Friday, November 28, 2008

The Cold Sore Cure Explained!

By Tom Mulligan

It probably won't make you feel any better if you have one yourself, but cold sores are a very common problem. They're unsightly and most definitely uncomfortable. However, you can reduce the length of time a cold sore stays there with some simple steps and you can also prevent them from showing up at all.

On its own, it usually takes eight to ten days for a cold sore to heal without any intervention from you. That's longer than most people want to wait, especially because cold sores have bad timing - it seems you always get one right before a major event! To reduce the healing time, there are a few tips and tricks you can use. However, one of the biggest helps is understanding how a cold sore works.

You can't cure cold sores per se, since they are a viral (herpes simplex) infection. The infection can't be treated with antibiotics; but you can treat the symptoms and make your cold sores go away faster, even prevent them.

Don't get discouraged though. Even though you can't cure the virus, you can take some steps to permanently prevent any outbreaks. There are also some easy steps you can take to heal any outbreak you get in less than 24 hours. That was the idea behind starting our website - we understand the hassle they can be and think it's important you equip yourself to fight away cold sores for good.

Every year, about forty million people are affected by cold sores appearing on or around the mouth. There are a lot of things that can cause a break out, but at its simplest, a cold sore is caused by a strained immune system. That means that if you have anything that's causing your immune system to be more compromised than usual - a cold, stress, fatigue, sleeplessness, a change in hormones or even eating badly lately - you have an increased likelihood of a breakout.

The first sign of an outbreak is an itching or tingling sensation. The area then becomes red and swells. This leads to the eruption of the cold sore. The sore will ooze briefly, then dry out and scab over. However, if you scratch or otherwise break the scab, it will take longer for the sore to heal.

Most of us would rather not use costly prescription medications to treat our cold sores. Besides, these medications don't work any better than home remedies in a lot of cases and you'll have to go to your doctor to get them. You can use home remedies to get rid of your cold sores quickly.

A cold sore can be kept at bay with vitamin C, which is very helpful in strengthening your immune response. Aloe vera gel and lip balm can help keep your cold sore from splitting and L-Lysine can be used to promote rapid healing.

Generally speaking, you can help prevent cold sores by staying in good health, eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of sleep. If you have been ill or overworked, a cold sore could be on its way. Treat yourself well and you can keep these sores from coming up in the first place. - 16650

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