Until someone comes up with a cure, the best we can hope for is a cold sore remedy that reduces the time and frequency of outbreaks and helps us better cope with the pain.

If you stop and think about the fact that cold sores have been around for thousands of years, then you can imagine the same routine being played out through history.

Someone wakes up in the morning and notices for the first time a bump on his lip or around his mouth. He thinks to himself, not another cold sore. This unfortunate man immediately starts to ask about a cold sore remedy. He asks his friends, his neighbors and practically everyone he sees. Not only does he get one cold sore remedy, but he gets dozens of them. He goes home and experiments with the various concoctions and procedures he has heard about.

After spending a couple days with various substances applied to his face and a few incantations for good measure, the man comes to the same conclusion as most people who have tried a cold sore remedy. No matter what you do you cannot make the sore magically disappear. The best you can hope for in a cold sore remedy is something that will help relieve pain and maybe decrease the staying power of the intruder.

If you suffer from cold sore outbreaks you probably have your own cold sore remedy. Remedies that may work depending on the type of solution you have. The most popular ones are: applying vinegar with a cotton boll as well as dabbing alcohol several times a day on the affected area. However, if you find that your remedy needs a little help treating your symptoms, there are over-the-counter ointments that can be applied to the outbreak. These ointments are widely used and seem to have some positive affects for most people.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Natural Relief from Pain, Burning, Numbness (lewrockwell.com)
• A New Answer to Cold Sores (e-prescribe.biz)
• homemade cold remedy (everydayfoodblog.marthastewart.com)

Cold sore treatment hasn’t made any great advances or taken any long strides over the years. Everyone who has continually battled with this condition would love to wake up tomorrow and learn that a cure has been found, but for now we will have to settle for treatment.

What would happen if you did nothing to treat it? Well, under normal conditions it runs its course in one to two weeks. One to two weeks may seem like a long time when you are the one with it, but it is comforting to know that even without a treatment the blister will eventually disappear. Of course, for many people the outbreaks reoccur periodically.

One of the most notable solutions is medication. There are antiviral medicines that can be taken orally. These can shorten the length of time it is present and decrease the pain associated with the sores.

As a solution, these antiviral medications work best when taken before the actual symptom is experienced. However, you may not realize the virus is becoming active again until you see the sores. If outbreaks occur often, your doctor may recommend that you take the medications continuously.

Aside from these medicines, solution options remains rather basic. When the sores are exposed, you can wash them with soap and water to limit the spread of the virus to other areas. You should be very careful and gently clean the affected area as to not cause the blisters to burst and spread. Applying ice and a warm cloth is a good solution to reduce pain.

Some people swear by the benefit of Benadryl as a simple home remedy for cold sores. They apply the Benadryl with cotton boll on the affected area. They have reported that the result of using such home treatment is less noticeable sore.

Although there is no magic to cure this his condition taking every preventive measure seriously has its advantages.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Pearl laser patients with a history of cold sores should be on antiviral prior to treatment. (realself.com)
• Cold Sore with Chemical Peel Skin Resurfacing (realself.com)

With so many people suffering from cold sore outbreaks, it is understandable that the collection of remedies for this condition is almost without end.

It has been estimated that there are nearly one hundred million outbreaks each year in the United States alone. Imagine what the number would be if you included the populations of other countries. With numbers this large, you can imagine that there are a lot of people looking for relief. One reason the outbreaks are so common is that the virus (herpes simplex) that causes them is easily passed from person to person if precautions are not taken.

Listed below is a couple items that suffers might find very helpful:

Black walnut and tea bags:

Black walnut is a plant that contains tannins such as galloyglucose and ellagitannins and juglone. These are the active ingredients in black walnut that are thought to help relieve the symptoms of oral herpes. Also, the walnut shells contain high levels of vitamin C. Black walnut serves as a natural antiseptic because it contains high levels of iodine.

In addition to this, black walnut is thought to be helpful in treating ringworm, athlete’s foot, psoriasis, blisters, eczema and other skin conditions. Black walnut has been used to treat eye infections and syphilis sores.

Now, what about teabags?

The tannins in a tea bag can help control the outbreaks; thus acting as one of the many solutions for this condition. You can apply it directly on to the affected area. Tannins have anti-viral properties that may have an effect on the herpes simplex virus.

Benadryl is also used by some people as remedy. They open a capsule of Benadryl and adhere it to it with some type of paste or balm.

Lysine is one of the purported solutions. If taken as soon as the initial symptoms of an outbreak begin, lysine is said to prevent it from developing. If you decide to try this one, you can find lysine at most grocery stores, pharmacies and health food stores.

Here are a couple solutions that pertain to your toothbrush. If you get continual outbreaks of them, change your toothbrush frequently. The herpes virus that causes sores can remain in your toothbrush after the outbreak clears and cause a recurrence of symptoms. Also bathrooms are wet and moist environments, ideal for the herpes virus, so keeping your toothbrush in another room could help.

Remember all of these are things other people have tried, but there is no guarantee they will work for you.

As the medical field continues to conduct studies and research, it is quite possible that one day not too far into the future there will be a cure to rid us of the herpes virus. However, until that day arrives, any amount of relief is welcomed by the millions upon millions of people living with the effects of the virus.

Out of the many possible treatments for cold sores, the medication Abreva Top has become one of the more popular ones. It is used by many people fighting the symptoms associated with the herpes simplex virus. When people get those nasty oral sores, they would go for any medications that seem to work.

Abreva contains the drug docosanol, which is used to treat this condition. This drug can decrease pain, burning and itching stemming from the herpes simplex virus infection. It is this virus that causes this condition. This condition is bumps or blisters generally found on or around the mouth. They can occur inside the mouth as well.

They can be extremely painful and tender to the touch. When they burst, they release a fluid that can spread the infection. This fluid can be an agent by which the virus spread from person to person as well.

Abreva works by blocking the herpes simplex virus and not allowing it to enter the healthy skin cells and spread. It is important to note that it does not cure herpes, but only limits the spread of the outbreak. It also does not prevent the virus from being transmitted from one person to another and it does not prevent herpes outbreaks from coming back. According to the manufacturer, it should be used regularly to maintain a constant level in the skin and get the best results.

Even though it has made some strides in as a treatment for this disease, it is not a cure-all drug and it should not be used as such. It should not be used to treat inside the mouth, shingles or genital herpes.

Most everyone is familiar with cold sores. If you haven’t had one yourself, you probably know someone who has had one or you have at least seen someone with one. These usually heal in several days to a couple weeks. In some cases, healing takes longer. However, while they are present, they can be very unattractive and sometimes painful. In more severe cases, the blisters may bust open and leak fluid before scabbing over.

When we ask, what is a cold sore? We are not asking for the simple physical description. Most anyone can identify one, but what else is there to know about these displeasing outbreaks?

A not so commonly known fact is that the “bumps” are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are two forms of the herpes simplex virus and they are simply named herpes simplex virus-1 and herpes simplex virus-2. Either herpes simplex virus-1 or herpes simplex virs-2 is capable of causing bumps around the lips and mouth. Both of these forms are also capable of causing genital herpes.

Usually, the herpes simplex virus invades the body through a cut or scratch in the skin. It can also enter the body through the mouth. While this condition normally appears on the lips or around the mouth, it can develop on other parts of the body.

Yes, there are many proclaimed cures and many remedies that do indeed seem to have positive effects in limiting outbreaks and decreasing the amount of time an outbreak lasts. However, there is no medically or scientifically accepted cure.

So in a nutshell, that’s the good and bad news about this symptom of the herpes virus. There is no cure yet, but there are remedies that can offer relief until science finds or discovers in nature the silver bullet for HSV-1 and HSV-2.