You wake up one morning feeling a tingling sensation on your lip. A few hours later, you found blisters on the same spot and they are quite painful. If you've already had this experience, you probably already know what is happening to you right from the moment you felt the tingling and is already dreading the next few days or weeks. If not, you're in for a rude awakening—you've got cold sores.
Cold sores, aka fever blisters, herpes labialis, and orolabial herpes, are caused primarily by the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). I say primarily because cold sores can also be caused by the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes most genital herpes. They are painful, contagious sores on or around your lips that can last up to several weeks. According to the literature on cold sores, most people got infected with HSV-1 in their childhood. A carrier of the virus can transmit it via kissing even if sores are not present. The liquid inside the sores are very contagious, so people with cold sores should not: kiss other people; share their food, drinks, and eating utensils with others; and touch other people after directly touching their sores.
Cold sores don't last forever, but they are a pain—literally and figuratively—when you have them. If you are prone to cold sores, you should keep your body healthy and your immune system strong. The good thing about cold sores is when they run their course, they just usually disappear on their own even without medication. There are ointments that can help with the pain, but the medicines that your doctor will give you will not make the virus go away nor will they stop the sores from forming. The bad thing about this infection is when you contract the virus, it will stay in your system forever. After your first outbreak, it stays dormant and waits for the opportunity to rear its ugly head again. If you are lucky, you will only experience one outbreak in your lifetime. If you are unlucky, you will have as many as 3 or more outbreaks in a year.
Different things and situations can trigger a cold sore outbreak. Mine happens to be a high body temperature, as I've realized from my latest outbreak. In some people, the trigger can be too much sun, low/compromised immune system, stress, trauma/injury to the mouth, or hormonal changes. If you know your cold sore triggers, you will know what to do to minimize your outbreak or avoid getting them altogether. But if you do have cold sores, since we can't really completely stop our bodies from getting sick no matter how careful we are, don't agonize about it too much. If you worry about your social life dying a painful death because you got cold sores and some people think you got them because of your sluttish ways, don't. When your cold sores have gone away, they will forget you had them in the first place, and so will you.
Cold sores, aka fever blisters, herpes labialis, and orolabial herpes, are caused primarily by the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). I say primarily because cold sores can also be caused by the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes most genital herpes. They are painful, contagious sores on or around your lips that can last up to several weeks. According to the literature on cold sores, most people got infected with HSV-1 in their childhood. A carrier of the virus can transmit it via kissing even if sores are not present. The liquid inside the sores are very contagious, so people with cold sores should not: kiss other people; share their food, drinks, and eating utensils with others; and touch other people after directly touching their sores.
Cold sores don't last forever, but they are a pain—literally and figuratively—when you have them. If you are prone to cold sores, you should keep your body healthy and your immune system strong. The good thing about cold sores is when they run their course, they just usually disappear on their own even without medication. There are ointments that can help with the pain, but the medicines that your doctor will give you will not make the virus go away nor will they stop the sores from forming. The bad thing about this infection is when you contract the virus, it will stay in your system forever. After your first outbreak, it stays dormant and waits for the opportunity to rear its ugly head again. If you are lucky, you will only experience one outbreak in your lifetime. If you are unlucky, you will have as many as 3 or more outbreaks in a year.
Different things and situations can trigger a cold sore outbreak. Mine happens to be a high body temperature, as I've realized from my latest outbreak. In some people, the trigger can be too much sun, low/compromised immune system, stress, trauma/injury to the mouth, or hormonal changes. If you know your cold sore triggers, you will know what to do to minimize your outbreak or avoid getting them altogether. But if you do have cold sores, since we can't really completely stop our bodies from getting sick no matter how careful we are, don't agonize about it too much. If you worry about your social life dying a painful death because you got cold sores and some people think you got them because of your sluttish ways, don't. When your cold sores have gone away, they will forget you had them in the first place, and so will you.
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