About 50% to 80% of the American population carries the herpes simplex 1 virus. That is easily more than 100 million Americans that have suffered from unsightly red and painful cold sores at least once in their entire lifetime. Sad to say, even though medical research funds in the tune of millions have been poured into researching and finding a permanent cure for the herpes virus, it has been thus far a wild goose chase.

Prescription anti-virus products can at most bring temporary comfort to cold sore sufferers by reducing the itch and pain. Vaccines are still in the early experimental stage, and have not been fully developed to produce positive results.

For the time being, cold sore sufferers can only rely upon over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Such medications often contain numbing properties, or are anti-viral in nature. They can also simply be pain-killers that in essence alleviate pain and bring temporary relief. But none can effectively reduce the normal 10 day period of cold sore attacks, which in serious cases can be even longer. These products are also ineffective in preventing cold sore recurrences.

People have also reported that there could be side-effects associated with using such medications. These side-effects include excessive dryness of skin, peeling, etc.

While modern science and medicine are advanced, our physical bodies still respond better to natural treatment methods. More and more medical experts are now convinced that applying natural cold sore treatment could be the correct way to treat cold sores without suffering from the harmful side-effects. Traditional home remedies passed down by the older folks are slowly making their way into American homes. Afterall, external drugs tend to create chemical imbalances in our bodies, and could have far-reaching repercussions on our health. At the same time, these homemade cold sore treatment can often be administered cheaply, frequently at a fraction of OTC medication costs.

It is amazing that nature has provided us with herbs or even plants that have great medicinal and healing properties. Even our common household items like toothpaste has the effect of cooling sores.

A long-time cold sore sufferer recently documented in her book about how she was able to win her struggle against cold sore recurrences. She also penned down the natural cold sore treatment methods that helped her cure her cold sores in 3 short days. In her report, she revealed how anyone can duplicate her treatment to heal cold sores from home. You can read more about her story and treatment methods from the resource below.

I hope that this article has encouraged you to seriously consider natural cold sore treatment as an alternative to OTC medicines.