Cold sores are a symptom of infection by the herpes simplex virus, also known as HSV, usually the type 1 strain, although the type 2 strain (which is usually known for causing genital herpes) is capable of causing oral herpes as well. Let me just say right now that there is no known actual "cure" for herpes--once you're infected with it, you've got it for life (sorry). What usually happens, in the most common scenario, is that you're kissed by a relative with an active outbreak (a cold sore) when you're a small child and that infects you with the herpes virus, which spends the majority of the time dormant in the sensory nerve cells near the site of infection (typically the face, and specifically the lips).

Herpes simplex cycles between periods of active and dormant phases--obviously, an active phase is when you have a cold sore and the rest of the time when you don't is the dormant stage. An active stage, the average cold sore in other words, lasts between 2 and 21 days with an average for most people of about a week.

Now, mind you, that just because you don't have an actual cold sore that you can see doesn't mean that you're not contagious and capable of infecting other people--there's this thing called "asymptomatic shedding" where you're "shedding" the virus and can infect other people. This all occurs up to a week before you get a cold sore and a week after it's gone, so if you feel the tingling of an oncoming cold sore, you're probably contagious and should be careful not to infect other people, and if you've just gotten rid of one you're also probably still contagious. Also, asymptomatic shedding is more frequent in the first 12 months that a person has HSV.

If you're concerned about infecting a partner with HSV, you should be aware of what is, in my opinion, the best possible use of anti-viral medications such as Acyclovir and Valacyclovir (because the only thing they do for you if you've got a cold sore is possibly shorten the duration by 1-2 days, which isn't very reassuring): when one partner has herpes simplex and the other does not, the use of anti-virals like acyclovir and valacyclovir by the infected person can reduce the odds of infecting their partner by up to 50%. It is believed asymptomatic HSV-2 viral shedding occurs on 10.8% of days per year in patients not undergoing antiviral treatment, versus 2.9% of days while on antiviral therapy (Source: Department of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, go here to see the full study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16238897 )

Cold Sore Remedies

Ok, now I'm going to give you my own personal home cold sores cure that I've come up with through years of trial and error, I hope this is helpful:

1. Keep it clean and dry: wash it once every two hours with a wash cloth and soap, being sure to throw the dirty wash cloth in the laundry and use a new one each time to prevent further spreading.

2. Put some carmex (this is the best in my opinion) or other lip balm over it to keep the fluid from leaking out and spreading–the wax will act as a sealant.

3. Melt an ice cube over it for about 10 minutes every two hours after you wash it–this slows down the virus's metabolism and makes it less likely to get worse and speeds healing time, plus it really helps with pain and irritation.

4. Apply witch hazel or rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) with a q-tip to it once every two hours–my friends and I have found this to usually be VERY effective at speeding up healing time (and if you do it early enough when it's just a little red bump it will sometimes stop the cold sore dead in its tracks and keep it from ever emerging in the first place).

5. Start taking lysine at 1000mg 3 times per day along with high doses of Vitamin C (follow directions on the bottle), lysine has been proven (and in my and my friends experience, it works) to speed healing time for cold sores and to go a long way to prevent them in the first place.