Iontophoretic treatment of oral herpes

Recent development of pharmaceutical agents that interfere with reproduction and metabolism of the herpes virus appear to have clinical applications in the treatment of orocutaneous herpetic lesions. Use of topical medications has always been limited by skin penetration. Combining these new pharmaceutical agents with iontotransport techniques has been shown to be effective for treatment of herpetic lesions. Instrumentation and a specially designed applicator electrode are described. Use of this instrumentation and its clinical application is described in the treatment of 32 patients and the results are summarized. Combining the use of the new pharmaceuticals with the iontotransport instrumentation is described as an effective treatment of localized herpetic lesions. Similar technique offers fascinating possibilities in other areas of skin pathology.