How to Get Rid of Cold Sores and Oral Herpes

How to get rid of cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes quickly and safely is very good to know if you suffer from these uncomfortable and unsightly lesions.

There are a lot of wild claims going around. Many offer to show you how to get rid of cold sores using their costly methods or products. Although you will have varying degrees of success, quite often you are disappointed. Very few live up to their claims.

If you truly want to learn how to get rid of cold sores, first understand what causes the oral herpes outbreaks that we call a cold sore or fever blister.

Type 1 or type 2 herpes simplex virus creates all cold sore, fever blister or oral herpes sores. Nearly 90% of the world population carries the virus since it is so contagious.

And once you catch it, you will carry it for life. The herpes virus is a master at hiding. Even you immune defense system cannot find it when it is dormant.

In the case of facial sores, the virus is hiding latent in the root cells of your facial nerves. When it senses that your immune guards are weak or distracted, it rushes to the surface with hopes of creating more of its own kind.

The herpes virus is unable to reproduce on its own, but must force your surface nerve cells to become virus factories to create its offspring. Once the cell has created all the virus possible, it is destroyed to release the new virus.

It is this destruction of millions of adjacent cells that creates the open, weeping wound.

If you want know how to get rid of cold sores as quickly as your body will allow, then here are the three basic steps you must use, even if you are using other cold sore remedies.

1. EARLIEST COLD SORE FOREWARNING.

If you have much experience with cold sore outbreaks, you will possibly have noticed an itching, tingling, burning or dryness in the spot where you normally get the sore.

You are actually feeling the virus moving up the nerve and entering the cells at the surface. If you act fast, you can get rid of cold sores (or at least slow them down) during this period.

There are a variety of cold sore remedies that work well for this. The most convenient, no matter where you are, is ice. It really discourages the virus. Sometimes it just gives up on the idea and moves back into hibernation.

The neat thing about this - if you are able to get rid of cold sores at this early stage, you can avoid the painful and lengthy healing process.

2. CONSTANT STERILIZATION OF THE COLD SORE AREA.

How to get rid of cold sores? Take a hint from your body. As soon as the cold sore opens up, your body creates a thick fluid that weeps constantly from the wound. This is your body attempting to wash away the virus particles.

You can speed this process along very easily.

Soak a cotton ball or tissue in rubbing alcohol, wine or peroxide. Use this to wipe the sore as much as possible. Then toss away. The more you do this, the quicker your body can get the healing underway.

And this will reduce the likelihood of spreading the virus to another spot on you - or to another person.

3. REPAIRING THE COLD SORE DAMAGED CELLS.

When the cold sore was forming, ice was an excellent cold sore treatment. Now it is not.

Do not use ice after the sore breaks open as it will greatly slow down healing by driving blood away. Now you should be applying heat to bring healing blood to help repair the sore.

You can do this by using a hot, wet paper towel - then throw away. Or you can do what many have found very successful - using hot tea bags.

Not only are they cheap and easily available, but every time you use them, you are also bathing the wound with the healing tea fluid. This is an excellent way to get rid of cold sores quickly and permanently.

Learning how to get rid of cold sores is not too difficult. You should know that the methods outlined above are excellent and used successfully by millions.

Just use caution when someone tries to sell you some magic cold sore treatment salve or lotion. You will most often be disappointed.

Perhaps a little more research and you will know as much about how to get rid of cold sores as anyone.