My lips have become something to fear!

A few days ago, my upper lip felt a little tingly and itchy, and I gave it a vigorous scratch. Not long after, my lip erupted in many tiny blisters!

Example Pictures:
Blisters at the corner of the mouth
More blisters for your viewing enjoyment

I started putting vasoline on my blisters. By making faces and rubbing my lips together, I could pop the blisters and make them feel a little better for a while. A few days later, I found the blisters had spread across my whole lip where I had been smearing the lip balm, and my lower lip was now infected where I had been smacking my lips!

My lips are now enormous puffy monstrosities, completely covered in blisters, and oozing yellow crusty fluid.

About 60-90% of the population has the virus that did this to me. Once an area of skin is infected, you can never get rid of it. The virus lurks in your nerve cells from then on, causing periodic cold sores or "fever blisters" for the rest of your life. Outbreaks can be triggered by rubbing, sunlight, stress, other illnesses, and many other things (such as allergic reactions).

Most people are infected, but some of them may not yet have seen any symptoms.

If I had known what these blisters were when they first appeared, I could have prevented them from spreading and taking over my lips. It's such a common virus, I thought I would post about it here, and hopefully prevent someone else from spreading the virus to others or permanently worsening their own infection like I did.

The virus spreads very easily through moist membranes like the lips, nose, mouth, and genitals. It's a fragile virus that needs warmth and moisture to survive. It doesn't last long outside the body, but in some cases it has been spread through shared lip balm or shared silverware, and it can occasionally infect the thick skin of the fingers or spread across the face.

If you have an outbreak, try not to kiss anybody. Use a tissue paper to apply vasoline, and resist the urge to scratch it or touch it. Wash your hands often... The oral herpes version can be spread to the genitals, and vice versa, so be careful. You're a bit of a biohazard until after the blisters are gone and skin is perfectly dry again.

Here are some links for additional reading:
Family Health Information
Wikipedia

This has been a public service announcement by the Green Twilight for the benefit of humanity.

Please share your own experiences with the herpes virus, and any cold sores or fever blisters you might have wished you hadn't have had.

They always appear on the inside of my mouth. They're uncomfortable, even painful, but they appear in ones or twos for about a week and then they disappear for a few months.

Annoying, but not debilitating.

I get canker sores whenever I have any sort of cut on the inside of my mouth. Once, during the night, my lips got really dry and chapped and on the inside of my lips (so in my mouth) the skin like split open, and I had a giant canker sore (it was bigger than a tooth!) that lasted nearly two weeks. It hurt like hell.

Canker sores are different from lip blisters though. At least canker sores aren't contagious.

That's right. Canker sores are not virus related. Thanks Kea!

Canker sore
Mayo Clinic overview

I've only had one or two canker sores in my lifetime, but they were very tender while they lasted. The main thing was to avoid irritating them while eating. Yogurt, jello, soup are all nice when you have a canker sore.

Back on the herpes infection: My sister gets cold sores on her lip from time to time. She passed it on to her kids, and I think I got it from the oldest one about four or five years ago.

I've never had any symptoms at all. Completely normal! Then one day, little blisters start appearing everywhere, and now my lips are swollen, covered in blisters, and oozing. It was so sudden...

I don't want anyone to see me while I'm like this, and I don't want to infect more skin elsewhere. I'm just glad the blisters started appearing on Thursday, so at least I'm at home while this is happening. I've just been hanging out in bed, applying vasoline, and waiting for it to subside.

Yesterday all I had was a banana. I don't want to eat much for fear of spreading it to the inside of my mouth. My upper lip is looking a little better, but the lower lip is worsening. It was infected from the secretions of the top lip, so it's a few days behind, I guess.

Apparently fever blisters can last for several weeks, but my upper lip is looking a little better, so I hope it doesn't last much longer. I must have been infected years ago, but I've only had one slight cold sore about five years ago. That's why it's such a surprise now. That, and the severity with which it appeared. I could take my own pictures, and be famous. My lips are much worse than the ones I can find on the Internet!

Talk to your doctor about a prescription for Zovirax. Zovirax is the world's first antiviral medication and is specifically targeted to herpes and has been shown to limit the duration and scope of an outbreak. For individuals with extreme cases, the medication can be taken orally as a preventative. For most people, a topical cream is effectve. Apply with tissue paper and dispose of the used paper properly (i.e. flush it).

I've found that nice over-the-counter Abreva works fine when I get a cold sore. I've been getting them once or twice a year since middle school and Abreva works as well as anything that I've needed an Rx for.

Just remember not to smooch anyone when you've got a sore. Herpes isn't a nice gift to give somebody.

No, it certainly isn't :)

I'll try Abreva. I don't have medical insurance at the moment, so by the time I'm registered and have an appointment, my symptoms will be gone.

From the reading, the antiviral medication is only effective at reducing the duration of the outbreak and the amount of asymptomatic shedding -- when you look fine, but are nevertheless contagious. So an over-the-counter medication should be about as effect as the prescription for my purposes.

I suppose I should start eating again. I'll have to go back to doing that sometime! Also, I should stop hanging around in bed, and get some things done. If anybody looks at me funny, I'll just threaten to kiss them.

I have one of those kinds of viruses in my foot. If I'm not careful, it'll cripple me.

Youch! I'm sorry to hear that :(

For what it's worth, kissing people is relatively easy to avoid to when you've got blisters and sores on your lips.

Indeed, it's rather easy. Unless you're just that sexy.

I bought some medication for the lip. And boy was it expensive! That Abreva stuff is selling for $265 per ounce at the local drug store. I felt like I was buying gold bullion. In the end, I got 0.07 ounces.

It may be too late in the game to do much good, but we'll see if it helps any! But in any case, the main reason I bought it was to help stifle any outbreaks in the future.

So many women have regretted knowing me... I feel sad...

I had a really bad cold sore when I worked as barstaff years ago. It was like an extra lip above my mouth, but made of pus!

This is officially the grossest thread I've ever known on Sluggy.net.

*screams*



*is still screaming*