Natural Treatment And Home Remedies for Cold Sores

Monday, March 17th, 2008 | Cold Sore with

What are cold sores?
Cold sores, also called fever blisters are primarily caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and are normally the main symptom for oral herpes or herpes labialis. The HSV-1 is a highly contagious virus that usually affects the lips, the mouth and the face. People who contract the virus usually feel some amount of pain and discomfort caused by the blisters as well as embarrassment when the sores appear all over their lips and face.

If you suffer from cold sore outbreaks, you may be getting very tired of having to run off to the store every time you feel a cold sore coming on. Fortunately there are some home remedies for cold sores that you can use without having to make a store run.

These remedies have different advantages, one of them being that you don’t need to get a prescription first. You also don’t have to waste valuable time deciding on a product to buy. Whenever you feel a cold sore coming, you can take action quickly just by using home remedies for cold sores. This will help reduce the amount of time you’ll have to put up with the cold sore. There are a variety of home treatments for cold sores that many people have attested to be effective in relieving the symptoms of cold sores and preventing recurrent outbreaks. Here are some of them:

1. Cold compress. One of the best home remedies for colds sore is to simply apply ice every 5-10 minutes of every hour at the onset of a cold sore. When ice is applied early enough in the cold sore cycle it can slow down the metabolism of the affected area, which slows the growth. This has been seen to help ease the pain and can prevent the virus from moving from the nerves to the skin.

2. Staying healthy. The best way to fight viral infections like this is to protect and boost your immune system and prevent further outbreaks. Take your daily vitamin supplements, most especially the B complex vitamins, and get enough sleep and rest.

3. Food to avoid. Certain foods can prolong the occurrence of cold sores, while some can trigger their recurrence. Limit your consumption of processed foods, sugar, caffeine, those high in salt content, soft drinks, and citrus fruits as they can likely trigger an outbreak. Limit your intake of arginine-rich foods such as grains, peanuts, chocolate and wheat products as virus tend to feed on arginine. Changing your diet and taking vitamin supplements are two of the best home remedies for cold sores.

4. One treatment that is popular in Europe due to its effectiveness is lemon balm. A member of the mint family, lemon balm can reduce the severity and duration of an attack and is believed to decrease the tendency of cold sore reoccurrence. This treatment is not widely available in the United States however.

5. Other natural ingredients that have been used to treat cold sores successfully include resveratrol, peppermint oil and propolis. The former is a compound found in red grapes, while propolis is a substance used by bees to keep their hives germ free and is collected from buds. Care should be taken with peppermint oil, however, as it can have a toxic effect on the body and should never be taken internally.

Anyone suffering from cold sores regularly knows how unpleasant an attack can be. However, taking care of what we eat and looking after our own well-being have proved to be an extremely effective long term treatment for cold sores for many sufferers.

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