Are there any natural ie plant cures for coldsores

[orheptalo]

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.

 

[Toddy]

People used to use mint oil for that....some folks used to swear by toothpaste when I was younger....but I believe that tea tree oil is now the favoured.

No idea if either work, thankfully I've never been smit by the cold sore.
I hope yours clears up quickly.

 

[Pattree]

@Toddy Are their any natural anti-virals?
Seriously interested!

 

[Broch]

There are a number of native plants used historically and currently that are reputed to have antiviral properties, including:

agrimony
hemp agrimony
perforate st john's wort
sea buckthorn
selfheal
white bryony (toxic)

Self heal has been used on cold sores but I agree with Toddy, tea tree oil appears to be the current go-to cure especially antifungal (but not native of course).

 

[Pattree]

Thanks.
I have white bryony growing out of a garden wall. It’s over now of course.
Which part contains the active ingredient?

 

[Broch]

Thanks.
I have white bryony growing out of a garden wall. It’s over now of course.
Which part contains the active ingredient?

Forgive me Pattree, I have studied medicinal plant use for a long time but I am not qualified to advise on how you use medicinal herbs so, whereas I am happy to tell you what plants to investigate, I leave it to you to determine risk and method.

I occasionally break the rule for benign applications.

 

[Toddy]

Liquorice root and garlic too are anti viral.

Thing is though, it's the application that rather matters.

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks.
I have white bryony growing out of a garden wall. It’s over now of course.
Which part contains the active ingredient?

Are you a qualified herbalist?
White briony is toxic, unless you know what you are doing and the dosage, I'd recommend give that a miss.
Try a dab of clove oil on the sore.
According to my book The Herbal Drugstore, Clove, (syzygium aromaticum)
In lab studies, clove was used in combination with acyclovir.
The drug plus herb combination performed better than either treatment given alone.
Caution, do not take clove oil internally.
Echinacea 60 drops of tincture a day
Liquorice is also a potent anti inflammatory. 3 cups of tea per day, or up to six 400- to - 500 mg capsules per day.
Caution, do not use if you have heart or liver disease, high blood pressure, on diuretics or pregnant.
Mullion can also be of use, make a compress of cold mullion tea and apply with clean cloth as needed
St John's wort, 300mg in capsules 3 times a day or drink 1 teasp of of dried herb made into tea , 3 times a day, use some of the cold tea as a compress.
Hope that's helpful.

 

[TLM]

Apparently Nigella sativa is somewhat antiviral, seeds and oil.

 

[Pattree]

@Woody girl
Yes that was helpful in that I shall tuck the information away safe.
I’m not actually concerned about cold sores but very interested in novel antibiotics and antivirals generally. I suspect that my children and grandchildren will need them much more than I do but it’s good to have the information. Thank you.

 

[Toddy]

In the UK we're generally good about antibiotics. Can't say that for other places though.
At the end of the day their overuse has meant resistance grows and their efficacy lessens year on year

I have an old book called Hygiene for Nurses....from the days before antibiotics and when infection was actually understood enough that they could just be really, really effective in their cleaning and best practice.

We're so lazy now.

 

[Pattree]

I think in the UK were are tightening up.
Unfortunately last century our meat industry pumped animals full of the most effective antibiotics that we had at the time and promoted resistance very quickly.
One of the problems is that the speed at which a bacterium achieves resistance has increased. The fastest changing ones obviously predominate so we need more new antibiotics quicker. I’m sure that the botanical world has much to offer.

Cold sores may not be threatening or long lasting but they can have a demoralising effect particularly on young people, in that they are temporarily disfiguring;
I don’t know how prevalent they are but I don’t see any concerted effort to eradicate or even address the issue.

 

[Toddy]

I was told that the herpes virus' once in someone's system cannot be eradicated. That's why chickenpox and shingles are an issue.
I was 29 before I caught chickenpox and was really unwell with it; I admit that I dread the thought of it coming back as shingles.

The cold sore virus is another one that seems to be ineradicable, so best we can do is treat the blisters or better yet the tingling that indicates the blisters are coming.
Something triggers it, but giving the nerves a jolt seems to make them settle it down again.
Thus the 'toothpaste' trick, or the zovirax stuff that the Chemists sell. The tea tree and the mint kind of do the same thing.
I have no idea why they work, why they don't work for everyone or why they do work for so many

M

 

[Kadushu]

I've found 2 things help cold sores.
1. Don't scratch or squeeze them, however tempting. This can take a fair bit of will power because they are very irritating.

2. Dab on alcohol. Soak a small piece of tissue paper and hold it against the cold sore until you get bored or it feels like the alcohol has evaporated. Keep these to hand so you can repeat the process whenever it gets too itchy.

This doesn't irradicate the cold sore but does turn it into a non event and reduces healing time in my experience. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Woody girl]

I can recommend the book I use a lot.
The Herbal Drugstore.
ISBN 1-57954-532-7 Published by Rodale, written by Linda b white, and Steven Foster, reviewed by Dr Ian Banks.

It's the best one I have on using natural methods to treat ailments of all sorts. If you are interested in natural medicine, it's a must have on your bookcase.

I've recently had a nasty cold, all the symptoms were of the new floo that is going round but not so bad. Testing said I didn't have the floo, so I treated it from the book. Less than a week later, despite a bit of goo on the chest, I'm feeling spot on again.
Manuka honey and some extra b vits have sorted me out well, and mullion tea is fighting the goop nicely. It normaly goes on for weeks, and when something like this goes to my chest.. which it always does, I normaly need a course of antibiotics. This time I'm not needing any.
Mind you, I've spent a fortune on manuka honey, there is a shed load of garlic in my diet atm! Including 5 one a day mega stregth capsules. Luckily garlic overdose isn't a thing!
Cold sores are a nightmare. Treat with zorvirax at the first tingle, and often they can be prevented or at least minimalised. Often stress will bring them on, as that can also affect your immunity. So building up your immunity to colds etc can be a useful thing to do, especially if you are susceptible to cold sores.
I start a course of Echinacea every autumn to build up immunity, this autumn, I forgot, and ended up with a nasty cold, first one in many years.
I've started a medicinal garden, and get a lot of herbs that i need, but don't have, from Neil's yard. They are very helpful over the phone.

 

[crosslandkelly]

A dab of aftershave on the coldsore before it erupts, works for me.

 

[Woody girl]

A dab of aftershave on the coldsore before it erupts, works for me.

Old Spice or Brute?

 

[Poacherman]

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.

Iff your anywhere near Brazil I guess u could make cocaine from the cocaine plant

 

[gg012]

Iff your anywhere near Brazil I guess u could make cocaine from the cocaine plant

I hadn't heard that cocaine was a treatment for cold sores

Sent from underground

 

[demented dale]

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