What are the best home remedies for lip sores?

Some of the best home remedies for lip or cold sores include icing the area or applying lip balm that contains lemon extract, which helps to speed healing, advises the Mayo Clinic. In order to reduce or prevent lip sores, avoid stressful situations or practice relaxation techniques.

Apply a layer of petroleum jelly over the lip sore, which prevents the vulnerable area from contracting an infection from bacteria, suggests HowStuffWorks. It also helps the sore to heal more quickly. Avoid applying make-up to the area to keep from making the sore worse. After identifying the cold sore, touch it as little as possible, and sanitize hands frequently because the infection can be transferred by touch to either the eyes or the genitals.

Take over-the-counter, anti-inflammatory analgesics such as ibuprofen, explains HowStuffWorks. This helps to keep the swelling down and manage pain until the sore heals. Another option is to chew on licorice that helps to kill the cold sore virus. Make some licorice cream to spread on the sore by mixing licorice powder with pure vegetable shortening. To prevent cold sores from flaring up, avoid fatigue, infections, ultraviolet light and trauma. Because certain foods can cause an outbreak, avoid foods that cause allergic reactions.