Valaciclovir
FROM MARS provides valaciclovir as a daily suppressive treatment for patients who have already been diagnosed with herpes, to help lessen the frequency of outbreaks and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.
MHRA-Licensed · UK Prescribers · GPhC Pharmacy
Cold Sore Prevention
Help for frequent cold sores, reviewed online by UK clinicians, with a free consultation and regular reviews.
- Once-daily tablet
- For frequent outbreaks
- Clinician-led
- Ongoing support
If cold sores keep coming back, a low daily dose of antiviral medication can help keep the virus suppressed. This means fewer interruptions to your life, rather than reacting every time you feel a tingle.
Your prescriber will recommend the right dose based on how often you get outbreaks, and will review your treatment regularly to check it's still needed.
Complete a free online consultation and, if treatment is clinically appropriate for you, our GPhC-registered pharmacy team will dispense your medication with free, discreet next-day delivery and ongoing check-ins throughout your treatment.
Daily prevention
One tablet a day to help keep outbreaks away*
Keeps the cold sore virus suppressed, rather than treating each outbreak after it starts.
Reviewed regularly
Treatment reassessed every 6 to 12 months*
So you only stay on it for as long as it's right for you.
*For suppression of HSV recurrences in immunocompetent adults and adolescents, the licensed dose is 500 mg once daily. Patients with very frequent recurrences (10 or more a year without treatment) may benefit from 250 mg twice daily instead. Treatment should be re-evaluated after 6 to 12 months. Source: Valtrex SmPC, section 4.2. Individual results vary.
Why choose From Mars
Clear the outbreak with From Mars
- 01GPhC-registered online pharmacy. Real pharmacists, real premises, regulated in the UK.
- 02UK-licensed medication, dispensed from our own pharmacy. No third party fulfilment, no grey imports.
- 03Free, discreet, tracked next-day delivery. Unbranded packaging, straight to your door.
- 04Simply get started with our online consultation and our licensed prescribers will review your order and create your personalised plan if medically approved.
Understanding Cold Sores
What are cold sores?
Cold sores are blisters that form on and around the lips. You might get one or they can form in clumps. As well as not looking great, they’re often irritatingly itchy. Cold sores are caused by a herpes virus that infects the skin around the mouth. Most of the time the virus is dormant, and there are no signs it’s there, but every now and again the virus wakes up. And that’s when you get a new outbreak of blisters.
Causes
What causes cold sores?
Cold sores are caused by an infection of a herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are different types of HSV, and the one that most often causes cold sores is called HSV-1, although the HSV-2 virus, which usually causes genital herpes, can also cause cold sores if it infects the skin around the mouth. Just the mention of herpes can sound scary and frightening, but herpes infections are common and widespread, with an estimated 67% of the world’s population aged under 50 thought to be infected by HSV-1.
Both of the herpes viruses are highly contagious, and they usually infect people through skin-to-skin contact, such as kissing someone with cold sores. Once the virus is on someone’s skin, it can enter their body through an opening, like their mouth, and once inside it sets up residence in their cells. The virus copies itself and spreads through the infected area, causing the blisters to form on the skin.
Your immune system fights the virus around the outbreaks, and eventually the blisters will clear up, but the virus isn’t eradicated entirely. It gets into the nerve cells in the skin around the infected area and it goes dormant, effectively hiding from the immune system and any treatments. It stays there for life, and it reactivates now and again, causing a fresh outbreak of blisters. Outbreaks can be triggered by:
- Stress
- Fatigue
- Another infection
- Reduced Immune defences
- Changes in hormones
The Process
How to get cold sore treatment online
01
Complete your online consultation
A confidential health questionnaire covering your medical history and current medicines. Takes around 5 minutes.
02
Clinical review
A UK prescriber reviews your answers to confirm treatment is safe and appropriate.
03
Discreet delivery
If approved, your medication is dispensed by our GPhC-registered pharmacy and delivered free in unbranded packaging.
04
Ongoing support
Regular check-ins and pharmacist access throughout your treatment — not just at the point of sale.
How to treat cold sores?
Beat your cold sores with our medically proven range of cold sores treatments. Simply get started with our online consultation and our licensed prescribers will review your order and create your personalised plan if medically approved. We will have your prescription home-delivered to get you back in the game in no time at all.
Valtrex
(valaciclovir)
You can buy valaciclovir (also known as the brand name Valtrex) online from us if approved for a prescription. Valaciclovir is the active ingredient in Valtrex. It is an antiviral medication in the form of oral pills.
Symptoms
Signs and Symptoms of Cold Sores
The signs and symptoms of cold sores often happen in four main stages:
Stage 1– Skin tingling
You’ll likely feel a tingling of the skin a couple of days before the first cold sores appear. Sometimes you might feel itching, burning, or even shooting pains.
Stage 2 – Blisters
Hard, painful spots appear, and these develop into small blisters filled with a clear fluid. They usually form around the edge of the lips and on the skin close to the mouth, but they can also appear around the nose, on the cheeks, on the lips themselves, and in the mouth. The blisters usually itch, they can be painful, and the area around them sometimes swells up too.
Stage 3 – Leaking and crusting over
The blisters usually burst with the fluid inside oozing out. This can dry and form a hard crust over the affected area.
Stage 4 – All clear
Over time the infection is cleared from the skin and the blisters heal. No scaring is usually left, or any other sign, although the virus will still be dormant in the skin.
Symptoms
Flu-like symptoms
Flu-like symptoms can also accompany an outbreak of cold sore blisters, especially when they occur for the first time. These symptoms include:
- Fever
- Muscle pain
- Swollen glands
- Headaches
Like any infection, the signs and symptoms of cold sores can vary by person, and not everyone will experience the same ones. Cold sores can reappear at any time, but often the first outbreak is the worst. Over time outbreaks usually become less frequent and less severe.
Your mission starts here
Lift off,
with the right support.
Dosage checks, ongoing care, and real support whenever you need it.
- Free discreet delivery
- Access to cold sore treatments
- Dedicated care team
Blame these people when you feel better
Extraordinary Specialists in medicine, nutrition, performance, and behavioural science.
Dr Aseel
Bedan
Medical Director, MBChB
Stefano
Mirabello
Pharmacist independent prescriber, MPharm, CSO
Amish
Patel
Pharmacist independent prescriber, BPharm
Navin
Khosla
Pharmacist independent prescriber, BPharm
Dr Jamie
Winn
Pharmacist, PharmD
Cold Sore Treatments
How do our cold sore treatments work?
Valaciclovir fights herpes simplex infections by stopping the virus from copying itself, slowing the spread of the virus through the skin cells and helping the immune system to clear the infection faster.
It also reduces the severity of outbreaks, help to clear them up quicker, and reduces any pain and itching that accompanies the sores.
Unfortunately, there is no known cure for herpes infections, but valaciclovir is a medically proven way to manage outbreaks of cold sores.
Why From Mars
Why choose us
- 01
A real pharmacy, not a middleman
We are a GPhC-registered pharmacy dispensing UK-licensed medication from our own premises — no third-party fulfilment.
- 02
Clinician-led, always
Every order is reviewed by a UK prescriber, and every patient gets ongoing pharmacist support, dose reviews and side-effect guidance.
- 03
Free discreet next-day delivery
Your medication will be shipped for free to your door the next day. It’s simple and fast. FROM MARS ships all medication discreetly.
- 04
Honest clinical guidance
If a treatment isn't right for you, we'll say so — and if a newer option suits you better, we'll help you switch safely.
Houston,
we have answers.
Start strong. get £50 off your first month with frommars.
You can also cancel anytime, free of charge. Easy breezy.