The hows and whys of preventing cold sores

They always say prevention is better than a cure, but the problem with cold sores is that prevention really is the best option as there is no cure yet. Naturally it is better to avoid catching the virus that causes them, but if you do become infected it isn't the end of the world as you can take steps that help in preventing cold sores.

Looking after the immune system is vital in this, which may mean making some lifestyle changes. Take a long hard look at what you eat and drink to start with. A good balanced diet, low in fat and sugars and with plenty of fresh fruit and veg is ideal. And if you need to lose weight, do it, while taking regular exercise will help enormously in boosting your immune system and preventing cold sores from occurring so frequently or severely.

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.

What conventional treatment of cold sores can't achieve

Conventional treatment of cold sores completely focuses on getting rid of the symptoms of an attack, rather than tackling the root cause. Medicines are designed to aid healing of the blister and lesion, rather than preventing them from occurring and to be fair, alternative and home remedies also focus on this.

The bad news is that currently there is no treatment to get rid of the virus - once infected always infected. However, by stepping back from the immediate symptoms of cold sores and evaluating our lifestyles we can make a difference. Ask yourself what you are doing to add stress to your body. Are you eating right? Getting enough exercise? Taking the opportunity to really relax? If the answer to these is "no" then you should make some changes towards the better - holistic treatment of cold sores rather than remedial treatment.