Cold Sore Treatment

Question:
I just came back from a vacation in Mexico. When I started vacation, I had just recovered (mostly) from a horrible cold or whatever it was, and I had developed a huge cold sore on my lip. I had it for about a week and a half before leaving for vacation and I just couldn't get it to clear up at all. Usually I use Carmex and that keeps them comfortable until they go away, but they usually start getting much better after a week. This one just kept getting worse!
The sun and heat on vacation didn't help at all...it was really getting infected looking. So I went to a drugstore and pointed to my lip and managed to ask for medicine for it. The druggist gave me a tube of something called Viru-Serol and indicated I should put it on 3 times a day. The writing on the tube is all in Mexican so I can't read it. It does say its something called Tromantadina, then it says Tubo con 10 g. Whatever that means.
Anyway, this stuff, sort of a gel, zapped my cold sore like nothing I've ever seen! In a few hours from my first application, the redness started fading and everyone commented how much better it looked from the morning! By the next day, my lip was peeling like crazy, and by the end of the second day, the inflammation was gone, I had a nice scab and hardly any redness. I couldn't believe it.
I then tried a dab on a little growth I had on my finger that had become a little inflamed. I've never had a wart so I wasn't sure if it was a wart or the beginning of a little mole, but the sun irritated it and it was getting red and sore. One blob of Viru-Serol and it dried up overnight. Only a little tiny scab and a little scar left in the AM.
Has anyone ever heard of this medicine? Is it available here? It was sold over the counter in Mexico, but that doesn't mean it is here. It may be prescription, or it may not be sold here at all. I'd love to find out what this stuff is. My hair stylist used to get really bad cold sores and her dermatologist told her there was nothing she could do about them except use Carmex or something similar and wait for them to run their course. Her gynocologist saw one of her really bad ones and prescribed the medicine they use for genital herpes. She takes pills 3 times a day and hasn't had a cold sore in over a year.
(She used to get them constantly..so badly her upper lip line was all but erased by scarring). So I guess treatment depends on who you talk to. But neither one of her doctors mentioned this stuff. So I wondered if anyone else has heard of it.

Answer:
If by "cold sores" we're talking about a herpes simplex eruption, try grape juice- it kills the herpes virus. As you drink it let it get all over the sore. Or dab the area with a q-tip dipped in grape juice several times a day. A cortisone cream soothes and speeds healing. A cream with benzocaine (like Ora-Gel) is also useful.

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