I have had cold sores since I was a child. I caught them from my mum. All the way through childhood, adolescence I have always had cold sores. They have been a constant feature of my life and even with a husband who is a GP we couldn’t find any relief.

BY Anita Qurtley 3 July, 2007

Anita Qurtley is a 40-year old nurse from Goole in East Yorkshire who is married to Rodger a GP and has two children, 11 and nine. "I get them maybe once a month during winter and I can get up to five coldsores along my bottom lip and the whole thing becomes one massive swollen red lump, it looks dreadful. And people stare. Every time we go on holiday I always get an outbreak, probably due to the change in temperature, so I am never in any holiday snaps as I always hide from eth camera when I have an outbreak.""I have been turned away from dentists in the past as they refuse to work on me when I have got cold sores. They make me feel like a leper as people look at me and try not to stare. When I was training as a nurse it was awful as even the patients would look at my lips with distaste. The only good thing is that being a nurse means I understand all about my cold, although there is not much comfort there as I know it’s a virus I’ll have for life and so they will always be with me.""When I met my husband I told him immediately about my cold sores as he was a doctor and I knew he’d understand, it was a relief to be able to be honest to someone about them. Previous boyfriends hadn’t been quite so understanding. Because they are so infectious my cold sores have always played a part in our relationship. You can’t kiss or be intimate when you have a cold sore, and I would often have them two or three times a month which meant I could not go near my husband for weeks.""I also have be very careful when I get near the children. I have had to explain to them all about cold sores and I can’t kiss or cuddle them closely when I have a cold sore. I can’t even share a glass or taste from one of their spoons, which was hard when they were babies."

"But I when I consider how much agony and heartache they have caused me I’d never want to pass them onto my children."

"I always used to get outbreaks on holiday, as I get an outbreak eth minute I get an over exposure to the sun. I always get loads in the winter when I’ve got a cold and am a bit run down."

"They look so awful, when I have an outbreak I tend to stay in as I am very self conscious about them."

"People have come up to me and said ‘what’s that’ and people stare when I’ve got them."

"I have tried every single treatment available on prescription due to the fact that my husband is a GP. I have tried all natural alternatives, tea tree oil, lemon balm, various herbal ointments etc, and I’ve even tried dabbing perfume on them (which really stung) as someone told me that it works. It didn't."

"I read about Liquorice Balm in a Sunday paper and I was in the waiting room at the dentist. As usual I thought I’d give it a go as I was desperate. I started using the balm 12 months ago every day and every day before I go to bed. I have had one cold sore since and that was because I stopped using it for a few weeks. That is from having 6 or 7 a month to virtually nothing at all. To say the results are amazing is an understatement. This simple balm has changed my life, I can’t believe the difference it has made."

Anita used Liquorice Balm which costs £7.95 for 30g.