Although it is not serious and clears up on its own, anyone who has suffered from cold sores knows how unpleasant the condition can be. As there is no cure, it remains essential for regular sufferers to learn how to get rid of cold sores, complicated by the fact that different treatments can prove to be more effective in some people than in others. While the pharmaceutical industry has invested in research for decades, it remains true that none of their products has proved to be consistently better than alternative remedies when tested in trials and the combination of cost and risk of side effects can prove to be off-putting too.



While the emphasis on any treatment for cold sores should focus on preventing their outbreak, which can be very effective in the long term, it is almost inevitable that chronic sufferers will still have outbreaks. Usually this coincides with times of heightened stress, which reduces the effectiveness of the immune system, allowing the herpes simplex virus to reactivate, replicating and moving from the nerve cells to the surface of the skin where it forms a blister.

Many - if not most - sufferers experience a tingling sensation before the blister appears and this is the time to start treatment, whatever remedy you choose to use. One popular home treatment is simply the application of ice on the affected area and some people claim it has prevented the blister from forming at all, while many claim it reduces both the severity and healing time significantly by interfering with the ability of the virus from developing fully.

Even when the condition does develop and produce a lesion there are symptomatic treatments you can try. While the appearance of cold sores on the face is quite traumatic for the sufferer, leading to loss of esteem, the condition is also painful and therefore an analgesic is recommended. You can either take a regular painkiller or use a cream which will help heal the cold sore while reducing inflammation and soreness, such as tea tree oil or lemon balm and the topical remedy Zorvirax is an over-the-counter treatment that can speed healing, reduce soreness and fight the virus. Home treatments other than those mentioned above include milk of magnesia, which can help diminish the impact of a lesion and even blueberry juice can help, while the mint content of toothpaste seems act on the cold sore and reduce healing time.

One new product on the market is a device called Virulite CS. It is a lightweight portable devise that emits LED light of specific bandwidth that has been shown to treat cold sores and it is said that it helps by activating the body's immune defenses and can help in preventing future reoccurrences.

As you can see there are a number of different treatments that can vary in their efficacy depending on the individual. The knowledge of how to get rid of cold sores therefore necessarily relies upon trial and error until you find something that works consistently.