Hey Everyone! I have GREAT news for you (us) cold sore sufferers!
I have cured the last 4 cold sores I got by rubbing (a surprisingly small amount of) cannabis oil directly on them, without any alcohol or anything else to dilute it. I have been reading all about how to cure many kinds of cancers by eating cannabis oil and also curing skin cancer by applying it topically, so when I felt that familiar tingle I thought why not give it a try? (Cannabis basically tells cancer to eat itself and disappear, I thought it might work for the herpes virus too!)
The oil was a bit hard to apply to my lip as it wanted to keep sticking to the vessel I was trying to apply it with, rather than to my lip. I ended up using a small metal spatula that I got at princess auto, tried to apply a small gob of it directly onto the sore in one shot (if you try to do multiple applications the stuff that's already there might stick back to the spatula) and just left the green sticky goo on my face for the rest of the day. IMMEDIATELY I felt topical relief, my lip was not hot and the tickle was gone! I left it on all day and went to bed with it on and when I woke up there was nothing on my face!! No oil and no cold sore. I imagine the oil might have rubbed off onto my bedding, though I didn't find any sticky spots. I didn't want to cover it for 2 reasons; I didn't want the oil to come off onto the bandage (how do you bandage a lip anyways?) and I didn't want to irritate my lip skin by putting medical tape or adhesive bandage onto it (I have really sensitive skin and get a rash from medical tapes).
Anyways, when I woke up the oil patch was gone but so was the cold sore!! Now, I caught this quick, at the first sign of tingle I applied the oil. This has worked for me for 3 cold sores I have caught RIGHT at the start. The third one I waited about 10 minutes after noticing the itch to apply the oil….now I don't know about you but my cold sores multiply like rabbits! I was looking at one little shiny bump under the surface, pushing my lip out with my tongue to check it out (not touching it with my fingers!) and after starting at it for a good ten minutes there were now 7 shiny bumps. I was literally watching them multiply, the hot tingle was increasing. I put the oil on, felt immediate relief from the hot tickle, left it on all day and night and again, when I awoke my face was cold sore free.
You do have to get used to the slight feeling of something sticky on your face, and the first time I tried this I did end up rubbing it off by accident and re-applying a few times. But I will take the feeling of a small sticky patch over a herpes hot tingle any day! Especially when it takes the cold sore from a 7-12 day affair (more if I pick it) to a ONE DAY EVENT!! I don't even care about leaving the house with the oil on anymore, I'd rather stop my symptoms ASAP and be seen with a sticky lip than to have a cold sore for any longer than necessary. Strangers won't likely say "hey there's something on your lip ma'am" and if anyone does, then I guess I am meant to tell them about the cure I have been using!
I mentioned above that I cured 4 cold sores with the oil….well I guess I have only cured three, as the fourth one (cluster is more like it) is currently on my face, being cured as we speak!! (HOLY MOLY I still can't believe this works!!!)
This one was a bit different. I generally get cold sores when I am run down and don't get enough sleep. Well I stayed up too late last night and when I woke up this morning there were already 3 pretty good sized shiny blisters and 2 really small ones on my face, much further along than the last 3 I cured. (These 5 were larger and further along than the last cluster of 7 I cured)
I didn't hesitate to grab my spatula and smear the oil right on those suckers! (12:53pm) I felt the familiar cooling of the oil, along with the tingle that it has, a much nicer and soothing type tingle, where you can tell healing is happening (YEAH cannabis, kick that herpes butt!!)
WIthin 2 minutes (literally, I timed it, 12:55pm) the main blister had swelled noticeably, not painful at all, but you could see the blister getting fuller with fluid and wanting to be popped. I did not pop it. I started to write this message and part way through I accidentally touched my lip very lightly, barely any of the oil came off onto my finger but there was a smear of clear fluid on my finger. I had accidentally popped the blister (1:07pm) just by brushing past it gently. I washed my hands and checked out the cluster; within 14 minutes of applying the oil the main sore had gone from a bump just under the skin to being so fragile that it popped with the lightest touch, and the other 4 had reduced in size. There was still a sufficient amount of oil all around the sores so I decided to leave it and not try to apply more.
At this point I got a little worried, as I know you are not supposed to pop the blister as this can spread the virus and also bacteria can get in. I don't think I need to worry though... The area around the blisters was already covered in a light film of oil so I don't think it will spread, and I feel like if the cannabis oil can vanquish my cold sore it can probably deal with any other bacteria that might visit my cluster.
It is now 3:10pm, (wow it took a while to write this out lol) and I am experiencing the most discomfort that I have so far form the cannabis oil treatments, which is actually quite minimal. I think the blister popping and the cannabis oil getting directly inside the sore is the cause for this slight discomfort. I wouldn't even call it discomfort. It doesn't feel anywhere near as bad as lemon juice in a cut, or a sunburn, or even a paper cut. It feels a bit warm and like that part of my lip is dry and chapped, extremely manageable and easy to forget about.
I am going to leave the oil on the sore all day, and maybe re-apply tonight before bed if it seems to need another coat. If it goes as well as the last 3 times, I ought to wake up tomorrow without any trace of cold sore. If not, I will do another application and I bet that will take care of it.
Thankfully I have always gotten my cold sores on days that I didn't have to work; I was able to cure them in less than 24 hours with cannabis oil application and return to work the next day without a cold sore. I live in Canada, so although medicinal cannabis usage is more openly accepted than in some of the states, my work would probably frown upon me bringing a cannabis product to work, even if just rubbed on my lip. If I ever wake up with a cold sore on a day that I have to work, I will fashion some sort of bandage to cover up the oil and wear my cure to work. I would rather get skin irritation from medical tape than let a cold sore develop. Now that I know what works for me I am going to use it at every opportunity and also share it with as many people as I can. I do not guarantee that it will work for you, but I sincerely hope it does. You never know until you try!
I really hope this can help you!
Love and Light
Amanda
DISCLAIMER: When I use the word cure, I do not mean that I no longer have the herpes virus in my body, there is no cure for that (yet???) as far as we know. When I say cure, I mean that I am able to shorten the duration of the cold sore to 24 hours or less. I have tried a few home remedies, (ear wax, garlic, hand santizer/rubbing alcohol, tea tree oil) as well as medications (Zovirax (prescription medication for genital herpes that you can also use on face herpes) and Abbreva) and they all DO help, but multiple treatments over the duration of the cold sore are nowhere near as effective as one topical cannabis oil treatment. These other remedies definitely help relieve the hot itch and I find they do help to make the cold sore come on quicker and also leave more quickly and keep it contained, but I still have to go through the process (7-12 days) of having the sore; from beginning itchy tingle to sore blister that you want to pop (don't do it!!) to the crusty end where you think it's almost gone but you still have a few more days to go. Using these other remedies I have eliminated a cold sore in as little as 5 days, but it's generally at least 7. I am so pleased to be able to experience cold sores for less than 24 hours now, thank you cannabis oil, thank you Mother Nature for providing us this plant.
Namaste.
