You might be right to an extent. what happens is that when the crust starts to form it traps bacteria and fungus inside(I read this on the internet) leaving the lip to be in a permanent state of inflamation. And when you do't let the crust to form you obviously are not letting the inflamation to heal. Its basically a catch 22 situation.
I used to have raw lips but what i did was something really bizzare, i agree with you that garlic is antiviral but what i did may be very difficult for others. I actually applied raw garlic juice over my lips and they would burn as hell. But after repeating it for 15-20 days the inflamation had virtually gone. Bcos the garlic never let bacteria and fungus to be formed.
It is a very ugly feeling that you have to smell the garlic juice all the time but it did help me and now there's no inflamation.
I only knew about garlic to be a anti bacterial and viral stuff so i applied. if you know some other easy alternative that kills bacteria and fungus, you should go about it asap...