Cold Sores on the Nose

Cold sores on the nose can be extremely painful, and the redness and swelling can cause you to be self conscious about the way you look during an outbreak as well. There are many different ways that you can treat these bothersome symptoms, and minimize the swelling and redness associated with the blisters. Cold sores are usually found on the mouth area, but this virus can be spread to the nose, eye, and genitals as well, and this is how blisters appear in these specific areas.

Cold sores on the nose can be treated by washing with solutions or using over the counter creams, and these can help to dry out the fluid in the blisters to speed up the healing process. Witch hazel can be helpful with this, and so can lemon balm steeped in water. A tea bag can be dipped in warm water and then put on the blisters, and this will take down swelling and relieve some of the tenderness and pain. There are creams available without a prescription that can also soothe and dry out cold sores. Aloe vera is good to use on affected areas because it can help the skin heal, and many creams contain this as one of the ingredients.

Cold sores may become severe enough to need medical treatment. This can happen for a variety of reasons. If you have severe outbreaks frequently, and home treatments do not seem to work, it may be necessary to talk to your doctor about prescription treatments as the next step. There are medications that can lower the level of the virus in your body, and this will lower the risks of an outbreak. These drugs may have risks of side effects associated with them, however, so care should be used, and you should have regular check ups while taking this, or any other, drug. Sometimes a prescription for antibiotics may be needed because of a bacterial infection that occurs after the blisters pop. Staph and strep infections are common secondary infections in cold sores if care is not taken to keep the affected area clean and dry.