Facts on Cold Sores

Posted by Susan G | 5:55 AM

Whether you are a teenager just entering high school or someone who is looking at their up coming retirement, you are at risk for contracting cold sores. These painful and embarrassing cold sores can come about out of nowhere and you may never realize exactly where you contracted them. But while you can do very little to stop yourself from contracting it besides keeping away from skin to skin contact forever, you can try and keep yourself from spreading it to other people. While this can be embarrassing, it is your responsibility to inform those you are close with that you discovered you get these sores.

The time where cold sores are mostly spread is during the time of outbreaks and since this is the most obvious sign that someone has cold sores, you may want to avoid kissing. But, there is also the risk of spreading the virus even when there are no signs of cold sores at all. The best thing you can do is advise someone that you do get cold sores and then they can make a decision from there about what they want to do. Honesty is always the best policy, as so many people say, and it is really true in the case of cold sores.

Treating Outbreaks

Since there really is nothing that can be done to medically prevent or cure cold sores, it is left up to the person suffering from these to at least try and control the outbreaks. Once a person starts to feel that tingle sensation that often comes along right before the breakout happens, treatment needs to be given. While treatment for the sores will not completely stop the outbreak from happening, it can greatly reduce the size of the outbreak and the time it will hang around for by about half.

There are many home remedies for cold sores that can be read about in a lot of home remedy books or on a lot of different web sites. Most of the home remedies involve things that you may already have in your kitchen or bathroom, which means you will not have to spend too much money. And then there is always the medical treatment for cold sores, which involves medication. Currently there are two FDA approved medications on the market for cold sores so if interested, be sure to speak with you family doctor about them so that you can be ready.