Ways to Get Rid of Cold Sores
Once you have the cold sore virus (herpes simplex), you can’t get rid of it. It will be with you forever. So you need a plan to get rid of cold sores when they pop up, or to just prevent them from happening.
Cold sores are miserable. They show up at inopportune times, like before a big presentation or date, and then they hang around being ugly and painful for up to ten days. That’s ten days of your life that you have to deal with an ugly, painful sore on you lip or in your mouth so it’s important to know what kinds of strategies you can use to effectively get rid of cold sores.
First things first – adopt a prevention plan. You can’t get rid of the cold sore virus, but there are plenty of things you can do to help prevent cold sore outbreaks, or to prevent them from getting really bad.
The first thing you need to do to prevent cold sores is to make sure you’re keeping yourself as healthy as possible and that your immune system is strong. This involves eating a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, limiting sugar, caffeine and alcohol and getting enough exercise and sleep every day.
Additionally, you should take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement that contains vitamins A, C and E, and all the B vitamins, along with zinc.
The next line of attack for getting rid of cold sores is to make sure that as soon as you think you’re getting a cold sore you use either a medication prescribed by your doctor, an over-the-counter medication or a natural remedy for keeping the cold sore in check.
When you feel a cold sore coming on, you can use lysine as a supplement to stop it, but make sure your lysine supplement contains arginine, too. Lysine needs arginine to work. If it doesn’t contain arginine, eat arginine rich foods like nuts, peanut butter, gelatin, chicken, turkey and pork.
You can also use natural and herbal remedies to try to head off a cold sore. Echinacea has been reported to work well, as has an herb called self-heal. Lemon balm ointment applied at the first sign of a cold sore will reduce the total time you have your cold sore to significantly less than if you leave it untreated.
Bee propolis, which can be found at health food stores is the substance that bees use to keep their hives germ-free. When propolis is applied to an area where a cold sore is developing, it acts as an inhibitor to the virus and keeps the virus from attacking cells.
You can also use an over-the-counter medicated cream containing docosanol to ward off cold sores and to help them go away quicker if you do get one. And of course, your doctor can prescribe medication in the form of pills or cream that can help to get rid of your cold sores quickly.
Start out with good health and then create a plan for how to get rid of cold sores when they do appear. Cold sores needn’t ruin your life, or even a day in your life. Just find the medications and remedies that work well for you and have them available for the first symptom of a cold sore.
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