According to Medline Plus, a consumer health information web site maintained by the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine, herpes labialis, cold sores and fever blisters are different terms used to describe herpes infection of the lip. Symptoms usually appear within one to three weeks of infection. There are three skin signs of herpes on the lip that you should recognize.
Redness and Swelling
The term "prodrome" refers to early symptoms that portend the full-blown disease. According to Medline Plus, the prodrome for herpes infection of the lip includes tingling, burning, itching, soreness or hypersensitivity in the area where lesions later appear. Visible signs during the prodromal phase include redness and mild swelling.
Blisters
Small (1 to 2 mm), painful blisters, characteristically on the border of the lip (vermilion), are the hallmark of herpes on the lip. Actually, according to a 2008 article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the blisters are preceded by bumps, however this stage lasts only a few hours and is often missed. Herpes blisters are filled with yellow-tinged fluid and appear on a base of red, raised skin. Sometimes small blisters will coalesce to form a single, large blister. Particularly during the first outbreak, lesions often appear in clusters and may appear at multiple sites on the lips.
Crusts
Within three to four days, according to a the same article, blisters rupture and ooze, giving way to yellowish, granular crusts or "scabs." At this point, the lesions may become extremely itchy as well as painful. Crusts are gradually replaced by new pink skins. Healing usually takes one to two weeks, according to Medline Plus. Herpes sores on the lip rarely produces scars.
References
- Medline Plus: Herpes Labialis
- Archives of Internal Medicine; The Treatment of Herpes Simples: An Evidence-Based Review; C. Cernik, K. Gallina, and R.T. Brodell; June 2008
