What Are Cold Sores?

Cold sores are a common ailment caused by the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). There is no cure for this herpes virus. Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is the virus that cause genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease, and it also has no cure. Cold sores and genital warts occur as fluid-filled blisters and have similar treatments. This article will focus on HSV-1 and will define cold sores and its causes according to the medical community.

Cold sores, medically defined, are "small sore(s) situated on the face or in the mouth that cause pain, burning, or itching before bursting and crusting over. The favorite locations are on the lips, chin or cheeks and in the nostrils. Less frequented sites are the gums or roof of the mouth (the palate)." Cold sores can occur singly or in clusters. They are not the same as canker sores, which are ulcers that occur in the soft tissues of the mouth. To define cold sores and its causes, ask a physician or visit online websites such as WebMD or Medicine Net.

Many cold sore sufferers can define cold sores and its causes due to a lifetime of outbreaks. They can also testify to the stigma they have felt picking up prescriptions for antiviral medications such as Valtrex, which is used to treat both cold sores and genital herpes. Both are highly contagious. Both have no cure. Both types of herpes can lie dormant, but still be transmitted though there are no actual sores present. Genital herpes (HSV-2) is sexually transmitted but cold sores (HSV-1) are most commonly transmitted by oral contact such as kissing, or using someone else's lipstick or toothbrush.

Causes of Cold Sores

Doctors define cold sores and its causes as the following: "The virus lies latent (dormant) in the body and is reawakened (reactivated) by factors such as stress, sunburn, or fever from a wide range of infectious diseases including colds. Recurrences are less common after age 35. Sunscreen (SPF 15 or more) on the lips prevents recurrences of herpes from sunburn." This quote is from the website www.medterms.com. Now that it has helped to define cold sores and its causes, it is important to know how to prevent cold sores. To prevent cold sores, it is important to avoid all the main causes. Since fever, sun exposure, colds, stress, and other physical or emotional trauma cause cold sores, care should be taken to get plenty of rest, drink water, avoid the sun, maintain a healthy diet, and learn to manage stress. This will help prevent cold sore outbreaks.


Cold Sores

Cold Sores

If you see a watery bump on your nose, do not pop it. It is not what you think it is. Cold sores on your nose are inconvenient, and uncomfortable. But most of all, it screams at passers by “Look at me!”

What Causes a Cold Sore On Nose?

The occurrence of a cold sore on your nose also known as sun or fever blisters is the result of widespread herpes simplex virus that usually spreads to different parts of the face, particularly on the nose and mouth. Although there are two kinds of herpes simplex virus or HSV, namely HSV-1 and HSV-2, the HSV-1 is more commonly associated on the face.

Cold Sore Symptoms

Symptoms relating to cold sores on your nose include sore throat that prevents the person from swallowing normally, there are also symptoms of fever, fever-like flu’s, and blisters that start from tiny cracks on the skin. These blisters can also develop inside the mouth on the tongue and gums. Neck pains may also be experienced through this illness.

In order to avoid these common cases of cold sore on your nose, one must avoid sharing personal items such as toothbrush and face towels from other people. Avoid kissing people who have infections like these, and most importantly, avoid engaging in oral sex.

Recurring Cold Sores

Recurrences can also happen to patients having overcome this situation through extreme exposure to sunlight, too much use of cosmetics and cuts and lesions. But on a lighter note, cold sores on your nose can be diagnosed easily especially when the infection has just become active. Through certain therapies and medicine, this virus can easily be averted and stopped. The use of anti-viral treatments is one of the fastest ways of relief in dealing with this virus.

One can only imagine the impact of this herpes simplex virus, not just through medical state but also emotional as well. Through constant social interaction, one may be unable to function properly to its peers, resulting to insecurity and low self-esteem. It can also hamper one’s ability to interact with the opposite sex, creating a sense of failure that may lead to regret and uncertainty of oneself.

Through the proper practice of hygiene and self awareness, one can prevent having a cold sore on your nose. Doing daily regiments taking vitamins, baths and regular hand washing may slim down chances of attaining this kind of virus. To top it all, prevention is better than cure.

Cold Sores

A cold sore is the plague of humanity. 90% of people are afflicted with the simplex herpes virus. It can lay dormant for years and the bam! Suddenly you’ve got an awful watery lesion around your mouth area. Talk about embarrassing!

Not only that it can be painful and uncomfortable. You won’t be able to eat well, if you’re a guy it will be difficult to shave, and for all sexes, kissing is not advisable. Contrary to popular belief, you should avoid any contact with another person when you have cold sores because you are contagious.

Can Aloe Gel Cure Cold Sores?

Aloe Gel and Cold Sores have a very long history together. Aloe gel is well known for its curative properties, particularly its ability to relieve skin irritations. Aloe gel has the ability to reduce inflammation, and pain caused by burns. Burns in this case is classified by sunburns and even razor burns.

Prevention is better than cure. Aloe Gel and cold sores go together, so if you frequently get cold sores have a tube in hand always. The number one factor which can trigger cold sores is the sun, so try to avoid the sun when you have a cold sore, lest you want to look like a leper.

Aloe Vera has been proven to have curative powers for the skin for 2,000 years now. Oral diseases can be treated by Aloe gel and cold sores may be relieved by an application at least 3x a day. Blisters in your mouth will heal quickly when you put aloe gel in it. It relieves the pain the cold sore causes because aloe gel has a cooling quality about it.

Aloe gel and cold sores relief medication must go hand in hand. In fact, studies show that people who apply aloe gel, and drink vitamin B12 supplement has a faster chance of healing from the affliction than those who do not use aloe.

You can find aloe gel and cold sores medication over the counter in your nearest drug store. If you have an Aloe plant you can also squeeze it so you can get the gel and apply it directly to your cold sore.

More Than Just Aloe Gel And Cold Sores

Remember, aloe gels are more than just for cold sores. It can treat any skin problem that you might have. It provides as a great organic remedy for burns, sores, and other skin irritation. Having aloe gels at home comes in pretty handy.

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.

When you are faced with having to go out in public, which most of us do on a daily basis, suffering from cold sores can be extremely traumatic and embarrassing because there is not much you can do to hide it. Even for women who wear makeup, the blisters can get so large that even the best makeup job in the world cannot cover it up. Some people are so low on cash or so low on time that they need to turn to home remedies for helping with the cold sore.

Even though there is no cure for cold sores, there are medications that can greatly reduce how large the blister gets. They can also really cut down on how long the blister will be sticking around for. As like most things in the medical world, when there is a medicine for something, there is more in likely a lot of home remedies that can be tried first. Of course, if the home remedies do not work, you can still resort back to the medication. The most popular home treatment right now is that of the tea bag remedy for cold sores. Although not medically proven to work, a lot of people swear that the tea bag remedy for cold sores really does work.

How To Use It

The first that you have to remember is that even if this greatly reduces the time your cold sore is around for, it is not a cure and your cold sore may very well come back again another time. But, for now, it is at least helpful to be able to use the tea bag remedy for cold sores, even if it is just a temporary fix. What you want to do is to place a warm tea bad over the infected area and press firmly. Make sure that the tea bag is not too hot as it could result in a burn to the area instead of helping the situation.

Also, the tea bag remedy for cold sores is a little up in the air in terms of how long the tea bag should be left on. Some people say to leave it on for just a few minutes while others claim that it can be left on for up to thirty minutes. Either way, when it comes to using the tea bag remedy for cold sores, you are just going to have to find what works best for you and your particular situation.

For most people, there is nothing worse then having a cold sore show up on their lip, as most people understand that cold sores are actually a herpes virus. And while there was probably nothing the affected person could have done in order to prevent contracting it, there is still a lot of embarrassment and shame that goes along with experiencing an outbreak. This is why so many people are worried about finding ways to heal cold sores and to heal them fast.

While some people just wait it out for the cold sores to go away naturally, which can take around ten days, most people want action faster then that. When faced with having to go to work, church, or social functions, the last thing a person wants is to have a big cold sore on their face that everyone is going to notice. And while most people understand it is not nice to stare, some people just seem to not be able to control themselves. This can mean a lot of embarrassment and hurt feelings so this is why the need to heal cold sores fast is big.

Where To Find Help

Basically, when wanting to heal cold sores, you only have two options, which are medications from the doctor or some home remedies. Now, when it comes to medications that are proven to heal cold sores, there are only two but they do work well. But there are those people without insurance or the time needed in order to visit with a doctor. For those people, there are always the all-natural home remedies way and with a little research, a recipe may be found where you already have everything needed right in your kitchen and you do not even have to head to the grocery store which makes it all the better.

If you happen to have one of those home remedy books lying around, start looking through that to see what you find. There is often a great deal of excellent advice in those books and it never hurts to try what they have to say. If you do not have that book and still wanting to try something from home to heal cold sores, then you can start researching cold sores on the Internet. You will probably be amazed at how much you can learn about the different at home treatments and how they work for other people. Try them out and see what works for you because when trying to heal cold sores, you really do not have to worry about cost.

Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that occurs in people over the age of 65. It causes partial to total deterioration of thought processes and memory and can be emotionally and physically devastating for patients and their loved ones. Alzheimer's disease is believed to cause memory loss due to variety of reasons. It can be an organic brain disease that causes permanent damage to nerves and nerve cells in the brain. The brain can also be affected due to outside sources such as aluminum toxicity or inside sources such as an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. There is also a genetic theory that links a specific gene to the creation of Alzheimer's. There is a slow virus theory that links viral infection to the creation of Alzheimer's. This article will explore the genetic and viral links between Alzheimer's and a common virus, herpes simplex 1 (HSV-1). This is the virus that causes oral cold sores. Scientists have found that the genetic/viral link may connect Alzheimer's and cold sores.

Cold sores, as mentioned previously, are caused by a form of the herpes virus. Cold sores are not the same as genital herpes, which is caused by herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2). The virus that causes cold sores, HSV-1, is permanent, contagious, and transmitted by oral contact such as kissing or using another person's toothbrush. Cold sores are fluid-filled blisters that appear on or around the mouth and last for approximately 7-10 days. Cold sores, though not pretty, are a much easier physical ailment to suffer than the debilitating Alzheimer's disease. The following paragraph briefly summarizes the genetic relationship between Alzheimer's and cold sores.

Alzheimer's and Cold Sores: A Strange Relationship

Alzheimer's and cold sores are believed to be linked due to studies done on the Alzheimer related gene, ApoE-4. Alzheimer's disease is believed to be caused by a genetic mutation on various chromosomes. The ApoE-4 gene has been linked with Alzheimer's for over 15 years. Scientists believe that this gene invites the cold sore virus, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). The ApoE-4 gene allows herpes into the brain and may allow HSV-1 to become even more virulent. Scientists also believe that people with the herpes virus are up to 25% more likely to have a predisposition to develop Alzheimer's. There is most definitely a link between Alzheimer's and cold sores. Herpes simplex virus is a chronic infection which has two phases, an active phase where it causes cell damage and a latent phase where it "sleeps" and does not duplicate cells, or grow. HSV is activated by triggers such as sun exposure, stress, dehydration, poor nutrition, fatigue, or other immune disorder. When HSV-1 becomes active, cold sores develop. The connection with Alzheimer's is that herpes virus can affect brain cells. In people with the ApoE-4 gene, herpes is more likely to be in the active phase, duplicating itself, and causing cell damage.

If you want to know anything about how cold sores are spread, you will find plenty of information on the Internet. In fact there is nothing much to talk about how cold sores are spread other than it is highly contagious. There are only two major ways to get infected by the cold sore virus or HSV-1, and that is through sexual contact or through touch. This is why it is very important that you keep away from any person who has active cold sores outburst.

What Causes The Infection?

When you are looking for information about how cold sores are spread you will learn that cold sores are also known as oral herpes and are caused by the herpes simplex virus or the HSV-1.

This virus enters your blood and lives asymptomatically in your body until some type of weakness in your immune system activates it. Any type of illness can trigger it such as cold, injury, mental or physical stress, and so on. When the virus is activated, you will suffer from an active outburst which normally consists of a bunch of extremely painful blisters around your mouth.

There is no cure for this virus as there is no cure for any virus, yet. What you need to do is treat the outburst symptomatically and eat healthy aiming at strengthening your immune system well enough to overcome the virus. Keep in mind though that the virus will get re-activated every time your immune system shows any signs of weakness.

What You Can Do During The Outbursts To Reduce Your Suffering

You will find enough information about how cold sores are spread and treated on Internet. However, it is important that you consult a doctor before taking up any type of treatment or remedy you find anywhere.

You also need to be very careful when you are suffering from an outburst that you do not infect others. The information about how cold sores are spread will also tell you that you are at risk of developing genital herpes unless you are very cautious about your personal hygiene. Do not touch your eyes or genitals after you touched your (or anyone else's) sores. Always use sunscreen balm on your lips to prevent them from drying and causing more pain.

Take plenty of rest since the cold sore is an indication that your immune system is weak, and introduce health supplements into your diet.

cold sores

People who suffer from cold sore will attest that it’s no picnic. It is ugly and painful. When you’re in the office or out in the street a cold sore can definitely make you self conscious. Not only that, it is also a bit disconcerting not being able to kiss your girlfriend or boyfriend because you’ve got a cold sore.

The Virus

If your cold sores recur regularly, you stomach is probably tied in knots anticipating the next outbreak. The causes of frequent cold sores are the simplex herpes virus, to which 90% of every single human being is exposed to. This cause of frequent cold sores is not the same as the herpes that’s commonly related to STD’s. It differs in a sense that it is a milder kind of virus that affects only the upper body of the person carrying it.

The virus may lay dormant for years, until a catalyst causes it to erupt again. In fact there might not even be a catalyst. When it suddenly appears, the simplex herpes virus will manifest itself as a lesion in the mouth area. During this time you are highly contagious and will likely pass it on through contact.

Vitamin Deficient

Studies have revealed that the primary cause of frequent cold sores is a Vitamin B deficiency, Vitamin B12 to be exact. Vitamin B12 is composed of the corrin ring molecules and cobalt which is defined by a particular vitamin function inside the body. Vitamin B12 is also vital for proper brain and nervous system function.

Medical Treatment, When To Seek It?

When you’ve noticed that your cold sores have puss then go to a doctor. Chances are it’s probably been infected and littered with bacteria. Especially if you get a high fever and eye irritation it’s definitely time to seek professional help. This will weaken your immune system and the cause of your frequent cold sores may not be as simple as just a Vitamin B12 deficiency. A weakened immune system will affect your body’s ability to fight off other diseases. The cold sore could endanger your over all health.

There are a lot of recommended clinical measures and procedures to tame the cause of frequent cold sores. However, there is no permanent cure for this unsightly ailment. The methods of totally removing cold sores have awful side effects that could last for a lifetime. So a good supplement of Vitamin B12 and folic acid is enough to tame the cause of frequent cold sores.


cold sores