How to treat cold sores

Published: August 27, 2020

Cold sores are the product of a highly infectious virus called herpes simplex. It is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and usually develops in childhood, when a person with a cold sore delivers a kiss to the child, for instance. Herpes simplex has the ability to penetrate the skin and travel up the nerves. It then lies dormant until it is triggered.

Triggers vary from person to person, but often include stress, fatigue or depression.

For most people, there are no symptoms of infection other than the sore little blister that eventually appears in the region around the mouth. Sometimes, however, the virus can bring on severe symptoms on initial infection. According to the NHS, these can include fever, a swollen throat and glands, dehydration, nausea, headaches and irritated gums with painful sores in and around the mouth.

How often you get a cold sore also varies. Some people can become infected but never get one because the virus never becomes active. Others get them once in a while and some can develop them frequently.

How do I get rid of a cold sore?

Unfortunately, there is as yet no cure for the herpes simplex virus. However, there are an increasing number of highly effective methods for treating a cold sore.

The first outbreak is usually the worst and should be treated with oral medication, according to About Dermatology. Anti-viral drugs are effective in reducing pain and the amount of time a cold sore takes to heal as well as the number and size of lesions.

Topical treatment can be used for recurrences. Popular creams include Topical Denavir, Acyclovir, Famciclovir and Valacyclovir. It is advisable to start applying the cream at the very first signs of a cold sore, which may include burning, itching or redness. The medication serves to relieve symptoms and shorten the life of the sore by several days.

Suppression therapy has not yet been approved by the FDA, but research suggests that people who have more than 6 outbreaks annually could benefit from it. Patients would take a daily dose of medicine generally used to treat symptoms in order to suppress any future ones.

There are, however, those who favour a more organic approach. BBC show ‘Grow your own drugs’ recently claimed that lemon balm can be effective in treating cold sores and showed viewers how to make their own all-natural lip salve.

The ingredients consist of:

  • 21 tbsp (approx. 50 g) fresh lemon balm leaves
  • 3 tbsp wheatgerm oil
  • 115 ml olive oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp beeswax
  • 5 drops tea tree oil

Click here to view the full recipe on the BBC website.

Images: Wikimedia Commons



Tweet this


Published August 27, 2020 by in Health Conditions
Tags: , ,

12 Responses to “How to treat cold sores”

  1. [...] Celebrities With Diseases [...]

    Reply to this comment
  2. Beeswax For Sale

    04. Sep, 2010

    Finding good information from blogs is not always easy, but you have done a great job here, interesting title ( How to treat cold sores - Health Conditions - Celebrities with diseases ) too, cool.

    Reply to this comment
  3. Beeswax For Sale

    04. Sep, 2010

    Cool post the title name How to treat cold sores - Health Conditions - Celebrities with diseases is also pretty ingenious keep up the good work, check out my site too thanks.

    Reply to this comment
  4. Beeswax For Sale

    04. Sep, 2010

    I have to say from the bottom of my heart, you done well with this post, very useful stuff.

    Reply to this comment
  5. Beeswax For Sale

    04. Sep, 2010

    If you keep the info pouring in you will have tons more viewers coming to see what you have to write, thanks.

    Reply to this comment
  6. Beeswax For Sale

    04. Sep, 2010

    Nothing beats finding some useful information, for my research, keep em coming.

    Reply to this comment
  7. [...] Celebrities With Diseases [...]

    Reply to this comment
  8. Cruz

    27. Dec, 2010

    Keep up the good work, this site is amazing

    Reply to this comment
  9. SENA

    27. Dec, 2010

    This was a good read, with great information.

    Reply to this comment
  10. Sonny

    27. Dec, 2010

    I love the inforamtion here, keep up the good work.

    Reply to this comment
  11. Slender Pops

    30. Mar, 2011

    So that is the reason why some people involved to that infectious virus. Thanks for this great informative article. Keep it up..

    Reply to this comment
  12. Resveratrol Dosage

    02. May, 2011

    Oh very unpleasant to see for, good thing there’s an informative site that can help people who is suffering such kind of Diseases. Thanks for the information buddy!

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Reply