Basic Cold Sore Knowledge

Now, cold sores are caused by the Herpes Simplex Type 1 virus that infects the nerve cells directly underneath the skin–this virus can never be completely killed and will remain in your nervous system forever (however, you can ensure that it never becomes active and causes an outbreak, more on that at the end).  Oral herpes is pretty much harmless, although it is socially embarrassing when it causes cold sores, so it’s pretty annoying, isn’t it?  Continue reading to learn how to STOP this annoying little pest!

Where Did My Herpes Infection Come From in the First Place?

Aunt Matilda.  No, really: statistically speaking, you most likely got your initial Herpes infection when a close relative kissed you when you were a small child and they had an active outbreak (cold sore), thereby transmitting the virus to you.  You may or may not have had an immediate outbreak, so it’s pretty much impossible to correlate the first outbreak with the actual time of infection and figure out how you got it, sorry.

Various Cold Sore Remedies

Cold sores DO clear up on their own, but you’ll normally have to wait 7 to 10 days before that happens (and wouldn’t it be nice if you could prevent it all together?).  You can use various topical medications such as lidocaine and Zilactin (benzyl alcohol) to alleviate your symptoms.

Prescription anti-viral medications that can be prescribed by your doctor can also help (although not as much as you would think–in my experience some of the OTC stuff and home remedies worked better than the ‘full strength’ prescription medications).  These can help with the pain, and if begun early enough (the key word here is EARLY), can shorten the duration of the outbreak.

Home Treatments and Home Remedies for Cold Sores:

A home remedy for cold sore or cold sore home treatments: these are too numerous to mention, and many of them simply do not work. If you’d like to see my full-length detailed review of the various home remedies I’ve come across, check out my front page post here: Cold Sore Home Remedies: My Experience With What Works and What Doesn’t. My own experience with home remedies for cold sores is with something concocted by a close friend of mine, and even though I’ve never been big on home remedies I must say that this cold sore home treatment worked both times for me, and even more impressive is I’ve seen it work on about 25 other people she’s tried it on, consistently! Please have a look at my friend Grace’s solution for the matter: Cold Sore Freedom: Cold Sores Cured in 3 Days

The cold sores you are suffering from are a byproduct (symptom) of infection by the Herpes Simplex virus in your nervous system–oral herpes is generally considered harmless, although it may be annoying.  The virus fluctuates between active and dormant states, usually it’s dormant the great majority of the time and some people can go years without having an outbreak.  It does, however, remain in your system forever and cannot be gotten rid of.

How Do You Get Exposed to the Herpes Virus?

Odds are you were not recently exposed to the virus that has caused your outbreaks, or even your first one (you may have been exposed years prior to your first outbreak).  Cold sores are not a sign of recent infection but a sign that the virus has reactivated itself–cold sores generally happen generally as a result of some type of stress being inflicted on the body (too much exposure to sunlight, cold, heat, physical and emotional stress).

Where Did the Herpes Simplex Virus Come From?

The virus you originally caught came from another person–this initial infection is called the “primary herpetic stomatitis”.  Like I said, it doesn’t usually cause an immediate outbreak, therefore you probably won’t connect the original infection with getting sick (having your first cold sore).  The most common way that people get the virus is that they were kissed by a close relative who was infected when they were a small child (Aunt or Uncle Whoever kissed you when you were 5 and TA-DA! a present in the form of a lifetime of cold sores), thereby infecting you with the virus.

Want to Know How To Get Rid of Your Cold Sores Naturally?

Check out my post here: Cold Sore Home Remedies: My Experience With What Works and What Doesn’t