Cold Sores Treatment - What You Need To Know

Cold sores usually appear around the mouth and are a result of contracting the herpes simplex 1 virus. Cold sores treatment becomes very important to those that suffer from them. They are ugly, embarrassing, very contagious, painful, and itchy.

Once you get the cold sore virus it will remain in your body and continue to produce cold sore outbreaks. The frequency of these outbreaks varies from person to person. Therefore the cold sores treatment an individual chooses will depend on their specific reaction to the virus.

The best cold sores treatment will be an antiviral medication. However, depending on the stage of the cold sore and what you are trying to accomplish (i.e. relieve pain and itching or reduce the outbreak time) will determine your best course of action.

Over-The-Counter Cold Sores Treatment Medications

Because of the nature of the herpes virus all medications perform differently in each person. So if one medication does not work well for you try another.

For a first time outbreak most doctors would recommend an oral medication or cream consisting of acyclovir. The oral medication is called Zovirax. Acyclovir is the choice because it reduces the outbreak time and lessens the contagiousness.

Normally a cold sore outbreak will last from 10 - 14 days. Because they are so ugly, and so very contagious (hampering your personal relationships) reducing the time of an outbreak is important to most people. Acyclovir can reduce the outbreak time by up to 60%.

Many people swear by a product called Abreva and claim it reduces the outbreak time to 1-3 days. Abreva can be purchased in a drug store or supermarket. However, Amazon.com sells it for far less than most stores.

The active ingredient in Abreva is docosanol which is the only medicine for cold sores treatment to be approved by the FDA.

Another relatively new cold sore treatment comes from Europe and is not a medicine at all. It is the Virulite Cold Sore Light Treatment Machine. It is an invisible light that activates your body's normal defense mechanism while attacking the herpes virus. While it is more expensive than the medications initially, the Virulite lasts for up to 10 years making its real cost about $7.00 per year.

If the cold sore is already at the blister stage the Virulite provides fast pain relief. You simply place the device over the affected area and press the start button. In 3 minutes you're done.

The Best Cold Sores Treatment Depends On When You Begin

Most people familiar with cold sores can sense when they have an outbreak coming. Clues are pain, itching, tingling, burning, or redness in an area around the mouth. This is called the prodromal stage. If treatment is begun immediately, in many cases the blister stage can be avoided.

Typically this has meant applying a cream or ointment. However, the just mentioned invisible light treatment has a great success record for preventing the blister stage.

Many times this quick treatment will result in the prodromal symptoms lessening and disappearing completely, and a blister never materializing. However, this quick reaction requires that you have your treatment medications on-hand.

If a blister does appear, even after immediate cold sore treatment, it will most likely be short lived and much less severe.

Ongoing Cold Sores Treatment

There is no definitive answer whether ongoing treatment is beneficial for everyone with the simplex 1 virus. It is used extensively in treating the simplex 2 herpes virus, but not yet for cold sores.

If a person is suffering from frequent outbreaks, a doctor might prescribe this ongoing treatment. It will usually take the form of oral tablets, but with the new invisible light treatment there is a new long term cold sores treatment method.

Watch this short video on how to use a home remedy to get rid of a cold sore.