Blistex MedPlus

My new saviour!

If you are easily grossed out by descriptions of cold sores then you might want to skip the two paragraphs.

I've suffered from cold sores since my early teens and they flare up when my immune system is low i.e poor diet, stress and lack of sleep. I've tried almost everything - carmex, blistex healing cream and those compeed patches, and whilst I know they will never completely disappear, I would like to find something that eases the symptoms and speeds up the healing time.

The first sign of a cold sore is a tingle, followed by a small bump which breaks out into a cluster of sores and depending on the placement can crack and bleed. The sores usually last anything from 4-10 days but the virus can last a bit longer. They look disgusting and there's nothing you can do to disguise them (those compeed patch adverts lie!).

I had a flare up the other day and swiped this from my sister thinking that it had the word "med" in it so it had to do some good. This product isn't marketed for use with coldsores and is aimed at soothing dry lips, but it worked wayyyyyyyy better than their healing cream.

Since my sister peeled off the ingredients, I've taken this description from their website.

"Menthol and camphor both have cooling properties, while carrot oil has an abundance of antioxidants, which protect human cells from harmful free-radical attack. Teamed with cocoa seed butter and lanolin to help restore the moisture balance this formula is first aid to ailing lips."

Sounds lovely doesn't it? And whilst I'm wary about the antioxidant claims, it really does have cooling properties. It has a nice menthol smell and once applied, it makes your lips tingle and glisten. It has really helped reduce the horrid symptons of my coldsore, as my lips haven't cracked, bled, nor do they feel painful. Infact, it has only lasted 3 days and was not that noticeable. I don't know why it works as great as it does, but it gets a big thumbs up from me!