Best Cold Sore Remedies

Are you looking for cold sore remedies or tips on how to cure cold sores? Cold sores can often be painful and embarrassing to have. They often appear in times of stress or when your immune system is not at 100%. Often, cold sores appear on your lips, nose, or mouth and are somewhat difficult to hide. These sores are tiny, painful blisters that are filled with fluid and created because of the herpes virus. They will usually get better in a few day, but since the virus is still in the body, they will eventually come back. Cold sores are caused by HSV, or herpes simplex virus. This virus is very contagious and easily transmitted. The majority of the time, people get cold sores because they were close to someone or kissed someone that had the virus. Sometimes even babies get the virus from their mother or father who transmit the virus unknowingly.

Most of the time people will try to cover up these sores by using makeup, but this only make the problem worse. Even though you can't do very much to make your face look better with a cold sore on it, there are steps you can take to make them not feel so painful, heal faster and easier, and make it so they will not come back again. There are also ways that you can keep from spreading the HSV-1 virus to other people.

1. You need to cover and protect the cold sore. One important thing to do when you are treating cold sores is to cover them with a product that has petroleum in it, like petroleum jelly. This will help the cold sore heal faster and keep it from getting infected even more.

2. Utilize painkillers and anaesthetics to keep from being in pain. It can be very painful to have a cold sore, so you should use aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen to kill the pain or a ointment that has benzocaine in it to numb the area. Keep in mind that using these medications will not make the cold sore go away, they will only take care of the pain cause by the cold sores.

3. Keep away from foods that have high acid levels or are really salty. If you eat foods that have a large amount of salt in them or are acidic, then you could aggravate the col sore to where it hurts even more than it did to begin with. It is recommended that you try to not eat these kinds of foods when you have a cold sore.

4. Talk to your doctor. If your cold sores are really bad or they come back a lot, then you need to see your doctor as soon as possible. Most of the time, the doctor will give you a antiviral medicine that will assist in getting rid of the cold sores.

5. Perform some remedies from home. There are many remedies that are natural and people have found to be effective in the fight against cold sores. Some of them are herbal remedies that have to do with tea tree oil and sage and some have to do with ice and applying tea bags to the cold sores. Even though these remedies have not been scientifically proven to cure cold sores, it wouldn't hurt to attempt one or two of them. There are people from all around the world who say that these remedies work, so they might help your cold sores also.

6. Make sure your lips are protected. It is crucial that you keep your lips protected from the harmful rays of the sun. If you use lip balm that has sunscreen in it, you can prevent cold sores from coming back. Pick out a lip balm that has 15 SPF or even higher.

7. Keep the cold sore to yourself. It is important to keep in mind that your cold sore is very contagious. Because of this, you should stay away from cuddling, kissing, sharing towels and cups, and not have sex. Make sure you wash your hands often, but especially after you touch the cold sore. Be sure that you do not touch your eyes or your genitals after you touch your cold sore. It is much better to be cautious about it, than to be sorry you weren't.