Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I normally don’t write product reviews, but as someone who’s suffered from cold sores since I was about 7 years old, I had to let everyone else out there plagued with this virus know how great these patches are. Let me start off by saying, i did not put these on Day 1, so I don’t know how they work on a fresh blister, but I imagine it’s not as great as a flat/crusty one. To start, I haven’t had a cold sore in YEARS, I can’t even remember the last time - it’s been *that* long. But I was on vacation this past week and after a day of traveling - bam. Woke up with a huge one on my upper lip. I’m talking, lip swollen, painful glands, the works. No warning tingle/ itch/ burn. Nothing I could do to prevent it. I wasn’t expecting a cold sore bc, like I said, it had been years since I had one, but I always travel with tea tree oil, alcohol wipes, and SkinSmart wound healer - for first aid purposes. First, I lanced the blisters with a needle, and then applied light pressure with an alcohol wipe, followed by wound healer, and then tea tree. Repeat every 30 mins-1 hour. Ice in between, for the swelling. This dried up the sore completely in 24 hours. It was flat, and virtually invisible aside from the swelling. Until day 3 when the scab started forming, and 4 more small blisters popped up under my nose. I guess the virus was making up for lost time? Rude. By this time I was home, and I repeated the same steps above on the new blisters (pictured), but added boric acid powder on top of the tea tree (it’s commonly sold for yeast infections in a suppository capsule - I used the powder in it), because of its antiviral properties, it dries them out s u p e r fast - quick disclaimer, if you try boric acid please DO NOT get it IN your mouth. It is poisonous if ingested! Anyways, I had ordered these patches the first day and was eager to try them out during the ugly scab phase. I was not disappointed. Not only do they disguise the scab, they protect it from cracking, from being accidentally touched, spreading the virus to your pillowcase, etc. But they actually speed the healing way up! Cold sores used to take me 2 weeks to heal, even small ones. Big ones, sometimes longer. When I learned how to dry them out fast, the blister stage only lasted 24 hours but the scabbing would still take its time. About 5-8 days after the blister. Not ideal. So imagine how stoked I was, when I had this patch on a big ugly crusty yellow scab for just 9 hours, took it off before bed to change it for a new one and all that was under it was a little fleshy pink spot. What!! Amazing. It didn’t hurt to take off either, like some people said. Maybe if you’re having trouble try hot compressing it with warm water first? I didn’t, but mine came off without fuss. So, long story long, these are great for after the blister stage. I put a new one on before bed and I’m sure it’ll be half the size tomorrow. I’m also going to put one on the new blisters tomorrow as soon as I wake up (when they’re fully dried out from this last boric acid pack). Because of the nature of these sores, I wouldn’t recommend putting them on a full new blister. I know there’s debate, but after dealing with these for 22 years, I’ve found that lancing them with a sterile needle is the way to go. Just be careful not to get the fluid anywhere else. Mop it up and alcohol it! Then once they’re dried out, use these patches! You won’t regret it. Also, I’m allergic to most adhesive/bandages so I was worried these would just make my skin more agitated but they didn’t AT ALL. Seriously, everyone. Buy them. Even if you don’t have a cold sore right now. Buy a pack so you’re prepared when one pops up. And take care of yourself! I only get cold sores when I’m really slacking on my physical and mental health. Seriously. Eat right, hydrate, take your supplements, exercise, minimize stress, communicate, meditate - whatever you need to do to take care of YOU. Prioritize it. Bc, if you’re here reading this, you know how bad these breakouts suck. You don’t have to suffer with them. Alright, I’m out. Hope this helps someone!