What is your personal cold sore protocol from first tingle to healed?

At the first tingle I put a cold compress on the spot, switch to a clean towel, and start using lip balm with spf every day so my lips are not chapped and irritated on top of everything else.

I keep a small kit ready with abreva, a fresh tube of balm, and a spare toothbrush so I am not scrambling, and I focus on sleep and hydration since stress and being run down seem to bring mine on.

My routine is mostly about not touching it, washing my hands often, and avoiding sharing cups or lip products until it is fully healed, plus I try to stay on top of sun protection year round because sun is my biggest trigger.

Honestly mine is pretty low tech, the second I feel that tingle I ice it for a few minutes, keep my hands off it, and start being way stricter about sleep and stress for the rest of the week. It doesn't always stop it but it usually shrinks the whole thing down to a couple of days instead of a full week, and the not touching part is still the hardest bit for me.

Stress is my number one trigger too, nothing else comes close.

Same here, mine follow the seasons almost exactly.

Honestly mine is just: the second I feel that tingle I stop touching it, ice it for a few minutes, and swap my pillowcase, then I mostly try not to pick at it and give it a week or so to do its thing. Not perfect, but it's gotten a lot less dramatic since I started paying attention to sleep and sun.

At the first tingle I ice it for a few minutes and stop touching it, then I just keep it clean and moisturized and try to sleep more than usual, honestly the sleep part seems to matter more than anything else I do.

Welcome, and do not feel low, it is so common and manageable.