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Herpes simplex - oral - Management
What self care advice can I give to someone with cold sores?
- Reassure the person that the condition is self limiting and that lesions will heal without scarring.
- Advise paracetamol or ibuprofen to relieve pain if required.
- Topical anaesthetics or analgesics may relieve symptoms but there is little evidence to support their use.
- Give advice to minimize transmission:
- Avoid touching the lesions, other than when applying medication.
- Wash hands with soap and water immediately after touching lesions.
- Topical medications should be dabbed on rather than rubbed in to minimize mechanical trauma to the lesions. They should not be shared with others.
- Avoid kissing until the lesions have completely healed.
- Do not share items that come into contact with lesion area (e.g. lipstick or lip gloss).
- Avoid oral sex until all lesions are completely healed.
- There is a risk of transmission to the eye if contact lenses become contaminated.
- Inform that children with cold sores do not need to be excluded from nurseries and schools.
- Advise the individual to seek medical advice if their condition deteriorates (e.g. lesion spreads, new lesions develop after initial outbreak, persistent fever, inability to eat) or no significant improvement is seen after 7 days.
In depth
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