How Long Does A Cold Sore Take To Heal?

Another week or more of the unsightly, painful thing on your lip... surely there's something that will make it heal quicker?

Good news, there are a number of things you can do to cut down on the healing time of your cold sore.

None of the tips listed below are just an "old wives tale", everything here really does work.

Try some of these tips and dramatically reduce the time it takes for your cold sore to heal.

Understanding The Virus

Cold sores, fever blisters, HSV 1, are all names for a virus called Herpes Simplex 1, that unfortunately, once contracted, you have for life.

The virus is estimated to affect around 65% of the worlds population, so you are not alone! Of that 65%, only an unlucky minority ever experience the symptoms, The majority of people who have the virus never have any symtoms at all, and are unaware that they have it.

Although you can never be "cured" of the virus, there plenty of things you can do to cut down on the healing time, reduce outbreaks, and in a lot of cases eliminate them altogether.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

The cold sore virus can lay dormant for long periods of time, for some people this can be years. For the majority though, the virus will be a frequent unwelcome occurrence. It can be triggered by any number of events, and everyone is different. Here is a list of things that commonly trigger an outbreak.

Stress
Probably the main cause of the virus occurring. Life will always have its ups and downs, but keeping stress to a minimum will help.

Low Immune System
Getting yourself run down due to stress, illness or lack of sleep is another major cause of an outbreak.

Excessive Heat Or Cold
Too much sun, i.e. sunburn, chapped lips from cold or wind. Always wear sunblock or a lipsalve with an SPF rating.

Poor Diet
Too much junk food, and not enough of a balanced diet, with the essential vitamins you need to fight the virus and keep it at bay.

More often than not it's a combination of the above points that will trigger an outbreak. Knowing your triggers will at least help you to avoid them if at all possible.

Essential For Cold Sore Sufferers

Probably the best supplement you can take during an outbreak is lysine.

Lysine is an essential amino acid that the body can't generate on its own, so has to be either taken as a supplement or gained from your diet.

The virus is what is known as an enveloped virus, lysine has been proven to attack and breakdown the envelope the virus travels in, so when the envelope is destroyed the virus dies.

I would highly recommend taking one 1000mg tablet three times daily until the sore has healed.

Doing this will definitely speed up the healing time. I would also recommend taking one tablet a day as a preventative measure to lessen the chances of a further outbreak.

High amounts of lysine can also be found in many foods. Adjusting your diet a little to incorporate some of these foods will do wonders.

Here's a list of foods high in lysine.

Tuna - Chicken - Turkey - Salmon - Broccoli - Cod - Eggs - Beef - Cabbage

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