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Cold Sores - How You Can Treat And Prevent Cold Sore Blisters

By Denny Bodoh

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 05Feb2010 Word count: 574 Viewed: 462 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Cold sores are a fact of life for millions of people around the world. The herpes simplex virus causes them. Once in your system, this virus remains there for life.

Fortunately, there are several ways that you can treat and prevent cold sores through medication or natural treatments.

Cold sores are liquid filled blisters that typically appear on the lips and around the mouth and nose. They are very contagious and you will catch them through close contact or virus infected saliva.

Symptoms of one starting include burning, tingling and itching after which a red blister will appear.

They commonly occur when your immune system is compromised through illness or stress. If you can keep your defenses high, then you can reduce the chance of having the sores appear.

Taking a multi-vitamin tablet daily with good amounts of vitamin b and vitamin c can keep you from getting sick.

Another natural preventative is lysine. This is an amino acid that you can get from your diet or take as a supplement that prevents the herpes virus from multiplying.

If you suffer from cold sores regularly, then you should take lysine as a supplement daily. If you are only an occasional sufferer you can begin taking it when you feel the initial tingling of herpes beginning.

Zinc tablets can be very useful for treating and preventing blisters. You can take the tablets internally to boost your immune system and prevent the blisters from occurring.

You can also crush up the tablet and make a thick paste with water to apply directly to the herpes outbreak. Better yet, get a zinc lozenge, wet it and rub it on the area. This is a more absorbable form of zinc.

One of the more popular pharmaceutical treatments is a cream containing acyclovir. This treatment requires you to apply the cream five times a day for five days.

Penciclovir is another anti-viral treatment approved by the FDA. You apply it every two hours for four days and it can reduce the healing time and gravity of symptoms.

The way that these prescription creams work is to stop the spread and reproduction of the herpes simplex virus.

They certainly are not as fast or as popular as some natural home cold sore remedies.

There are also prescription oral tablets that you can take to treat cold sores. These are anti-viral tablets that generally contain valacyclovir or famciclovir.

You need a doctor's prescription to take these medications. They can be hard on your liver.

Other treatments available over the counter at a pharmacy or drug store may include numbing agents that can reduce the itching, burning and tingling feelings that the herpes virus causes prior to an outbreak.

Cold sores can be painful and irritating as they tend to occur at a time when you least want them. There are many different treatments that are available that contain either natural or medicated agents and both types of treatment can be very comforting.

The earlier you start treatment with any remedy, the more successful your results will be.

You should experiment with different treatments and ways to prevent them to work out which ones function best for you.

If you are a regular sufferer, you can seek out the advice of your doctor, pharmacist and naturopath for in depth suggestions.

Or you should check out some trustworthy web-sites that give you a lot more information and more proven remedies for cold sores.

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