By the time your patient starts talking to you, they will likely have passed a shelf of OTC products promising relief and healing. Take this opportunity to educate your patients about the differences between "symptom relief" and "proven healing".

Explain that OTC treatment options include moisturizers and lip balms to prevent cracking, and analgesics to relieve discomfort. Yes, they make lips feel better. But no, they have not been proven to speed the healing of a cold sore.1

Emphasize that Abreva® is the only FDA-approved, non-prescription cold sore medicine that offers both fast symptom relief and fast healing.2 That's because it contains Docosanol, which has a unique Cell Entry Blocking Mode of Action.

Explaining the docosanol difference to your patients doesn't mean getting into a complicated scientific explanation with words like "viral proliferation", etc. Basically, there are 3 things to communicate:

1. The cold sore virus spreads by penetrating into healthy lip cells.
2. Docosanol builds a protective barrier around healthy lip cells, helping to inhibit the virus's ability to replicate.1,3
3. When a virus can't replicate, it can't spread, so the cold sore heals faster.1

Many cold sore sufferers are under the mistaken belief that a cold sore is only contagious when it's oozing and blistered. Because viral shedding can occur before blisters appear, they need to understand that they can spread the cold sore virus to others before, during and even sometimes after an outbreak.

Using materials on this website, counsel patients about the signs of an approaching cold sore outbreak, including feelings of burning, itching, tingling or numbness. By recognizing when a cold sore is coming on, they'll be able to treat it faster. It's also important to emphasize that they avoid close contact with others -- starting at the prodromal stage -- until their cold sores are completely healed.

1. Pelegrin GM. Treating the cold sore, not just the symptoms. Pharmacy Times: Pharmacist Edition: September, 2007
2. Sacks SL et al. Clinical efficacy of topical docosanol 10% cream for herpes simplex labialis: a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Am Acad Dermatol 2001: 45:222-230
3. Pope LE et al. Anti-herpes simplex virus activity of n-docosanol correlates with intracellular metabolic conversion of the drug. Jnl Lipid Research V27, issue 10, 1996: 2169-2178

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