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Drying up a cold sore

Once you have a cold sore they can linger for many days. Just sitting there on your lip, glowing! It is probably too late to try the tips on this page so what you want to try and do is get the sore to dry out and heal as fast as possible.

I have had the following tip sent to me that will actually dry up the sore. Making it heal in 2 to 3 days. It is advised that you be a little strong, as there can be a rather intense stinging.

Grind some table salt with the back of a teaspoon.  Moisten your index finger & dip it in the powdered salt.  Press the powder into the cold sore & hold it there for 30 seconds. Don't rinse.  It will be quite uncomfortable but if done twice a day for 2 - 3 days, the sore will dry up.




Visitors comments



This works great! Comments By: John on 2004-09-11
I have been using this method to dry those nasty suckers out for a few years now, works good!. :D
 
I agree! Comments By: anon on 2004-09-18
Drys them up much faster than any other method I have tried! And although there is some discomfort it feels good to know the pain is making the thing go away!
 
Wow Comments By: Katie on 2004-10-13
This worked amazing! Better than any product I have tried. I have recently tried this after my cold sore had become essentially full blown. I believe this says 2-3 times a day for a few minutes, but I kept it on as much as possible and it completly dried up in about 6 hours.

There was no weeping at all and I was basically left with a small scab.

 
its helping Comments By: Anon on 2004-11-01
i hav had a cold sore for a couple of days and ive just read this method and i'm trying it now. it appears 2 b drying the coldsore out, it stings quite abit but i think if you keep applying the salt it will completely dry out.. im hoping this will help!
 
oh the pain Comments By: Anon on 2004-11-04
oh the pain..... it burns it burns......this better work (i can see this being a practical joke or something). it does seem to be working though.
 
hmmn Comments By: agatha on 2004-11-26
okay i'm typing with one hand as i'm doing this, it doesn't hurt SO bad....maybe i'm not doing it right. right now i have like 8 cold sores on top of one another, and i look pretty hot. lol. i hope this works.
 
Works great Comments By: kay on 2004-12-15
i had about 4 cold sores yesterday and it was the first day. i put the salt on them pretty much all day and today they are only little scabs. this works great, it really helps them heal fast.
 
Amazing! Comments By: Jos on 2005-01-01
Had 2 cold sores erupted on my bottom lip on Tuesday this week, they are now drying up and it's only Saturday 1st Jan 05 - 4 days later! Used the bleach tip for the first day (somewhat uncomfortable) and have been using the ground up salt (organic) for the remainder of the days - yes, there was a sting - it is an open sore after all but as long as you are determined to get rid of those blighters then you can put up with the discomfort for 30 seconds. My cold sores have never dried up so quickly - the last ones I had took over 3 weeks to go and have left me with scarring. I am now using the crushed up salt once a day - in the evening about an hour before bedtime. One word of advice though, make sure you wash your hands well before and after touching your cold sores and don't use yours or anyone else's towels anywhere near your mouth - you don't want anyone else in the family to get them and you certainly don't want to get a secondary infection (which will mean scarring) or re-infect yourself with more cold sores. Instead, if your mouth gets wet (after brushing your teeth for example), gently dab the cold sore with a piece of clean toilet paper or kitchen roll and dispose of safely.
 
This is working! Comments By: Amy on 2005-01-11
I put the salt on my lip last night and left it on overnight. This morning there is a very dark scab. Usually it takes days for my cold sores to scab over. I have had this cold sore for only a day and now it is healing. I am continuing the salt treatment and also taking advil to reduce the swelling.
 
cold sore Comments By: skk on 2005-01-31
Im about to try this...it better work...i got this cold sore this morning and i need it gone in 4 days before second semester starts!
 
We'll see Comments By: Anon on 2005-05-04
I just applied the salt on my cold sore and at first it didn't sting but now it is. That's ok though because I know that the stinging means that it's working on drying the cold sore out. YAY
 
If this don't work I'm comin for you Comments By: Q on 2005-06-20
I'm about to try this and I pray it works becuase today is Monday and I take my Senior Pictures on Saturday and this damn cold sore is huge.
 
ow Comments By: jacqui on 2005-11-11
i've had this HUGE cold sore since thursday night, it's saturday today. it has been swelling up so bad. i can't even talk properly. the swelling hasnt gone down, i tried ice but it only worked for about 20 minutes then it started swelling again. i'm trying the salt thing right now. it stings but i don't care because i want this stupid cold sore to go away! ugh. any tips on keeping the swelling down?



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