What Over The Counter Medicine Is Good For Cold Sores

There are oral medications and topical options as well as devices and patches that block the virus causing the cold sores and treat symptoms.

What over the counter medicine is good for cold sores.

While they will go away on their own most of us seek out the best over the counter cold sore medicine. This will help in getting rid of a cold sore fast and with much less pain. The over the counter cold sore ointment docosanol abreva may shorten the healing time of a cold sore. One study suggests that it may reduce the total time of the cold sore episode by 18 hours.

It must be used many times a day to speed the healing. This helps prevent the spread of the sores to other parts of your body. Prescription medicines for cold sores. Cold sores are painful and unsightly.

At the first sign of symptoms apply it to the affected skin as directed on the package. If you get recurring cold sore outbreaks or you re going through a particularly serious cold sore outbreak it s generally best to talk to your doctor about switching from an over the counter cold sore treatment to a prescription antiviral medicine. Use a cotton tipped swab to put medicine on a cold sore. The topical over the counter cream abreva may shorten healing time for cold sores and help relieve the itching and burning symptoms that can accompany them says dr.

List of the best over the counter medicines for cold sore treatment docosanol 10 abreva it must be applied at the first signs of a cold sore outbreak. Many of them can also help provide a sterile environment to prevent the development of more sores and promote healing. It must be used many times a day. Abreva is an over the counter topical remedy used to help speed healing and minimize pain from a cold sore.

Topical over the counter cream has not shown significant efficacy in medical studies per dr.