Some Basic Background Information
Cold sores are the external symptoms of an active oral herpes outbreak (aka "herpes labialis") that appear most typically on the lip and/or around the mouth--they are very rarely found *in* the mouth, and if this is the case it's much more likely that you've got something known as a canker sore which is caused by a bacteria and completely unrelated to cold sores and the herpes simplex virus.
Herpes is transmitted from one person to another through contact with open sores or bodily fluids--the most common way that people get oral herpes is by being kissed by a close relative when they are a small child who has an active outbreak or, possibly, is experiencing something called asymptomatic viral shedding (this is where you're still shedding the virus and are contagious despite the fact that you don't have any visible symptoms such as sores or lesions on the skin).
There is no cure for herpes, and once you got it you've got it for life--the herpes virus spends the majority of its time in what's called the "remission phase" where it remains dormant in the sensory nerve cells of your face near the site of initial infection, sometimes for years at a time between active outbreaks--just because you haven't had an outbreak for several years does NOT mean that you don't have the herpes virus anymore and can' t ever get another outbreak. Even if you haven't experienced a cold sore in 20 years, if you ever had one that means you're infected and the virus is still there and could potentially emerge at any moment.
Fast and Simple Treatments
There's plenty of prescription and OTC (over-the-counter) treatments such as anti-viral pills like Acyclovir and OTC creams like Abreva that you can check into if you so desire, but this article is about home remedies for cold sores that work, so let's dive in.
Over the years I've tried a great many various treatments, and most of them are simply anecdotal wives tales that simply don't work or work to a very negligible degree, a few are consistently pretty effective, and from that I've come up with a little system that I've found to be very effective (do each of these steps once every 2 hours as soon as you feel the tingling of an oncoming cold sore):
1. Keep the cold sore clean and dry by washing it with a damp wash cloth and soap--use a new wash cloth each time and toss the old one in the laundry after you use it to keep from re-infecting yourself. It would also be a good idea to replace your toothbrush with a new one and then again after the cold sore has gone (I actually rinse mine in rubbing alcohol each time after I use it if I've got an outbreak to disinfect it).
2. Sterilize a needle with rubbing alcohol or boiling water and use it to puncture the cold sore(s), then squeeze and drain every last drop of clear/yellow fluid from them (dab with a kleenex to soak it up).
3. Apply a q-tip with benzyl alcohol ("Zilactin") or, alternatively, isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol), but use benzyl alcohol if you can, to the affected area. This is one of the few "cold sores home remedies" actually recommended and endorsed by the Mayo Clinic (source: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cold-sore/DS00358/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs )
4. Apply clearasil or nail polish remover to the area with a q-tip--this will keep it completely dry and soak up any fluid for the next 2 hours until you repeat this process.
This is a VERY effective little procedure and, in my experience, will have that sucker GONE within 24-36 hours if you're on top of things and stay on schedule with the treatment. It may also help to take some Vitamin C supplements to boost your immune system along with some l-lysine which has been shown in multiple scientific studies to interfere with the virus' replication thereby shortening the duration and severity of a cold sore outbreak. (Source: Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. See the study here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3115841 )
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