Helping your body get rid of cold sores

The immune system is perfectly capable of getting rid of a cold sore without any outside help, but to do so takes 10 days or so. Luckily there are some steps we can take to aid our natural defenses.

Applying a topical remedy is strongly advised, whether a medicinal product such as Abreva, or another treatment such as tea tree oil. These help keep the sore covered and moist, which prevents the additional pain that comes from cracking or splitting.

How to get rid of a cold sore

While there are several drugs available designed to help heal cold sores, they have been shown to be limited in their efficacy and therefore many people have decided how to get rid of a cold sore using alternative or natural remedies.

Common alternative treatments include tea tree oil or lemon balm, These act on the virus, helping the body rid itself of the symptoms faster. If you want to find about these kinds of treatments and learn more about how to get rid of a cold sore see the Cold Sore Treatment Guide.

Learning how to get rid of cold sores

While one approach to find how to get rid of cold sores is simply to try what the experts recommend, a better strategy may be to make a note of all the treatments you try and try and gauge the effectiveness of each. Obviously you can't try everything in one go, because if something works you won't know which specific treatment it was and so ideally you would try one treatment for each cold sore outbreak.

Ideally you should take a prolific notes, recording the times at which symptoms occurred and treatments started, as well as the overall time of the outbreak and any specific points you notice such as level of discomfort or any thing else at all. By collating the data carefully and analyzing it later you really can learn how to get rid of cold sores on your own.

How your body can get rid of cold sores faster

It is an unfortunate fact that once infected with herpes simplex virus we remain infected for our entire life. However there are measures we can take to help heal the sores faster, as well as reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. The immune system is responsible for suppressing infections and so it is the case with cold sores; when the immune system is no longer strong enough to counter herpes simplex virus it begins to replicate and cause a new sore. That is why we often experience attacks when we get a cold or flu, or due to stress or tiredness.

It therefore makes sense that by doing all we can to look after our immune system can help us fight the cold sore virus, and that basically means looking after our health. Changing our diet to be more balanced, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and low fat and sugar; taking moderate regular exercise such as walking for 30 minutes per day; and ensuring we get adequate sleep and avoid stressful situations all help with this. By changing our habits we can help our bodies get rid of cold sores faster and reduce the number of attacks we have. Don't you want to benefit from that?

Why cold sore treatments are limited

With people being affected by cold sores since the Roman times, it should be no surprise that there are so many cold sore treatments available, ranging from remedies that must have been discovered by those same Romans to the latest drugs. Whichever treatment you choose, there is one problem with the condition that you can't overcome - the fact is that cold sores are incurable.

There is some good news though - cold sores aren't serious, although they often
feel that they are. They feel awful, they make you feel awful, but they don't create a problem for you unless the virus spreads to your eye. This is easy to avoid though, so don't touch your sores unless completely necessary and always wash you hands after applying cold sore treatments.

Getting rid of cold sores: keep your mind open

Learning how your body responds to different remedies is one of the keys to successfully getting rid of cold sores. One treatment may work wonders for one person, but be completely useless in another. Therefore it is vital to keep open minded about treatments for cold sores and watch out for when new ideas come available.

For instance there is a new product based on intra-red light that claims to aid healing of cold sores, which while it sounds bizarre, might actually work for some people; and if one of those people is you then you life will be improved. Remember that many people suffer from the condition and so there are probably people who have tried things you've never heard of in their quest for getting rid of cold sores; listen to them and keep you mind open.

Home remedy for cold sores

The application of ice is one very simple home remedy for cold sores that has proved to be effective.

Application of an ice pack in the latter stages of an attack help to sooth the sore and ease swelling, but it works better still if applied as soon as the tingling sensation is noticed, when it can make a massive difference in slowing the development of the virus.

By chilling the virus as it becomes active we seem to reduce its capability to replicate, minimizing the effects of the outbreak. Since ice is available in all homes it is ideal for rapid action, making it the perfect home remedy for cold sores.

Cold sore symptoms

For most people a tingling sensation is the first symptom of a new cold sore attack, signifying that the immune system can no longer overcome the virus. HSV-1, awoken from its dormant state in the nerve cells, moves to the surface of the skin, replicating as it does so. There it wreaks its damage by destroying skin cells, thereby causing small blisters that merge to create a larger one.

Once the blister bursts, weeping the contagious fluid, an open sore is left; this is both painful to experience and unpleasant to look at and is the biggest problem for many sufferers, who actively avoid social interaction while having an attack. However, after a few days, the sore heals and no scar is left. While it is an unpleasant condition it is not serious, but by starting treatment as soon as cold sore symptoms are noticed the overall healing time can be reduced.

Preventing cold sores

Preventing cold sores is a question of looking after our body to allow the immune system to work at full capacity. The virus that causes cold sores is usually dormant, only waking when the immune system is weak. Therefore we can help prevent new attacks by eating well, exercising and avoiding stress and other immune system stressors, such as lack of sleep or stress. By preventing cold sores from occurring we need not deal with the nasty symptoms - the ugly scab that seems to take forever to heal and a general feeling of wretchedness.

The problem with cold sore cures

Once infected with the HSV virus we remain infected for life and therefore all the supposed cold sore cures on the market are aimed at easing symptoms rather than eradicating the virus completely.
Treatments can be taken either orally or topically, but effectiveness for treating even the symptoms is limited. Studies have found that alternative and natural remedies can be just as effective as medicinal cold sore cures and it therefore comes down to factors such as price and side effects to decide which options is best of the individual.

Cold sore cure

If you're looking for a permanent cold sore cure then I have bad news; once infected with the virus it is with you for life and so any treatment you take will act on the symptoms, not the underlying cause. Herpes Simplex Virus I is was is responsible and although you can take steps to reduce the frequency and severity of outbreaks, you are likely to experience attacks all the same if susceptible. Research continues into find a cold sore cure, but until such time as one is made available we all must do the best we can to minimize its impact on our lives.

Get Rid of Cold Sores

You feel that tingling sensation again? In that case you know you've got another cold sore outbreak on its way, and your thoughts should be drawn towards how to get rid of cold sores fast.

The big problem is that there is no cure for the condition, which means that once infected with the virus responsible, always infected. Most of the time it lies dormant, but when it strikes, you know the result; painful sores, scabs around your mouth - in other words misery for the 7-10 days they take to heal.

However, there are steps you can take to get rid of cold sores faster than would happen otherwise. In this blog I'll discuss a few of the options available to you.