It’s never fun having a cold sore, and some people have problems with outbreak after outbreak. As if the sore wasn’t bad enough by itself, and just when you begin thinking you’re on the mend, an ugly yellow crust, or scab, forms. On the majority of the body, a scab means that the pain goes away. However, with a cold sore, there is no such luck. Each time you move facial muscles or your lips, the scab can crack painfully. So what’s the best way to treat cold sore scabs, and are there any tricks to try and get them to feel better?

You need the scab to form, because that means new, fresh skin is forming under it. Needless to say, that also means that it’s going to start itching badly. Even though the virus is retreating to where it will lie dormant until next time, the region will be painful and irritated. Some people give into the temptation of picking on the scab trying to get it to go away and leave them healed; however, it’s not going to vanish entirely naturally by itself before the time is right, and whatever you do to try and remove it prematurely will do more harm than good. You can rip the sore open again and start it to bleeding that can make it take just that much longer to heal.

Picking at any scab can also cause more permanent scarring. Even when you leave the scab on until it falls off naturally, it might leave a temporary scab. The most effective thing you can do for helping the scab heal and leave less scarring is to apply Neosporin or other antibiotic ointment 3 or 4 times each day until everything is healed up. Neosporin will help keep a scab from cracking as well as keep a cracked scab from becoming infected.

The scab is not contagious. Chances are very slim if you kiss someone it is possible to pass the cold sore along to them once the region has completely scabbed over. However, if you don’t want to take any unnecessary chances, the sole 100% positive approach to keep it from spreading is probably to stop kissing until the entire sore has disappeared.