SMARTMED Smart Cold Sore Treatment Patch Help Prevent Breakouts, Soothe Itchi...

I've dealt with horrendous cold sores since I was a child. I get huge breakouts that swell up my entire lip so I look like I've been stung by an atomic hornet. Other patches I've tried are just thin stickers that don't absorb fluid and don't help matters. This one is a good hydrocolloid material that actually draws the fluid out and absorbs it, which reduces the swelling, flattens the sore, and greatly speeds healing time. In order to help it stick, thoroughly clean your skin first to wipe away any skin oils and pat dry. Then apply the patch. Yes, you may have to change it after you eat or drink, or if you get the patch very wet. But for regular use, these hold very well and do a great job of camouflaging the sore. Yes it will turn white and more obvious as it draws fluid out of the sore. Just change it out. This is what you want; the sooner the fluid is out, the faster the sore is gone. These completely prevent the scabbing, draining, and crusting that turn cold sores into an absolute nightmare. No more scabs cracking every time I talk or smile or try to eat. No more bleeding, crusting, weeping. And when the patch is on covering the exposed nerves from the sore, there is no pain, no itch, no tingle, you can almost forget you have a cold sore. I now buy several packages of these at a time, and there are other listings for packs that have 30 to 60 in them and I intend to buy those next, because I never want to be without these. There is always a packet in my purse so that I can put one on as soon as I feel that tingle. I've tried every cold sore patch on the market, and these by far have given me the best result, and my outbreaks are bad. For people having trouble getting the bandage off the backing without rolling it up, there are dotted lines on the backing. Peel the backing out from under the patch along the dotted lines, instead of trying to peel the patch up off the plastic. If you peel along the dotted line out from under the patch, you will have half of the bandage off the backing and you can very easily peel it off the plastic and stick it to your lip without wrinkling up the bandage.

First off, if it feels like you might be tearing off skin or a scab, stop. You don't have to cause damage. My first recommendation is if it isn't coming off easily and the adhesive around the outer edge is sealed, just leave it on. If you need it off a hot shower, lotion, lysine gel, will all work well for loosening it. For pulling it off I highly suggest going to the mirror, watching and applying minimal pull and waiting for the skin to separate from the patch slowly. If you notice any tearing happening stop immediately and return to loosening it. Worst case scenario use warm water directly to oversaturate the hydrocolloid. The reason I love these isn't for hiding the sore but rather for healing it quickly without scarring or even scabbing. These work extra well for this because the thicker area in the center Is a larger amount of hydrocolloid that I found to be far better at drawing out liquid, reducing both swelling and blister size. I found that the best case scenario if you have blisters is to do everything you can to allow them to drain gently without removing or tearing the skin or letting them get dry at all. If you do it right that layer of skin will flatten back onto the sore and become your "scab". At the end of the healing you'll be left with a little circle of dead skin, do not pull it off, wait for it to fall off. If you keep it covered the whole time it will not have a chance to dry out, get crusty, or crack. Extra tips: If there is residual fluid when you remove your patch soak it up by gently placing a Q-tip to the fluid, if there is any crust use warm water to gently remove it. Any sort of gel or ointment is almost certainly going to cause problems with adhesion. If it's a medically viable option for you I highly recommend just going and getting a prescription for antiviral pills, they can turn a waking nightmare into an occasional inconvenience. ( especially if you are in the situation I was in where my stress-induced breakouts were causing more stress-induced breakouts) If you're going to eat anything greasy or wet and messy just plan on changing out your patch after since it's very likely it'll start pealing up at the edge If you're having an especially bad breakout a normal, big hydrocolloid bandage is going to give you the best heavy duty fluid removal, shrinking power, and containment. Yes it's going to be unsightly, but I found it can aggressively hault swelling and tissue damage. If you do this be so very very extra careful with removal, be gentle and patient, attempt to only change it out if the hydrocolloid in the bandage is exhausted (turns white, puffed up, squishy to the touch.) If there are any breaks in the skin I normally gently sanitize the area with some IPA on a Q-tip to mitigate the chance of trapping bacteria instde.

This is my first cold sore using these patches. I bought them on a whim while shopping for replacement orajel cream. I’ve had huge cold sores since I was a child. They are never mild with me. My lip and face and neck will often swell. This time around, I had severe nerve pain through my jaw and ear. It woke me up! I have done almost everything on the market to heal these bad boys and I figured I could try these patches. (I did take 3000 mg of Lycine on top of these patches, as well as orajel cold sore cream at the very beginning.) The good: I love that it covers up the sore. I love that I am trying to keep the virus contained. And the healing time has greatly reduced. I hate the stage where it scabs because when I talk, it breaks open and bleeds. Or it bleeds on my food. This patch has helped that tremendously. No more soaking my lip in the morning just to be able to open my mouth without breaking the scab open. This was a life saver at night. I also feel like the scabbing part of the sore is shortened. I’m about a week into my current sore and it’s almost healed. That’s never happened! The bad: it’s VERY noticeable. After a few minutes it looks like I have a puffy white ball on my lip. I don’t mind at home but going out is hit and miss. If I didn’t have to wear a mask for Covid all the time, I might skip the patch. It does peel up if I eat or drink. I find myself changing it right after ever drink because it’s distracting and slimy. I’ve gone through an entire pack in 4 days. That being said, I bought another pack. It works well enough for me to want these always on hand for my huge breakouts.

I saw a lot of comments saying it wouldn’t stick, but I had zero issues — applied it easily and it stayed ON all night! This was my first time using it, and I can already see the healing progress. Highly recommend!

These work so great if you get cold sores

It masks it a bit so it’s a little less unsightly but comes offf easily if your lips get wet, especially if you lick your lips a lot. It’s soft though and easy to apply.

This product is inferior to other cold sore patches I've tried. In fact, I felt like it made the cold sore worse! All you need is rubbing alcohol. Apply a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol to your cold sore throughout the day. It dries the cold sore out, causes it to shrink way more rapidly, and cuts healing time in half. I've suffered with embarrassing cold sores my whole life. I wish I had tried rubbing alcohol sooner!

These patches are excellent for covering up while medicating. They stay on well and make the area much less noticeable. Don’t take off unless it falls off or it’s all white