Question: Hi, 49 yr old male and in very good condition. I woke up with what I thought was a cold sore below my nose under my moustache this morning. Was painful, felt a little tingly and the glands under my jaw and in my neck are very swollen and painful, as usual when I get one (which is once every 3-5 years - but usually closer to or on my lip in the same area). However, it is already crusting, which seems fairly soon to be doing that. So now I am wondering if I may have picked up MRSA from the gym yesterday. I drink from a deer park water bottle and am likely touching the top before I drink from it. Given that gyms are a hotspot for MRSA, is it possible I became infected through a hair follicle above my upper lip? I went to the urgent care this evening and asked for a one day dose of Valtrex, which I got and already took the first 2 grams and I am putting Mupirocin (?) 2% on it. However, I am not improving (understand it is too soon to improve much) and am wondering if I should go to the ER now or wait go back to the urgent care in the morning - in 10 hrs or so. No fever but feel sick with the painful swollen nodes in neck and jaw and just wondering/concerned about MRSA. Cold sores are so rare for me - but then again, I have been drinking from water bottles 5 days a week for 4 years at the gym.