Cold Sores - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

Cold sores are small, painful, fluid-filled blisters or sores that appear on the lips, mouth, or nose that are caused by a virus. The sores can be painful and usually last a few days. Unlike most viral infections, the cold sore virus is not completely eliminated by the body defenses. For this reason, cold sores often recur.

Causes Cold Sores

What causes cold sores for you? What is the one big trigger that causes these painful and embarrassing cold sores in your life?

You do not realize it now, but in the next few moments you will learn exactly what causes your cold sores and what you can do right now to eliminate them.

Having a weak immune system is another cause. If you have a weak immune system, you are vulnerable to an outbreak. So, if you have chronic outbreaks, your immune system is weak. Make sure you eat well-balanced meals.

A weak immune system is another cause of cold sores. By having a weak immune system, you are at risk of having an outbreak. So, be sure to eat healthy foods. Eat plenty of fruits, veggies, lean meats, and other health foods.

Cold Sore Symptoms

Cold sore symptoms are caused by the replication process of the herpes simplex virus. 89% of people worldwide have this virus in their body, so it is quite universal. 67% of those folks will experience cold sore symptoms at least once - most often 2 or more times - in the next 12 months.

There are NO cold sore symptoms when the herpes virus is latent (sleeping) within your nerve cells. If they wake up due to some physical stress like flu, colds, or mental stress - then the cold sore symptoms start. And it's like a "domino effect" - from one symptom to the next.

The arrival of a new cold sore blister is signified in many people by the tingling sensation, as the virus wakes up from its dormant state and moves towards the surface of the skin, replicating as it does so. This is also sometimes described as an itching or burning sensation below the surface of the skin in the area that cold sores appear.

Best Cold Sore Treatment

Cold sores are best treated during the initial stages. This is when you get the symptoms such as a burning sensation, itching or a tingling effect on your lip. The first outbreak is usually worse than a recurrent one and is best treated with oral medication and the second one can be topically treated. You can take 1500mg of Famciclovir (Famvir) once which is FDA approved. This will shorten the healing period by two days.

After you have recognized that you have a cold sore, you should get a new toothbrush. Toothbrushes can hold onto some of the virus and it will continue to come back. It is also a good idea to change your toothpaste tube if you use your toothbrush to get the toothpaste out.

Petroleum Jelly if applied to your blisters can help prevent cracking which could then lead to blistering. This is great for when you cannot use method number 2, ice, for example when your out food shopping.