Commercial cold sore remedies you buy at the drug store are considered mostly comfort treatments. They relieve your discomfort with oils and numbing agents such as lidocaine. And that is good.

But, commercial cold sore remedies do little or nothing for getting rid of cold sores quickly. Natural home remedies still will give you the best results.

The following are some top cold sore remedies that have proven to be excellent at curing your sores. Give them a try. They will work better than most commercial products.

1. GARLIC OIL.

Garlic is an amazing cold sore remedy. Under a microscope, you can watch viruses flee from just the smell of it.

Garlic also has the unique ability to pass right through the skin and attack the virus underneath. Put it on your feet and you will smell it on your breath in less than 30 minutes.

Fresh garlic, either cut or crushed, will give you the very best results.

When it is not convenient, you can buy gel-caps at the vitamin store designed for internal use. Just snip or prick the end off the gel-cap and squeeze the oil right on your cold sores.

If you take garlic internally, it will greatly boost the results of an external application. Plus, you will be more resistant to cold and flu virus too.

2. PEPPERMINT OIL.

Mint is also very strong medicine for healing cold sores. It seems to stop cold sores immediately and heal them in short order. Yes, it smells a lot better than garlic too.

The best way to obtain peppermint oil for safely applying directly to the sore is to buy peppermint gel-caps at the vitamin store. Then, like the garlic caps, you can cut them and apply the oil to the sore area.

There is also available peppermint oil for aromatherapy use. This is extremely concentrated and can burn your skin. Get aromatherapy instructions and follow their directions for diluting it with olive oil.

You can also mix garlic and peppermint oil for an exceptional topical cold sore remedy.

3. TEA BAGS.

Applying heat to any sore will speed healing. This is the case with cold sores that have blossomed open too. It brings a rush of healing blood to the scene.

The best way to accomplish this is by using warm tea bags. Common black tea works great. Black tea with mint or lemon balm will work twice as fast.

Caution. Never heat a tea bag directly in a microwave. Heat the water first, then use the hot water to heat the bag. The microwaves destroy most of the healing benefits of tea.

4. LYSINE.

Lysine is one of the most effective and well-proven treatments you will find. No matter what other cold sore remedies you use, this should always be part of your plan.

Lysine is a common protein found in dairy and fish. It works by reducing the amount of arginine in your cells. Arginine is the protein fraction needed by the herpes virus to create new viruses.

If you stop the herpes replication process, you will prevent – or quickly eliminate – any cold sores. Lysine dramatically hinders this process.

Folks start taking it the minute they feel an outbreak coming on. They continue to take it until the skin is again clear. Normal dosage during this time is 3000 milligrams per day.

Lysine is quite safe. For example, a large serving of Flounder contains about 10,000 milligrams of lysine. For me, I prefer lysine capsules. They are cheap and very convenient to use.

You will find these to be some of the finest cold sore remedies around.

Be sure to try them. You will enjoy great healing results and get your social life back fast using these top cold sore remedies.

For many people the first signs of a sore developing can be a burning or tingling sensation around the mouth and lips, a sore throat and in some cases swollen glands, usually in ones neck. When a young child is about to have an outbreak it is far harder to determine as a parent, due to the fact that they are generally less able to be specific when describing the symptoms that they are experiencing, but often an outbreak of cold sores is associated with dribbling as the sore develops.

The actual sores are the result of the reproductive process of the virus, which having entered a healthy cell, causes that cell to replicate the virus. Having destroyed the host cell, the virus then releases millions of cells in a confined area, and it is this that produces what is commonly referred to as the cold sore.

Cold sores tend to flare up under certain conditions:

- Ultra Violet Light – One must be careful not to overdo exposure to the sun. When sunbathing it is very important to apply a suitable sun block.

- Stress – Either physical or emotional is a major cause because it weakens the body’s immune system causing the virus to become active.

- Menstrual periods – An outbreak can often be associated with women’s periods.

- Diet – This plays an important part in one’s general health and consequently your body’s ability to fight off a flare up.

- Alcohol – When taken in excess, alcohol can rob ones body of essential nutrients which can cause cold sores to erupt.

To suppress a cold sore outbreak there are some things one can do to assist the body in suppressing the virus.

- Controlling stress is very important. Avoid emotional conflict and ensure one has sufficient sleep.

- A diet containing more fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, beans and lentils, free range meats and filtered water strengthens the body and provides the nutrients needed by the immune system to function properly.

- When one has an outbreak it is considered good practice to avoid foods that are high in the amino acid arginine which is needed for the virus to reproduce, like most nuts, cereals, chocolate, seeds, caffeine, and to increase ones intake of lysine, an amino acid that seems to inhibit it. Lysine is found in fish, dairy products, most fruit, and most vegtables.

Although there are countless treatments available across the counter or from your family doctor, for them, producing various results, there are now particularly successful and fast acting natural treatments available that will allow you to get cold sore treatment quickly and eliminate them forever. You would be well advised to investigate these natural treatments which now so many people are enthusiastic about if you or someone near to you suffers from unsightly, painful cold sores.

YES – and 67% of those infected with the cold sores virus will have at least one cold sore event in the next 12 months.

And 47.5% of those folks will have multiple cold sores episodes during that period.

Cold sores are one of our most contagious viruses – and one of our oldest. Even in ancient Rome, an epidemic of cold sores caused Emperor Tiberius to outlaw kissing in public ceremonies.

As a global epidemic, or “pandemic”, there is no better example than cold sores.

NO – cold sores, unlike bird flu, aren’t life threatening. But, let’s be frank, cold sores are hideous – and they’re painful. On top of that, cold sores cause flu like symptoms such as fever and swollen lymph glands in a lot of people.

Cold sores last 3 to 4 weeks on average – a long time for you to be socially sidelined! They shout “I HAVE HERPES” to the entire world.

And cold sores cost us money in lost days at work and constant purchase of medications. Always hoping to finally find something – ANYTHING – to stop our cold sores curse.

Check out these little known facts about cold sores – and what you can do right now to get rid of your cold sores problem.

Cold sores are caused by the reproductive cycle of a herpes virus. There are currently 8 known human herpes viruses. Of these, only 2 are a major cause of cold sores.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV1) is responsible for about 80% of facial cold sores – and about 20% of genital herpes lesions. Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV2) causes about 20% of cold sores and 80% of genital herpes blisters.

HSV1 is most often referred to as the “cold sores virus”, “fever blister virus” and “oral herpes” – and some others that I can’t mention in a public article.

Cold sores virus may be latent (asleep) for weeks or years in the nerve ganglia near the back of the jaw close to the brain stem.

More specifically, the cold sores virus hides inside your cells – making it very difficult for your body defenses to locate and deal with them.

When your body’s defenses weaken, due to physical or emotional stress, the cold sores virus leaves these cells, travel down the nerve fibers, like a super-highway to the lip or nose surface – to create cold sores.

There are 8 cold sore stages. The first is the latent inactive stage. The next 7 cold sore stages are the ACTIVE stages. From the first tingle to the last red spot, your cold sores are extremely contagious.

Cold sores are most often spread by physical contact – but can even be transmitted by coughing or sneezing during the active stages of your cold sores.

Medical science is working around-the-clock to find a cure for common cold sores. They’ve had a few minor breakthroughs that may lead to some real solutions in the next couple of years.

Basically medical scientists are approaching the cold sores virus on 2 levels.

1. A VACCINE preventing you from actually contracting the cold sores virus in the first place. One such vaccine is currently being moved into human testing. Downside is – it only works on people who have never been exposed to cold sores virus. Since nearly everyone on the planet has been exposed, it seems of very little value even if approved. But it’s an encouraging move forward.

2. AN ANTI-VIRAL to kill the cold sore virus already in our body. This is difficult since it has to find and kill the virus without damaging the nerve cells they are hiding in. The prescription anti-viral medications scientists have come up with so far have not worked very well at all – at least on cold sores virus.

Acyclovir, for example, is an anti-viral that’s being promoted as a cold sores wonder drug. In real life studies, however, a course of acyclovir only reduced cold sores by 2 days. And it only worked for 47.8% in the trials. No big deal here.

Acyclovir topical cream came in even worse – no noticeable help at all. Medical scientists agree and have publicly stated that the actives in acyclovir don’t get through the skin to the infection. Don’t waste your money on this.

COLD SORES NATURAL SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE!

Did you know – medical knowledge has more than doubled in the past 5 years alone? Worldwide internet communication has made it possible.

More important – natural home remedies, such as effective cold sores treatments, are coming in from all corners of the globe.

In fact, many doctors are now advising their patients to check out these natural remedies for cold sores.

Data studies have shown these natural remedies to reduce suffering time of cold sores by an incredible 79% – plus actually PREVENTING future cold sores from happening altogether (they don’t kill the cold sores virus – but they do keep it inactive indefinitely).

If you’re a cold sores victim, your best choice – fact is, your ONLY choice today – is to buy and apply one of these excellent natural remedies.

There are several solidly proven remedies for you to look into on this site or other sites – and the best news is they’re available right now for your cold sores.