How to Treat Cold Sores and Stop Them From Spreading
I would like share with you today a guest post from Joydeep Majumder who is a healthcare expert specialized in preventive healthcare for infectious skin disorders. He discussed in this article various measures for preventing cold sores from spreading. If you are suffering from this disease then cold sore natural remedies will be the best option to start.
Cold sore is a contagious skin infection that cannot be prevented from occurring and cannot be prevented from relapsing as well. Herpes Simplex virus which is responsible for the disease cannot be completely destroyed once a person comes into contact with it. The virus which can be non-symptomatic as well can be responsible for the primary infection of cold sore or recurring outbreak of the disease.
Cold sores are fluid filled blisters appearing on and around the lips or inside the mouth. The infection is spread through contact of body fluid and naturally preventing physical contact with the affected person is important to stay clear of the disease.
It is said that around 80% of people carry the virus within while few actually cold sore. So even from an otherwise skin-healthy person without any symptom of cold sores there is a chance of spreading the infection, particularly from the body fluid. Even newborns can be vulnerable to the infection from saliva touching the skin while kissing the baby. Cold sore also spread to other parts of the body by touching the sore spot with hands. Here below we have explained key aspects to prevent cold sores from spreading.
1. Avoid touching the cold sore unnecessarily
Cold sore is spread very easily by touching the sore spot or pricking it. Avoid touching the sores with bare hand and if at all needed for applying medication use a piece of cotton for the purpose. Cold sore infection is spread by the sore pus or fluid and you must take precaution in preventing other body parts in coming into contact with it.
2. Clean the cold sore
To relieve pain and curb the virus from spreading cleaning the sore area with warm water can be a good treatment. Particularly when the sores are filled with pus and painful washing them with warm water can be extremely comforting. Use a cotton pad while washing and prevent the washing water from touching other bare parts of the body.
3. Apply cold sore medication
There are plenty of topical cold sore medications that can be bought from the medicine counter without needing any prescription. These topical medications help to get you faster relief from the pain and also help preventing the infection from reaching other areas of the body. Any over the counter topical solution for cold sores helps drying the sores faster and thus reduce the chances of spreading to other body parts. Check out — 7 Natural Cold Sore Remedies That Really Work
4. Avoid passing the virus
There are number of ways that the cold sore virus can spread and make the situation worse. First of all you must prevent at all cost from making any physical contract that involves your body fluid. Having cold sore you should avoid kissing, sharing a drink or food from the same container or keeping your toothbrush in one place with other toothbrushes, sharing the same bath soap, sharing the same toiletries, bed and other usable items that can help facilitating such contact of body fluid. You can prevent the virus from spreading to other people if you take certain precautions in regard to sharing the common useful objects with others.
Finally, like all contagious skin disorders cold sores also spread to other people simply from our lack of alertness. As long as your sores dry out completely maintaining hygiene and a healthy distance to prevent the virus from spreading is important.
Thank you Joydeep Majumder for your valuable information about the prevention, treating, and spreading of cold sores.
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Great tips for cold sore care! I have struggled with them for years and they seem to be triggered by citrus juice more than anything. I used to use Acyclovir and Valtrex which upset my stomach badly. Now I use melaleuca (tea tree oil) every few hours and the pain stops and it dries up very quickly.
Thanks for reading my article and commenting. My husband has trouble with getting cold sore the last couple of years and I had him also start using tea tree oil as soon as it starts and it dries them up quickly. It’s a great natural remedy that really works. Have a healthy happy blessed weekend! Marla