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Many folks eat high lysine foods prior to or during a cold sore event, and avoid high arginine foods. For many folks, healing cold sores fast has been as simple as taking 1,000 milligrams to 3,000 milligrams of lysine in capsule supplements during an outbreak. High lysine foods to eat are most meats and dairy products.
The virus resides deep in the nerve roots and may reactivate at a later time, causing the same symptoms and signs in the same location. Cold sores usually go away within one to two weeks, but they can be treated with antiviral medications, like acyclovir or topical medications such as docosanol , to reduce pain and shorten healing time.