That's the million dollar question isn't it?!.. Well kind of, but actually no, because I'm going to go through with you and show you ways that you can actually banish those cold sore for good, even if you do still have the Herpes virus within you.
Okay where to start? How about prevention. It's always better to prevent something from happening rather than to wait until you've got it and then treat it. It's a no-brainer really, and if you follow a few rules then you should give yourself a pretty good chance of never actually developing a cold sore or fever blister again. Prevention is better than the cure, or says an old proverb, but that especially true when it can be enjoyable prevention. If you eat and drink the right things, exercise a little, get lots of sleep at night time, take some vitamin tablets daily and try to keep your stress to a minimum then your half way there already. Eat three meals a day, preferably including balanced portions of meat, veg, and carbs, and drink a lot of water. I would recommend at least 8 glasses a day. This will help with your cell regeneration and help to keep you healthy and fresh.
By eating well and living a healthy lifestyle, you will increase your immune system's defenses to beat and combat virus and colds. Since cold sores are most likely to occur when you are at your lowest, i.e while you are unwell, it makes sense to try and prevent this in the first place.
But what if you do actually start developing a cold sore? Well the key here is to attack the cold sore at it's earliest stage. This will usually be when you feel a slight tingling sensation somewhere around your mouth, and you might notice your skin becoming redder and slightly raised. This is the time to act! The Herpes Simplex Virus has noticed that your immunity is low and has taken the opportunity to launch an attack against you. The virus has traveled down your nerves and started replicating itself, and before it's too long the virus will be in your nerve endings on the surface of your skin making a cold sore.
Little tip; the Herpes virus hates the cold. So get an ice cube from your freezer, and hold it onto where you are feeling the tingling sensation, or to where you feel that the cold sore will be. Hold it on for long enough, but not so long the side of your face freezes! The cold from the ice cube should make it undesirable for the virus to continue its journey down to the skin, and either make it retreat back up into your nerves, or at the very least slow it down. If you use this method early enough then it will be very effective and should bring it to a halt.
If you don't want to use ice, then you can use an old and tested remedy: Tea bags! Use Earl Grey tea bags specifically as they are made with bergamot oil which is said to aid the healing process of cold sores. Pour some boiling water over the teabags as though you were going to make a cup of tea and leave them to brew for a couple of minutes. When a couple of minutes are up, take the tea bags out and place them straight into a container and put it in the freezer. After about twenty minutes or so or alternatively when the tea bags have completely cooled, take them out of the container and squeeze out any excess liquid. Finally!..apply to the coldsore...ahh.
Okay so if all of that didn't work, and you've now got a big nasty mama of a cold sore; what to do now!? Well don't panic please as stress will just make it worse. You're going to have to follow a few simple rules if you don't want to make it worse. These are in no particular order as follows. Washing you hands. You will have to be more careful about touching your face and wash your hands on a more regular basis maybe once an hour. This is because if the virus managed to get into your eyes, it could cause long term damage and possibly blind you. Scary stuff.
Be sure not to kiss or be intimate with anybody until your cold sore has gone..unless of course you want to give somebody else the Herpes virus!? I feel like I should also point out, that you should definitely refrain from having oral sex, as you could give your partner genital Herpes, which wouldn't be good!
Basically don't touch your cold sore but if you have to, be sure to wash your hands straight after.
Since you want to make your cold sore outbreak as pain free as possible, you should get some over the counter painkillers such as ibuprofen or paracetamol. This way you can fight the fever blister without being in huge pain, which will make it easier for you to stay calm, relaxed and focused on getting over the outbreak of the cold sore.
It's really up to you whether or not you want to go for a more natural way of getting rid of a cold sore, or you want to go instead for the medicines and creams approach. The best thing would be to probably use them in conjunction with each other.
There are some cold sore creams that you can get over the counter, without the need for a prescription and these should help fight it and at the very least sooth it and relieve a bit of pain. There is actually an anti-viral cream you can get over the counter which directly combats and fights the virus. It goes by the name of Abreva and is apparently the only FDA (Food And Drug Administration) approved, non prescription cold sore medicine. The active and important ingredient in this drug is docosanol which makes up for 10% of the cream. Docosanol has been shown in studies and clinically tested to reduce the outbreak of cold sores. So if you were after a non prescription cream, then this should do the job pretty nicely.
Cold sore creams do work best when applied as early as possible, when you first feel the tingling sensation, and may actually have little effect if it has already become a fully blown cold sore.
If your outbreaks of cold sore are more frequent and aggressive, that you should consider going to your doctor, and getting him or her to prescribe you with some cold sore drugs in the form of tablets. These may work better as they are taken orally and work from the inside, as opposed to creams which obviously are externally applied.
Again if you are too late and your cold sore has already taken hold, then even prescribed drugs might have less of an effect.
So what can you do? Ride out the storm, take some painkillers and hope for the best?
Well yes there is that if you really want to, but there are a few more tricks you can use to at least give that damn cold sore a run for its money!
Home based cold sore remedies are the kind of thing that have been past down from generation to generation and some are probably as old as cold sores are old. Because of this, there must be some truth to them, and to be honest some of them in my opinion work just as well as the pricey creams and medicines. There are some that you may want to give a miss though, for example using ear wax as a sort of cream for your cold sore, may seem a bit beyond what you are willing to do, but each to their own and if it works then why not?
Some home based remedies are known to be a bit painful as well, but if you are willing to withstand a few minutes of discomfort then the reward should be worth it. It's really up to you if you want to try these yourself, as there is of course no guarantee they will work, but if you really are desperate to get rid of a cold sore then they might just be worth trying.
People have used almost everything in an attempt to tackle their cold sores including: bleach, salt, garlic,nail polish remover, milk, ear wax, tea bags, soaps and tree tree oils. You have to be careful if you're going to experiment with remedies such as bleach, as it can cause damage to your skin. If you do want to try it, you first have to dilute the bleach with some water on a cotton bud, as the full strength bleach would be far too strong and likely burn your skin. Once diluted, shake off any excess water and apply directly on to your sore for as long as feels comfortable, but for no longer than five minutes.
The reason that this works is because bleach is a natural sterilizer and basically destroys most things it comes into contact with. While this is good for stopping the virus, it is also why you must be careful not to get too much on to your skin, and keep it diluted with water. Bleach also contains gases which help by penetrating deep into the cold sore rather than just staying on the surface.
Remedies such as the application of salt,tea tree oil, nail polish remover and milk can all be applied easily using cotton buds, and applying directly to the cold sore.
If you use one of these remedies, then finish it off by slapping on some cream to help sooth it from the abuse it has just received. Then repeat the process as necessary, until it is, no longer.
