Home Remedies for Cold Sores

Treating a cold sore for quick, positive success means you must adjust the treatment based on the stage of your cold sore symptoms.

Let's look at the treating a cold sore one stage at a time :

1. An itching or tingling is the first sign of a cold sore. This tells you that the herpes simplex virus has come out of latency and has moved to the surface to replicate. It does so by entering the nerve cells and forcing them to create duplicates of the virus.
2. Application of ice is most successful at this early stage. The cold sore virus has difficulty replicating when cold. You often can either delay or prevent further development of a cold sore.
3. Once the virus actually enters the cells, swelling begins to occur. Cold application is still the best treatment at this stage. Apply for 15 minutes at a time. This will reduce swelling, and provides soothing comfort.
4. During the next stage, the open wound appears. This is caused by the herpes virus destroying thousands of cells to release the new clones.

Ice no longer is the best treatment for your cold sore. Your wound is now in the healing stages.

You can still use ice to reduce heat and swelling. But cold applied now will slow healing.

Instead of ice for comfort, use products that have a nerve-deadening ingredient.

One of the oldest, time-proven products on the market is Campho-Phenique. It is available in several formulas.

During the open wound stage, treating a cold sore requires keeping it as sterile as possible. Do this by cleaning with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide often.

Treating a cold sore from now through the end of the healing stages means applying warmth as much as possible. This will speed healing by bringing more blood to the area.

Continued cleansing of the sore will speed healing and help prevent re-infection.

One way that works very well is using a damp, warm washcloth. This can be heated up in the microwave. Be cautious not to burn yourself.

A better method, in my opinion, is the use of a warm tea bag. This way of treating a cold sore not only speeds healing from the heat, but also bathes the area with powerful healing compounds found in tea.

Cold sores, which are another name for oral herpes, are extremely contagious. How dangerous are cold sores? You can easily infect others or create new areas of infection on yourself.

Cold sores can easily be spread to other areas of your body including your fingertips. Anywhere the herpes virus can get through the skin will create a new cold sore trouble area.

Especially dangerous is getting the virus in your eyes. This can cause damage to the cornea.

While treating a cold sore, Do not contaminate your fingers by touching the area around the sore. Always clean your hands thoroughly after treatment. Use a hand sanitizing gel.

Use cotton balls, swabs, or tissues to apply any liquids and for cleansing the sore.

Finally, keep in mind to apply cold when the sore is forming and heat during the healing phase.

Continue to cleanse the wound and wash your hands often when treating a cold sore.

Right now, if you will let me, I would love to tell you about a cold sore cure that really works -

By Denny Bodoh