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A cold sore could be painful and make you feel awkward. It is caused by the herpes simplex virus (either type 1 or type 2). When the virus enters your body but remains dormant, cold sores do not appear. Once it is activated, it affects the nerve fibers and causes red, swollen wound.
How cold sore is caused
The HSV is contagious and could enter your body through skin contact with an affected person. If you are exposed to a HSV infected person’s sneezes, coughs and touch or kiss him, the parasite virus would make your body its host.
The activation of the HSV already present in your body becomes imminent when you are undergoing physical and mental stress that weakens the immunity. Other factors related to an outbreak of cold sores are extreme weather, other sicknesses, colds, flu, hormone fluctuation and taking of oily foods.
Symptoms of cold sores
The first stage for the treatment of cold sores is proper diagnosis of the symptoms. You would notice visible irritation spots that are accompanied by itching, tightening and burning. These eruptions later develop into larger clusters of blister like sores and remain for 1-2 weeks. Touching, rubbing or scratching a cold sore can spread the infection to the rest of your body.
How to tackle cold sores properly
Apart from seeing a doctor and taking the medicines prescribed by him, you need to practice some precautions to avoid spreading cold sores. You can alleviate the irresistible urge to scratch a cold sore by dipping a clean cloth in hot, soap water and using it to scrub the cold sore and its surrounding areas.
Since hot compresses help in healing cold sores, you could press them with heated tea bags. You could speed up the healing procedure by covering the cold sores with petroleum jelly or Neosporin.
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