Cold Sores on Lips : Causes, Prevention and treatment

Cold sores on lips is not something that you or anyone would want to have, especially if there's a special occasion and your favorite food is being served on the table.You probably are on this page because you want to get more information about cold sores so you can avoid having it in the future, or probably, which is most likely the case, you already have it, you woke up this morning this morning and you have a itchy, heinouus, red thing on your lips. Whatever your reason is, it's my goal to give you more information on cold sores, its definition, causes, preventions and treatment.

Cold sores on lips are a very common illness caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Cold sores are little red blisters that you see on or around the lip. You know that  you're nursing it if there's a spot on your lips that feels tingly and itchy. Usually you will need to endure the pain for about a week or to before it completely goes away. However, the virus will no longer leave your body so it's very likely that you'll a have cold sore on lips again in the future. It can also spread to the fingers, eyes or genitals. There's just no way as of now to completely remove the herpes virus from your system.

Since you can not remove the virus from your body, you can prevent cold sores to recur by trying to avoid the things that trigger an outbreak. Although the factors which trigger outbreaks differ from person to person, here are some of the popular and practical cold sore preventions.

• Avoid sharing items - Please don't share your personal stuff such as towels and lip balm
• Apply sunblock to your face and lips if you think there will be exposed to the sun for a long period of time, especially during summer.
• Don't kiss someone who has a cold sore as the virus can spread easily when there's a moist secretion from blisters.
• Don't do oral sex on someone with an active genital herpes.
• If you have an active cold sore, wash your hands after touching the lips.
• Avoid acidic and salty foods and the ones that are high in arginine such as grains, peas, seeds, chocolates, peanuts, whole-wheat and oatmeal.

It's best to see a doctor if you have frequent cold sores or the type that lasts more than seven to ten days because that's not normal. Your doctor can give you a medication that will prevent outbreaks or at least supress the virus. If by any chance you can't afford to visit a doctor, here are some few cold sore home remedies that you might want to try.

• Put some ice wrapped in a cloth on it or have something cold to drink.
• Rub ice on the infected skin for few minutes and repeat this every hour.
• Apply witch hazel on the affected areas, it may give some relief.
• Lemon balm extract will help reduce symptoms and speed up healing.
• Try applying Vaseline on the affected areas of your lips, this may help to ease cracking and dryness.

• People who have weak immune system usually take more time to recover and may have to face more consequences.
• Yogurt Eating plain yogurt (with acidophilus) with live cultures is a good preventive measure.
• Zinc Using zinc has been reported to reduce the duration of cold sores.