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Witch Hazel for Cold sores

A wonderfully simple home remedy for cold sores (fever blisters):  As soon as you realize you have a cold sore coming on, apply Witch Hazel to the site with a Q-tip.  It will immediately stop the process, and prevents further spread of the blisters.  Apply Witch Hazel frequently, and healing time is shortened to a fraction of normal healing time.

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witch hazel on a cold sore Comments By: Tracy W. This work's and it work's fast with in 2 day's. I use nothing else but this method now.   Not sure that witch hazel is enough Comments By: Way too experienced with these things... My mom gets cold sores all the time and recently (within the past few years) I have started to as well. I've been using witch hazel as a treatment and it does sting quite a bit and seems to dry out the cold sore. But the biggest problem, for me, is how unsightly it is to leave the witch hazel on. The ugly brown color is worse than the cold sore itself. So i only leave witch hazel on the sore when i'm at home, but since i'm very busy that doesn't seem to be enough time. Sometimes my cold sores will last for weeks at a time. So I need some additionally treatment. I tried abreva and it didn't seem to work at all. I'm hoping that combining the witch hazel treatment with salt and/or toothpaste will dry up the cold sore. And that Neosporin will keep it disinfected and stop it from spreading. Also, ice and aspirin for the welling just makes sense.   Witch Hazel Comments By: GH Witch Hazel is not brown. It is a clear liquid bought in a bottle at the drug store.