Anyone that gets cold sores/fever blisters, this is a MUST HAVE! I've used a cream in the past but I haven't had 1 in so long I didn't have anything on hand this time so I tried these and wow! I had gotten the first tingle & itch and by the next day a small red bump was starting right on the edge of my lip. These came within 24hrs and I applied the 1st one as soon as I got them. They are tricky, as I almost threw away the piece w/ the actual patch on it. There is a clear plastic tab and a teak plastic protective cover. The patch is on the clear tab, NOT THE TEAL PLASTIC COVER! Peel the clear tab, being careful not to touch anything but the rounded edge to pull. Throw away the teal plastic cover. The clear patch is on the clear tab and it is super difficult to see.Make sure ur skin is dry, no oils or creams or anything. Stretch ur skin so it's taut and place the patch on it. Press it down so all the edges are sealed, holding it down for several seconds to make sure. Sometimes it took a little longer than others so I would carefully peel back the side of the clear applicator tab to see if the patch was adhered before pulling the whole tab away. Once it is fully adhered, carefully pull the clear plastic applicator tab away. Smooth down the patch while keeping ur skin nice and taut.It was completely invisible! I couldn't believe my eyes! Not only could I not see the patch, but it concealed the growing bump somewhat and I could see how easily u can apply make-up over it if needed.Instantly, I had no symptoms! No tingling, no itching, gone like magic!!!! What is this sorcery????It lasted ALL DAY even under a hot sweaty silicone face mask, through talking, eating and drinking, no problems! It says up to 12hrs relief, so I made the mistake of thinking I NEEDED to take it off after 12hrs... but u don't! U should leave it on as long as it stays on & as long as it's providing relief. So after 12hrs when I pulled it off, I found I had to pull all the edges up carefully and pull the opposite edges AWAY from each other, NOT pulling the patch away from the skin. Pulling the sides away from each other caused it to come loose naturally without pulling the skin and came up without hurting or breaking the skin. If u pull it up and away from the skin, u could break the skin and defeat the purpose, further delaying healing.Really u should leave it until it is falling off on its own. It says in the directions to leave on a long as it stays on. I was able to get more than 24hrs adhesion and relief with ONE PATCH! if u leave it until its ready to fall off on its own, it comes off, super easily, without pulling, and I found it helped healing much more. I simply kept each patch on until it was ready to be removed (u will notice the edges start to come up and when u pull a little u will feel theres very little adhesion left). I would just clean the area w/ some witch Hazel (or use another cleaning drying agent), and put another patch on.Normally w/ a cream, it would take at least 5-7 days to scab and then another 5-7 days for the scab to heal. If I was really lucky to catch it at very first tingle, maybe I could shorten it by a couple of days. It may not have gotten as big and awful but it still went thru the same process basically. But with the patch, it NEVER turned into anything! It stayed the small red bump and then disappeared over 4-5 days. It never got any bigger, it never turned into a scab, nothing!!!! I probably could have stopped treatment end of day 4 when the patch came off naturally, but there was still a little red mark, not raised, but just a little red, and i didnt want to take any chances being this is my 1st time using them. I put another fresh patch and end of day 5, the patch came off and there was nothing! I'm in complete shock.These are incredible! I can't believe how well they work and how well they conceal! I had to look so hard in the mirror to see the patch...it really is unbelievable. The key is to really follow the directions. Like I said, dont remove them before they are ready to fall off! Make sure the skin is super dry and they are applied well. They are worth every penny!!!! I highly recommend!