Dr. Chris Kammer, noted oral health authority, gives an overview about cold sores – how you get them, how to treat them and how to prevent them. Cold sores are also known as fever blisters or herpes simplex 1.

Cold sore can affect anyone; millions of people in the US and in other parts of the world are affected by cold sore. You are not alone. Cold sore can happen for a variety of reasons. Cold sore can be caused by stress on the body. You can actually do damage by too much exposure to the sun. When not getting enough of rest will also leads to the red sore on your lip.

You can get rid of cold sore in many ways with the help of cold sore treatment. Many cold sore treatments are helpful, however what works for one person may not be effective for someone else. One of the best techniques in tackling this problem is prevention. So let’s touch on prevention before getting to cold sore treatment.

Stock up on vitamins: Take a good multivitamin every day. Vitamins and minerals prevent recurrences and enhancing our immunity against viruses. Remember to have daily intake of Vitamin A, B complex, C and E which can be purchased at any health store. Vitamin C is a key ingredient to living a healthy life, in fact vitamin C can help with all sorts of things not just cold sore. Vitamin C can help build your immune system and make you stronger and healthier.

Stay healthy and watch your diet: Eating foods that have high concentrations of L-lysine will help reduce your chance of developing a cold sore during times that your immune system has been compromised. It is an essential amino acid that aids the production of antibodies and can be found in foods like wheat germ, apricots, cheese, milk, apples, vegetables, fish, beef and chicken.

An amino acid called arginine has been found to increase the risk of developing of a cold sore. Herpes simplex virus depends on arginine. It is a good idea to limit your intake of foods containing arginine. Some foods that are rich in arginine include chocolate, nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, seeds, seafood, peas, berries; broccoli, carrots, and corn.

Here is some cold sore treatment.

Apply a tea bag for few minutes on the blisters, repeat this every hour. As tea contains tannic acid which is antiviral, the herpes simplex virus is suppressed.

You can pick up some Tea tree oil, and grape fruit capsules. Applying ice at first sign of tingling for about 20 minutes and repeated applications throughout the day is effective in slowing the cold sore lesion development.