Stop Cold Sores

By Author: Joe Islab
Total Articles: 13
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Cold sores appear to have a warped sense of humour. It is bad enough that these painful blisters appear in the first place, and that their appearance can leave you feeling a little embarrassed and self conscious, but why do they just seem to pick their moment when you have a big event coming up, like an interview or a social function like a wedding where you will probably end out having your photograph taken a lot as well, just to remind everyone about your cold sore every time they look at the photos. So how can we do to stop them occurring?

Unfortunately, stopping a cold sore outbreak is going to take a bit of work. The reason it takes a bit of work is because a cold sore results from the sufferer having the Herpes Simplex 1 virus. Now the thing with this virus that you have to remember is that once you have it, then you have it forever as at present there is no permanent cure for it. However it is not all doom and gloom, because by taking a few steps you can help keep these painful blisters under control. Lets first look at what to do if you have an outbreak.

When an outbreak occurs, then the first thing to ...
... do is to apply an ice cube to the effected area. Do not forget to wrap the ice cube in a handkerchief or something similar, otherwise the cube may stick to your sore and aggravate it. It is probably best to keep the cold compress on the effected area for at least half an hour. Doing this can not only help stop the pain, but also it may prevent the outbreak worsening.

After applying the ice cube, the next step comes down to personal choice, are you into natural remedies, or over the counter medicines? One thing to bear in mind is that most of the time applying over the counter products is probably not going to make your cold sore go away any faster, you will get pain relief, but the cold sore will still probably take about a week or so to go away anyway.

If you do want to use something natural (and cheap) then you can apply a used tea bag to the effected area after you have applied the ice. The reason this is believed to work is because the of the tannin properties found in tea. Again you want to apply this compress for about half an hour or so.

To stop cold sores before they even break out can be done. In the first instance you need to be aware of if you can feel a cold sore coming on, then you can apply your ice before the outbreak occurs. Also you can adjust your diet so that you are not consuming too much salt or caffeine, and try to make sure you get plenty of rest so that your body is not fatigued and can fight off infection.