Prevention and Cures for Cold Sores

The most basic part of looking good is taking care of your skin. However, cold sores or fever blisters can mar your skin and really take a toll on your appearance. Cold sores are caused by the herpes virus, but can flare up due to an allergic reaction to something, or from stress. They can also lead to further skin problems if left unchecked. If you feel a cold sore coming on, or already have one, there are several things you can do (besides hibernating in your house), to get rid of it and bring back your natural beauty.

Prevent Cross-contamination

Do not try to cover a cold sore up with makeup. This just contaminates your normal everyday lip glosses and lipsticks and furthers the spread of the virus. Get a medicated lip gloss made especially for cold sores, use it until the outbreak has passed, and then toss it. You should always cull your makeup every month to make sure you are not using expired or old makeup products, but if you have a cold sore or skin rash, you should throw out everything that comes in contact with it.

Prevention

If you feel the swelling, tingling or painful feeling that means a cold sore is imminent, put an ice cube on the spot. Then take a Benadryl or other anti-histamine to block the histamines that cause the swelling. This will stop the cold sore in its tracks 95% of the time. You can also put a cold sore treatment such as Abreva on the spot, to help keep the fever blister at bay. I get cold sores from stress quite frequently, and the Benadryl is usually enough to make it go away before it pops up.

Cures

If you can't get the cold sore stopped before it pops out, you can cure it quickly with any one of several over-the-counter treatments. Abreva is a great choice, but there are many others. Several high-end cosmetic brands make lipsticks and lip glosses that are medicated to treat cold sores and hide them, helping you look your best. But never pick at a cold sore, as this can cause an infection or spread the virus, causing multiple cold sores to mar your lips.

As always, if you have any questions on this or any other beauty topic, seek the advice of a licensed cosmetologist or health care professional to help keep you looking and feeling your best!

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