Fight Cold Sores Naturally: Treat Them With These Natural Remedies

Cold sores are little white blisters that appear on the mouth or corner of the lips. Cold sores are a virus caused by oral herpes. Unfortunately, like genital herpes this is a life long condition that doesn't have a cure. This version of herpes doesn't just attack your mouth or lips but also the nerves near your brain stem. The virus can be aroused by stress, too much heat or too much sun, and since blisters form due to a weak immune system, it also flares up when you have a cold or flu. Cold sores can be frequent or infrequent, however, there are a number of natural ways to treat your cold sores.

The virus keeps itself going by attaching to an amino acid called arginine in the body but if there is another amino acid already attached to arginine then the virus has no where to abide. Taking the amino acid lysine works to block the virus from attaching and building up residence next to the arginine in the body. If you have regular cold sore outbreaks, consult with your doctor on just how much lysine you can take. If you have cold sore outbreaks less frequently, you can take a safe dose of lysine when you feel a cold sore outbreak coming on. You can also get lysine in certain foods like turkey, ricotta cheese, avocado, eggs, and chocolate. However, you should stay away from foods that contain arginine such as, nuts, seeds, pork, and milk.

Eating yogurt will help to fight the bacteria in the body that causes cold sores. Eat two to three cups a day of yogurt that contains the ingredient acidophilus. Eat this amount of yogurt before and during a breakout. At the first sign of a cold sore, apply some ice to the cold sore by wrapping several ice cubes in a cloth or napkin. Keep it on the cold sore for 15 to 20 minutes. The next natural treatment to fight cold sores naturally is taking the herb astragalus, which helps boost your immune system and helps fight bacteria infections like the one that causes cold sores. You can take the capsule form or the tincture form at the first sign of a cold sore approaching. Continue taking the herb throughout the outbreak.

Increase your calcium, magnesium, zinc intake to help fight cold sores. Take 1,000 mgs of calcium and magnesium and 15 mgs of zinc to prevent chronic cold sores. Zinc helps to strengthen the tissue on the lips and the inside of your mouth where cold sores congregate. You should also increase your intakes of beta-carotent to 80 to 100 mgs and 400 ius of vitamin E a day to help strengthen the mucus membranes of the mouth and speed the healing of the cold sores. Take 2,000 mgs of vitamin C with bioflavanoids to strengthen your immune system. To help soothe the pain of cold sores, try using some lemon balm as often as you like on your cold sores. Although there are no cures for cold sores, you can help fight them with these natural treatments that speed up the healing and prevent chronic or frequent cold sores.