Lip balms do nothing to stop the spread of herpes, nor do they treat the infection. At best they soothe the symptoms. The only OTC medication currently availa

Lip balms do nothing to stop the spread of herpes, nor do they treat the infection. At best they soothe the symptoms. The only OTC medication currently available for cold sores, docosanol, seems to reduce the time it takes an outbreak to heal, but there are questions about both its effectiveness and the biological mechanism by which it works. The anti-viral acyclovir is also used to treat cold sores as well as other forms of HSV, chickenpox, and shingles, but it isn't available OTC.