Cold sores on your face can be incredibly embarrassing because there is no way to hide them from the public eye. They just look plain gross most of the time. Not to mention how painful they can be. A cold sore will last anywhere from nine to twelve days and in, in the meantime, go through many changes. Each of these stages can be painful and embarrassing. The growth increase in size, but when the cycle finishes, it drys up. Be careful when your cold sore starts to dry though, because it may leave a scar. So avoid picking and scratching at the sore, no matter how much you want to or how much it itches.
There are a few things you can do to help you win the fight against a cold sore. If you re currently suffering from a nasty ugly cold sore, you should check out some of these suggestions.
Use an anti bacterial cleaner on the cold sore, and then proceed to wash thoroughly. You will need to be cautious, and not have any contact with the area, when you experience any itching, swelling, or pain. This is another one of the three stages of a cold sore. You can spread the virus to others, and even on yourself, if you touch the cold sore. If this does occur, make sure to was your hands, to stop any more contamination. Remember, wash, wash, wash your hands and you will be doing yourself a big favor.
The first step to curing a cold sore is to keep it clean, after that you can feel free to apply medicines containing zinc or DMSO. Protamine zinc can help you recover quickly. Studies show that you could improve your recovery rate by up to 30 with the proper application of these medicines.
DMSO will assist you by going deep into your skin and killing off the bacteria that caused your cold sore. It will do this thoroughly and completely. Colds sores are not able to live once they are exposed to air. If applied to your cold sore every other day, you can use DMSO to prevent your sore from returning in the future. I m sure that s a benefit you would not like to miss.
A great way to get rid of some of the pain is to spread toothpaste on your sore. You should apply toothpaste relative to the age and extent of the cold sore formation. The reason this is a very popular treatment is that it can help dry out the area of your sores and it also contains many ingredients that can sooth the itching and pain. Not to mention that we all have toothpaste lying around the house. This is a very cheap treatment that you should try if you haven t already.
Being outside in the clean air will help to kill the cold sore. Take a walk in the evening or morning when the air is fresh and cool. Since the cold sore cannot survive in a plentitude of oxygen, fresh air will destroy all the bad bacteria. Besides, the exercise will do you good too.
Also, using all the creams and lotions in the world will not benefit you, if you do not maintain a healthy way of life. Too keep the Herpes simplex virus dormant, you must keep it at bay by having a good diet, eating healthy food, and reducing your alcohol consumption, and giving up smoking.