https://youtu.be/tmF3tVq6eMs

Hey there! Ok, I want to jump right in and talk about over the counter stuff that I personally use as well as some other stuff that members in our community use. Let’s get real. Outbreaks Suck! But also let’s be honest, there are other things in the world that are way worse so I’m not saying this in a way to sound like a victim. Ya know?

 

But...when we have outbreaks we want to clear them up ASAP and get back to our life. We don’t want them to get in the way of our yoga practice, our spin class, sex, workouts, vacation or whatever we have planned that week.

 

To keep it simple I’ve arranged the supplies in order of pain relief, ways to suppress it and then ways to soothe your body. I was trying to go with the EAT, Pray, Love thing or Mind, Body and Sole. All I could come up with was Pain, Suppress, and Sooth. Let me know if you come up with something better...lol.

Pain 

When outbreaks occur there can be pain and the pain doesn’t just stay by the outbreak. People experience headaches, body aches, flu or cold-like symptoms, even a sore throat. I know my lymph nodes get inflamed and that is usually a tip-off for me to take a raincheck on my plans and lay low.  And of course, there’s the pain of the blister or blisters. If it’s your first outbreak then chances are you’re really in pain and it might even be hard to sit down. Or the outbreak could be in a spot where it hits your underwear or just gets in the way of everyday life. Here are a couple of things I recommend:

1. Take your favorite pain reliever. Whatever it is; Advil, Aleve, Tylenol, Aspirin, IBuprofen, or whatever you like to take. This can relieve some of your aches and pains and help you get through the day. Follow the recommendations on the side of the bottle.
2. Apply either hotness or chilliness. Everyone's a little different and relief will work differently. Personally, I don’t do this when I have outbreaks but I wish I would have when I had my first outbreak. That outbreak was a bitch! Anyway, either take an ice or a warm cloth and apply it to the sore. The ice will numb the area temporally meanwhile the warm cloth will do the opposite. You can use ice and put it together in a ziplock or some of the members in our community recommend sitting on an ice pack. Do whatever floats your boat.   It will sooth and bring comfort to the inflamed area. Both are great and offer relief from some of the pain.

 

Suppress

Clearly, we all want to get rid of this outbreak ASAP. What we want to do in essence is suffocate the virus. We want to make it’s living situation as hostile as possible. I mean, why would we want to give it any reason to stick around? Here are two products that I use religiously when I have outbreaks.

1. L-Lysine - As you probably know from past shows and reading the posts that lysine is a key contributor to getting rid of your outbreaks. I’ve gone into great detail in other episodes, they are linked here, but essentially what lysine does is suffocate the herpes virus. It makes it really difficult for the virus to breed and continue to cause you pain. Taking L-Lysine when you have outbreaks will help you heal quicker. I take 3000 mg a day when I have outbreaks, ideally, you take 2 in the morning, 2 at lunch, and 2 in the evening but I take mine all at once usually during lunch.
2. D-lenolate - this is the olive leaf extract ointment that I like to apply directly to my sore. It’s super potent and really works miracles. They are a  local company in Las Vegas and I’ve been to their office and met some of the people who work there. They all were saying rave reviews about how it helps people with herpes. The secret is in the special sauce...lol the olive leaf is filled with properties that will boost your immune system and combat all the bad pathogens, viruses and bacterias. This stuff really helps and it is soothing at the same time. I apply this as often as I can so that it speeds up the healing process.

 

Sooth

Because these little suckers don’t just go away overnight and they take some time to heal there are some remedies that can really help soothe the pain. These remedies will also help with the healing process as well but most of all they will help you get through it.

1. Epsom Salt baths are my favorite. Firstly, baths require you to slow down and relax then when you add the Epsom salts it really helps alleviate the pain or itching from the sores. Epsom salts offer a ton of healing benefits such as helping the body absorb minerals like magnesium, it helps the body sleep and reduces stress, helps with pain and swelling and the baths can help calm the nervous system. These baths really do a total makeover on the body and they really help with the sores. I hear from so many of the members in the community that say taking an   salt bath really helps with the itch and also soothes the sore. Oh and make sure you drink plenty of water, with you take the bath because the salts can dehydrate you. I don’t want you getting out of the bath and fainting!
2. Essential Oils are the new thing and I love them. I know I’ve talked about them before and they each offer something a little different but in general essential oils promote stress relief, they are antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial and they rev up the immune system. These are all things that we need. My favorites are melaleuca or tea tree oil, peppermint and lavender. They all have yummy smells and they all help combat the herpes virus. Pick the one that makes you feel comforted. For an added bonus add the oils to your Epsom salt bath. It really turns your bath into a spa-like experience and at the same time fight the herpes hibijibis.
3. Woo More Play, yep the lube that I love. Here’s how it helps. Its key ingredients are coconut oil, vanilla, beeswax, and stevia. All are organic, natural and they have awesome benefits that fight inflammation, free radicals, kills germs, boosts your immune system and other great stuff. Yes, I’ve been known to put lube on my outbreak. Try it! And let’s be serious it's always great to have some lube on hand. Just put a little dibby dab on a q-tip and rub it on your sore. It helps...promise. Just a little disclosure that if you are using latex then oil based lube, aka, Woo is not the way to go. You will want a water-based lube so the latex doesn’t deteriorate.

Ok, so there’s a ton of information here. The key is to find remedies that work for you. Everybody's body is different and there will be different ways to treat your outbreak. These are just a few of my favorites so I wanted to make sure I shared them. Here’s what I want you to do…

To order any of these items go here and here for the lube.

Then if you're not a member of the Life With Herpes community I want to invite you to join. There’s hundreds of people over there just like you and me who have herpes. I’m in there daily and we do live support sessions. Meaning we can chat and you can ask questions. Ok so come on over to here to join us.

Xoxox,

Alexandra

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