How to Stop a Cold Sore in its Tracks?
Dealing with a cold sore is never easy, and is often very frustrating. While cold sores themselves can go away, the actual virus never does. When a cold sore does arise, there are some steps that you can take to manage them for a speedy recovery.
The blister itself can be quite painful at times, and everyone wants to make them go away as soon as possible. But can you actually stop it in its tracks?
What’s a Cold Sore?
Cold sores or fever blisters are a type of viral infection. They are fluid-filled blisters that can form on or around the lips, which will eventually break and form a scab.
Cold sores are an annoyance to a lot of people, especially because you need to take extra precautions at this time to make sure you don’t infect your loved ones by mistake.
How to Stop a Cold Sore in Its Tracks
While there is no cure for the virus that causes cold sores, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce the impact of a cold sore and even make way for a speedy recovery.
Here are a few things to try the next time you’re dealing with a cold sore:
- Ice - applying ice to the cold sore can help you reduce the amount of pain you experience, but it can also reduce the inflammation in the area around it. You can hold an ice pack to the cold sore for a few minutes daily. Do not apply ice directly to your skin or the cold sore, as this can do more harm than good.
- Pain relievers - if you're experiencing pain, over the counter pain relievers can be quite beneficial, either as medication or even topical creams you can apply directly on the cold sore for relief.
- Avoiding spicy and acidic foods - these foods often act as triggers that cause the cold sores to appear or make your symptoms worse. When dealing with a cold sore, it’s best to avoid spicy and acidic foods entirely, and monitor your triggers to prevent them down the line as well.
- Avoid tobacco - to the list of health concerns caused by tobacco, making your cold sores worse is one of them. It’s best to refrain from smoking or vaping while you’re dealing with a cold sore to prevent prolonging your symptoms.
- Use sunscreen - sunscreen protects the skin from damaging UVA and UVB rays, which can worsen your cold sore tremendously. Moreover, wearing sunscreen can help prevent cold sores from appearing. Make sure you choose an SPF of at least 30 to be properly protected.
- Lysine - cold sores require arginine, a type of amino acid to grow, but lysine has been shown to slow down the body’s absorption of arginine. As a result, Lysine products are quite effective in slowing down or even preventing cold sores from appearing.
With any treatment you take, it’s important to start the process once the first symptoms appear. Cold sores can last a lot longer without proper care.
Additionally, to make sure you do not extend the cold sore’s timeline needlessly, you should also avoid:
- High levels of stress
- Heat
- Touch the sore
- Popping or rubbing the sore
Get Oral Care Support with Quantum Health
Quantum Health can help you support your oral care efforts with our coldsticks, ointments, and bandages designed to help you manage cold sores and other oral health concerns.
We encourage you to check out our products in our catalog and place your order right here in our shop!
