Cold sores alternatively called fever blisters are caused by a virus called herpes simplex virus. The person may experience painful mouth ulcers, swollen glands and generalized sick feeling. Cold sores are contagious and care should be taken not to spread them to other parts of the body or to other people.
Boost your immune system
Cleanse your body of toxins so that the immune system is able to function at its best. Make sure that you eat a diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables especially broccoli, brussel sprouts etc. that contain substances that fight the free radicals and boosts your immune system. Also include fresh green leafy vegetables in your diet. Supplement your food with lots of natural antibiotic substances like garlic, olives, grapefruit seed extract. These naturally resist the bacterial and viral infections. Take vitamin C rich foods or supplements. Take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement. Consuming supplements that can enhance our immune system is a good thing. It boosts the immune system and keeps all the diseases at bay.
a. Consuming adequate vitamin A daily will help strengthen our immune system which protects us from cold sores.
b. Vitamin B does not increase our immune system, but it is still useful for us in dealing with cold sores by indirectly reducing stress.
c. Vitamin C is an immune booster. Consuming it daily will boost the immune system and keep the cold sores away.
d. Vitamin E keeps skin healthy and also promotes the healing process. It works in co ordination with vitamin C.
e. Bioflavonoid also acts synergistically with vitamin C by enhancing the vitamin C absorption. It also has anti bacterial and anti viral properties. When taken with vitamin C, bioflavonoid can significantly reduce cold sore symptoms.
Lower your stress levels
Believe it or not, stress triggers cold sore eruptions in teens. Teen life is not easy, there are lot of bodily changes, the hormones, peer pressure, home work, part time job, so on and so forth. All these factors increases the stress. If you are a victim of the cold sores during stress on a regular basis then it is ideal for you to talk to somebody and let down your stress levels. Manage your stress levels. Relaxation techniques, meditation, visualization will really help with stress.
Take care of your skin and lips
Research reveals that prolonged exposure to sun can cause cold sores. Cold sores are sometimes misdiagnosed as heat blisters especially in childhood. When teens get cold sores they mistake them for heat blisters because of the misdiagnosis in childhood. Chapped lips can be due to cold sore outbreaks. Keep hydrating your body by drinking fluids and always use natural lip balms to prevent chapped lips. Lemon balm or its extracts are good home remedies for cold sores. They reduce the cold sore symptoms and increase the healing process of the skin. Donât pick, pinch, squeeze, or even touch the cold sore. Because if the sore is broken, there will be a further infection that will make the situation even worse.
Try home based remedies
There are a lot of home based remedies that can help you relieve from cold sores and have no side effects. Lemon balm extracts are a good home remedy to fight cold sores. They are also easily available. Salt is used to treat cold sores. You should apply the salt on the cold sore directly by taking a small amount of salt with moistened index finger and directly apply it on the cold sore pressing on them for about 30 seconds. If you desire faster relief, then apply aloe vera gel or some topical oil over the area after you apply salt. Ice is another good home remedy for cold sores. All you need to do is to apply ice on the affected area by rubbing for a few minutes. Do it every hour. It will yield good results. Application of ice can reduce the metabolism of the HSV-1 and push the virus back into dormancy. You should not use it too long for it may cause frostbite. Another choice for cold sores home remedies are tea bags. Put the tea bag on the affected area for some time. Repeat after one hour. Doing this on an hourly basis maximizes its effect.
Prescriptions
Medications prescribed to treat cold sores are anti virals. They are very effective, accelerate healing procedure and remove the pain and discomfort caused because of cold sores. Topical prescription for cold sores are acyclovir cream, acyclovir ointment, peniclovir etc. All these are antiviral topical creams that are applied externally on the affected area. Oral prescription are famciclovir, valacyclovir.
