I've suffered with cold sores for as long as I can remember. The creams have helped but they've never stopped the sore from developing and then going all horrible and scabby. I also know just how infectious they are and would hate to pass them on to anyone. Which is why, when the first one since the birth of my son, reared its ugly head I became rather worried. As any mother will tell you it's nigh on impossible to prevent your baby from coming into contact with your face, especially when you have to pick them up so much when they're little. My son is currently in the 'flailing about' stage and regularly smacks me one in the mouth. Of course the first time he did this after I spotted the cold sore, I went into full blown 'mummy panic' mode, grabbed his little wrist and held on tight until I could scrub his hand down with a wipe, because he's also in the 'shove everything in his mouth' stage.

My OH was despatched to obtain these little patches from Boots at £6.99 for a pack of 15 patches. They come in a small plastic case which has a mirror stuck to the inside of the lid with a piece of double-sided foam tape. This had already fallen off before I opened my pack and I couldn't get it to stay stuck again. It was also more of a safety mirror and a bit dark, so I don't know how much use it would be anyway.

According to the instructions, each patch should last for 8 - 10 hours, and 15 patches should be enough to treat one cold sore.

The patch itself is sticky all over to help it stick down, however it can start to come unstuck quite easily once it gets wet. Given the particular location of mine I found I had to be careful eating and especially drinking. In fact, I took to drinking cold drinks with a straw, although the patch only really started to detach where it was almost in my mouth. The downside of it being sticky all over comes when it's time to remove it. Because it keeps the cold sore moist, to prevent it from splitting and scabbing over, the soft skin on the top of the blister stuck to the patch and then pulled off when I removed the patch exposing a red not-quite-healed area underneath. Once I was happy that the cold sore had cleared up and I stopped using the patches, this area then did scab over. However, it was far smaller and cleaner than it would have been without the patches. To prevent this from happening again I think it would help to soak the area with water first, to soften up the glue, before trying to remove it gently.

Cleaning my teeth
Having a wash/shower
Drinking without due care and attention
Ditto on the eating
Trying to eat corn on the cob