Allergic reaction? Cold sore? other?

[ny biker]

This is a long story, so thanks very much for your patience and any suggestions you might have.

About a month ago I came down with a bad cold, which included a fever (100F) on and off for a few days. As it was winding down (the crazy things always happen to me as colds are winding down) I noticed some blisters around the edges of my lips. I've never had a cold sore before, but it seemed I was developing one. I picked up some Abreva, threw out the Chapstick I'd been using and started using Aquaphor as a lip moisturizer instead.

After a few days my lips were very chapped and irritated, and they started shedding (dead skin formed, peeled off, more formed, peeled, etc.). I figured my lips were just really irritated by the Abreva, so I stopped using it (no more blisters were visible and I never developed the kind of crusty sore that seems common with cold sores). I opened a new tube of Chapstick (I'm a lip balm person, not a lipstick person). In the past, whenever I had a split lip or other irritation, I would put Aquaphor on it and by morning it would be fine. So before I went to bed the next night I applied a generous bit of Aquaphor to help them heal.

About four hours later I woke up. My lips were really hurting, red and swollen. It seemed to be an allergy to the Aquaphor. I washed it off as best I could, applied a cold pack to bring the swelling down and went to Urgent Care a few hours later. I'd also developed a sore throat (from the cold, I assume) and was worried that I'd develop the same vocal cord problem that I had after my last cold. The doctor gave me a prescription for a 6-day course of steroids plus some Valtrex. The steroids helped a lot. He also recommended using pure petroleum jelly to protect and moisturize my lips, so I picked up a small container of Vasoline.

Next I looked at the ingredients of Aquaphor -- Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Ceresin, Lanolin Alcohol, Panthenol, Glycerin, Bisabolol. After a bit of internet searching I figured the most likely causes of an allergic reaction were lanolin and bisabolol. But it turns out that the chamois cream I use has bisabolol in it, so I ruled that out. Chapstick has lanolin in it, so I've been using an olive-oil based lip balm that I got at the LL Bean store for the past couple of weeks.

The thing is that my lips have not fully healed yet. I developed a small cut in the left corner of my mouth that wasn't healing. By keeping it covered with Vasoline, eating foods that only require small bites and not flossing (my dentist will not be happy!) it's finally almost healed. But every few days I see (and feel) white spots, like pimples, on my lips. They only last a few hours or maybe half a day at most, then they go away. I did end up using Chapstick once or twice at the gym when I forgot to bring the olive-oil lip balm with me, so I thought I was reacting to that. But then today the spots came back, and I haven't used any Chapstick in 5 days.

Does anyone know what might be going on? Is this this herpes virus presenting in a less-than-typical way? An allergic reaction? Something else? I do have problems with chronic hives which have been flaring up for months, but they've never affected my lips.

I'm ready to make an appointment with a doctor, but I'm not sure if I should go to a dermatologist, allergist or primary care physician.

Any thoughts??? Thanks very much as always.