon my return home, my lips were nothing more then giant scabs and within a few hours, that evil tingling and itching began. I ran to the medicine cabinet and squeezed what little Abreva I had left on my face and waited.

Due to the extreme damage to my lips, there was no escaping the outbreak, and unlike my normal ones it was not one large sore, but a million tiny ones. The Abreva was actually not helping much, though usually it does work pretty well. In desperation I began extensive research on the subject of naturally ridding myself of this beast on my face. As I said, Abreva can work, but it is not the cheapest thing to acquire and being broke, my kitchen yielded some gems! Also, I prefer to remove as many big pharma concoctions from my life as possible!

After reading many articles, threads, blogs, wiki's, and more I finally found a good way to rid myself of cold sores naturally! These may not work for everyone, but they worked for me!

• Fresh Garlic - to begin with I read many articles stating that fresh garlic crushed worked great on cold sores. I take out one piece and slice it off, then proceeded to score and smush it as much as I could before applying it to my lip. Let it sting, because that is the healing at work, but don't hold it on too long or you may burn your skin around the sore. I did about 10 seconds per slice.
• Apple Cider Vinegar - there are two ways to go about it, drink it and apply it. Most vinegar is to be avoided during an outbreak, but acv is especially alkalizing, so apply a cotton ball soaked for about 10 seconds and let the sting fade! Drinking it will help your immune system!
• Honey - apply honey after your acv sting has faded to protect and cleanse the area. honey is an all natural antibiotic and when the sores scab up, the honey will help contain the infection and heal your lip faster.

Here I am on day 7 with only a little scab on my lip! Apply these three things as many times a day as you can and you can naturally cure a cold sore! The rumor is that some of these methods will also drive away the infection for longer and if you drink your acv every day, your immune system cannot be beat. Also, remember that you can also add some L-Lysine or Lysine rich foods into your diet in order to beat off the arginine attacks, but avoid nuts - they are all arginine, all the time!

Stay healthy, my friends <3 Psynn!