There are lots of home remedy cold sore treatment tips and tricks out there, the problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff and finding out what works as opposed to what is a load of old rubbish. I suppose the easiest way to do this is to first have an understanding of what a cold sore is actually caused by and then how you can go about combating it, and hopefully get rid of the painful irritation in quick time.
First of all lets clear up what a cold sore is. They are actually caused by the herpes simplex virus, which once you have it you have it for life, so if anyone says they can cure you of a cold sore permanently, well they are misleading you. Now although you may have it for life the good news is that it is not always active so that means you wont have a sore permanently on display. And because of the nature of the virus there are some things you can do to control it so that it does not have to be something you always live in fear of.
Before we push on and discuss some of the ways that you can control the cold sore, I do need to mention to you first that cold sores are very contagious, therefore if you do have a breakout please be respectful to other people and do not kiss Them or share utensils such as knives and forks with them or even a towel for that matter. And if you do touch the cold sore please wash your hands before touching the skin of anyone else.
Now that we have covered that, lets look at some effective home remedy cold sore treatment
One of the first things you should do if you feel cold sore coming on is apply ice to the affected area. This does two things for you, first it slows down the outbreak and then secondly with the coldness it actually acts as pain relief too – so if you are a cold sore sufferer make sure you have ice in your freezer.
The next thing you can do as an effective treatment is really to take care of yourself. You see this virus lives in the nervous system and tend to come out when you are feeling run down or under stress, so make sure you boost your immune system by eating good food and supplementing with vitamins.
Speaking of food you may also want to cut out foods that are high in arginine such as chocolate, nuts, grains, peas and wholewheat products.
There are also some topical ointments that are meant to help with cold sores, the most popular tea tree oil (which is one of natures strongest antiseptics), witch hazel oil and finally lemon balm extract is also thought to help reduce symptoms and speed up Healing.