Ancient Cause of Cold Sores and Fever Blisters

Incredible, but true - Cold sores and fever blisters have been a world-wide epidemic since before Christ. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 90% of earth's population is infected with the cold sore virus today.

Cold sores and fever blisters are produced by the herpes simplex virus - both type 1 or type 2 strains. Many viruses come and go but the herpes virus is with you for life. It is a very tough virus, having survived nearly unchanged for over 2150 years.

Yes - this is a lifetime virus, but it is not life threatening. The great news is that it is usually latent - hiding in the nerve cells. Over a third of those that carry the herpes virus will never get a cold sore or fever blister. The rest of us will get about two cold sore blossoms every year.

Extremely contagious are cold sore or fever blister outbreaks. It can be spread to others through direct contact or with community objects such as towels. The most common spread of this virus, however, is to another spot on your own body with virus on the fingers.

Perhaps you have seen a person with a cold sore covering most of the lip. This is not one cold sore but multiple sores caused by careless treatment of the first one. A cold sore on the lip will heal without a trace. Not so if you get the virus in your eye. Then you will quite likely incur permanent scarring of the cornea.

Proper care of cold sores and fever blisters is easy and will greatly reduce the risk to yourself and others. Most importantly, keep your bare fingers from directly contacting the sore, especially after it has blossomed into the open sore.

Treat your cold sore or fever blister frequently with alcohol soaked cotton swabs, tissues, or paper towels. This will protect your fingers from contamination and will kill a lot of virus. You can also use hydrogen peroxide - which adds healing oxygen. Either one may sting.

Preventing cold sores and fever blisters is the best course. Actually they are much easier to prevent than to heal. Best of all, you do not have to suffer the many miserable symptoms of those hideous sores.

If you get cold sores, the most important first step in preventing them is taking a daily regimen of a good multi-vitamin. This will help you deal with stress more effectively. Also, it will really boost your immune system to prevent the virus from creating the cold sore.

Lysine is reputed to be an effective cold sore treatment as well as a possible preventative. It does work very well when used orally, but is not too effective put directly on the sore. A therapeutic dosage during (or just prior to) a cold sore event is usually 1000 milligrams to 4000 milligrams daily. A maintenance regimen would be about 500 milligrams per day.

Keep in mind that the cause of all cold sores and fever blisters is the extremely contagious virus called herpes simplex. Please use every caution to prevent further spreading to loved ones and to other parts of your body - especially your eyes.

Besides continuously disinfecting the sore with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, you should be taking a daily dose of vitamin supplements. The vitamins and minerals will reduce your stress, help build up your immune system, and hopefully prevent future cold sores and fever blisters.