Treating A Cold Sore - Best Ways To Deal With Your Cold Sores

Treating a cold sore correctly is the key to the fast relief of your pain and embarrassment. If you will let me, in this short article I would like to share with you some time-proven ways of treating a cold sore.

Treating a cold sore is not something you want to do very often. They are quite an interruption in your life no matter how good your treatment plan.

But you can greatly shorten the healing time and gain freedom much sooner by treating a cold sore quickly and correctly. Yes, your body will heal it but it takes too long that way.

It is very fortunate that cold sores always form on the surface where you can easily get at them.

Cold sores occur in stages and each stage should be treated slightly differently for fastest healing times. Following are the three main stages of cold sores and the best treatment for each.

INITIAL STAGE OF YOUR COLD SORES.

The herpes simplex virus lives deep in the nerves. Just before causing a cold sore, it will travel to the surface along a nerve fiber. You will feel this movement as a tingling or itching sensation.

As soon as you suspect this virus movement, cool the target area down with ice. The herpes virus hates cold and treating a cold sore this way will often delay - if not prevent - development of your cold sores.

Lysine supplements can be quite helpful and now would be the best time to start taking them. Keep taking them until the sore is gone.

DEVELOPMENT STAGE OF YOUR COLD SORES.

Formation of the actual sore begins when the virus gets to the surface and infects the cells. This is painfully obvious with the appearance of red pimple-like bumps and considerable swelling.

Applying ice is still a good choice for treating a cold sore at this stage. You will find it helps reduce the pain and swelling, as well as discouraging the herpes virus from doing further damage.

Treating a cold sore with garlic oil at this stage is also very powerful. It is best to use fresh, live garlic. Cut or crush and apply to the area. Garlic is a strong anti-viral and will go right through the skin.

HEALING PHASE OF YOUR COLD SORES.

The herpes simplex virus has finished the damaging replication process once the sore opens up. Now we must repair the skin and replace the destroyed nerve cells.

Stop using the ice now. It will give comfort but will slow the healing process. Keep using oral lysine supplements and apply the garlic oil often.

During the healing period, applying heat will greatly speed healing and comfort. Using a hot tea bag is an excellent choice for this purpose because you also benefit from the anti-viral properties of tea.

Do not use the microwave to heat up the tea bags as it destroys the nutrients in the tea. You can also drink some tea for internal benefits.

Keep the wound as sterile as possible by cleansing with alcohol or peroxide. After a good cleansing, apply the garlic and then the heat for about 12 minutes.

After each heat application, apply Aloe Vera gel. Aloe Vera contains nutrients that feed the growth of new cells and skin. You will be amazed.

Aloe Vera makes skin and cells grow like crazy. But do not use the bottled gel. It has very little healing power left. Get it fresh from the leaf of a live plant. These make very useful house plants.

CAUTION.

In treating a cold sore, you need to be careful not to spread the virus to other parts of your body. People often create cold sores all around their lips by spreading the virus from one initial outbreak.

The most dangerous risk is getting the herpes virus in you eyes. These eye cold sores usually cause permanent damage to the cornea.

Keep your fingers and the cold sore area as sterile as possible while treating a cold sore. Wash your hands religiously, and avoid touching the sore with your fingers. This virus is a direct contact virus.

For additional pain relief during the cold sore event, you may wish to use a drug store cold sore treatment. Many of these have numbing agents - like benzocaine - that help give additional comfort to the damaged nerves.

Treating a cold sore does not have to be complicated. Simply use cold to slow the sore and heat to heal it quickly. And to prevent new infection sites, wash your hands regularly when you are treating a cold sore.