How To Use Lemon Balm For Cold Sores

In this article, I’m going to teach you how to use lemon balm for cold sores. This beautiful world supplies us with a superabundance of healing remedies for health issues.

In the case of cold sores, there are plenty, and lemon balm has proven itself to be one of the top on this long list.

Using lemon balm for cold sores is an EXTREMELY POWERFUL way to both treat and even prevent cold sores.

The plant is fascinating to me, and it has a variety of health benefits.

For this piece, I’m only going to focus on the benefits that relate to cold sores, which I know you will find extremely helpful.

But before I do that…let’s first discuss the nature of cold sores…

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – Cold Sore Overview

Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, are groups of small blisters that form on or near the lips. Cold sores are a result of something called herpes simplex virus (HSV).

There are two types of HSV, and both can cause cold sores. HSV-1 typically is responsible for cold sores, and HSV-2 is most often the cause of genital herpes.

However, both types of HSV can cause cold sores or genital herpes.

After primary infection, the virus resides in the associated dorsal root ganglion where it lies dormant until an external stimuli (such as stress or immunosuppression) initiate reactivation of the virus from dormancy.

The virus lives on forever, and that’s why people continue to get cold sores over and over again.

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – Lemon Balm Overview

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is a perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the mint family.

Other names for lemon balm include:

 

Lemon balm is native to the Mediterranean and various regions in N. Africa, Asia, and Europe, and present day lemon balm is widely cultivated and naturalized throughout the world in temperate areas.

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – Health Benefits

The ancient Romans and Greeks first used lemon balm as a wine-infused liniment applied for insect bites and stings.

In the Middle Ages lemon balm was used to:

 

Presently, lemon balm is being used in natural medicine to treat a variety of health issues.

Lemon balm is commonly used in the following ways:

 

Now let’s dive deep into the benefits of using lemon balm for cold sores…

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – How it Works

To understand why using lemon balm for cold sores works, it’s important to learn about the plant’s mechanisms of action.

Lemon balm contains the following active plant substances:

 

Using lemon balm for cold sores works on two different fronts.

It can be taken daily or during times of stress or low immunity to help prevent cold sores, as it can relax the nervous system and boost the immune system.

You can also use lemon balm for cold sores once you have an outbreak, as lemon balm can reduce redness and swelling, and even reduce the healing time.

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – Research Studies

In a study from 2008, lemon balm oil for cold sores was studied in vitro on monkey kidney cells.

Here is a direct quote from the study:

At noncytotoxic concentrations of the oil, plaque formation was significantly reduced by 98.8% for HSV-1 and 97.2% for HSV-2, higher concentrations of lemon balm oil abolished viral infectivity nearly completely.”

In a study of 116 people with HSV, two groups of people were studied to determine the effectiveness of using lemon balm cream for cold sores.

Here is what happened to the lemon balm cream group:

 

The final study on lemon balm for cold sores I read about involved a Dermatology clinic and a few German hospitals.

The study concluded that when lemon balm was used to treat the primary HSV infection, there wasn’t a single recurrence of a cold sore outbreak.

I also want to share with you an important lemon balm study that wasn’t on cold sores. In a relatively new study from 2014, lemon balm was found to have potent anti-stress and mood-enhancing effects.

This is important for preventing cold sores, as stress is the most common trigger.

Lemon Balm For Cold Sores – What Dr. Oz Says

In an episode from 2013, Dr. Oz stated that lemon balm can be helpful in the treatment of cold sores. He says that using lemon balm for cold sores can shorten the healing time significantly.

His tip was to buy some Lemon balm oil and keep it in the fridge so you have it on hand when you get a cold sore.

This is also a better way to use lemon balm oil, as the cool oil really feels good on cold sores.

Best Lemon Balm Oil For Cold Sores

The absolute best lemon balm oil (Melissa oil) I’ve found is by a company called Spark Naturals. Spark Naturals Melissa essential oil is not cheap.

However, the bottle lasts a long time, and I don’t care about investing a bit of money if it will allow me to prevent a cold sore blister from forming.

Lemon balm is a VERY POWERFUL antiviral essential oil.

It can actually inactivate a virus before it enters a cell. This is important since a virus needs a host cell before it can multiply and do damage in the body. This makes lemon balm oil extremely effective against the herpes virus.

Lemon Balm (Melissa) Oil from Spark Naturals

How To Use Lemon Balm For Cold Sores

After reading all the science and studies confirming the benefits of lemon balm for cold sores, you may wish to use this natural remedy in your life.

Here’s how to use lemon balm for cold sores:

 

The key to cold sores is to prevent them from forming in the first place.

Thus, I encourage you to check out my Ultimate Guide to Preventing Cold Sores.

It’s free and has absolutely everything you need to know.

If you have any comments or questions on the use of lemon balm for cold sores, please post them in the comment box below.