I Have Herpes on my Cheeks. Will Laser Resurfacing Be Ok if I Take Valtrex Prior to Treat

active cold sores would prevent me from doing an ablative laser procedure but not necessarily a fractional nonablative laser if the patient is taking an antiviral and the laser does not treat the active site, although in this case I do offer to reschedule.  If the cold sore virus seeds the lasered areas it can cause many cold sores that in an ablative procedure would not look typical and their diagnosis could be delayed while the risk of scarring increases.

My protocol for my patients is to use Valtrex 1 gram by mouth daily starting the day before surgery and then continuing until the skin is healed, usually about one week.  I have never had anyone break through and have a serious herpes infection using this protocol.

Many people get facial cold sores.  That is why we always prescribe antiviral medications before doing resurfacing.  If a patient has an active cold sore the procedure must be rescheduled until complete healing has occurred.  It is not worth risking aggravating the viral infection.  The procedure can be done safely after the cold sore is gone.