How to Get Rid of Cold Sores

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus, which is believed to lie in our nerve cells of our body until it is triggered by stress, anxiety, a cold or excessive exposure to the sun.

They can last anywhere from 7 to 14 days.

Herpes is a virus that will remain in the body for life. Even though the cold sore will be healed, the virus will just withdraw back into the nerve cells.

Attempting to cover a cold sore with makeup will just worsen the problem. Even though you can't do much about the way a cold sore looks, you can do a few things to help minimize the unpleasant feeling, and hopefully stop it from coming back, and most importantly prevent passing on your cold sore to others.

Make sure you avoid touching the cold sore. If you do, wash your hands immediately.

It's also very important not to touch your eyes if you have a cold sore, because the virus may spread and extreme cases could lead to blindness.

You should also try and drink lots of water or fruit juice. If it is too painful to brush your teeth, try chlorhexidene mouthwash it should help.

To help avoid getting cold sores try these tips:

•Don't kiss anyone with a cold sore and do not share towels, cups and cutlery.

•People with cold sores should be particularly careful around newborn babies.

•Avoid over exposure to sunlight and cold winds, and wear lip barrier that contains sunscreen.

Prevention is better than remedy however; if you do start to feel the tingling or tickling feeling, usually the first sensation of a cold sore, get to it straight away before it worsens.

The one thing that the medications have in common is that treatment must be applied at the very first sign, even before it's visible.

If you are too late however, then try these home remedies that you will have around your house right now;

Tea bags: An effective remedy is to put a tea bag to the affected area. The tannic acid in the tea will act against the virus and stop the cold sore from getting any worse.

Another method is to apply a warm tea bag on the cold sore. Doing this for five days will make the sores disappear.

Witch hazel: The astringent that is in witch hazel is effective against cold sores.

Salt: If you apply everyday household salt to the affected area it'll make cold sores disappear in two to three days.

Aloe Vera: Rubbing aloe juice or aloe gel on cold sores is very effective in curing cold sores.

All of these remedies have worked, although if you have a weak immune system it may take longer to recover.

So always wash your hands, and always avoid immediate contact with the blisters that are caused by cold sores.

Apply sunscreen cream on the areas prone to the infection and never share your personal belongings like your toothbrush.