The misery of cold sores is endured by millions of peoplethrough both the physical discomfort as well as the anguish that comes fromhaving a weeping sore on their lip that can last as long as ten days.Unfortunately once infected the virus is with us for life and so there is noabsolute cure for cold sores, although lifestyle modifications can have adramatic effect of the frequency of cold sore attacks and help the healingprocess. Although the virus - herpes simplex virus I - remains in thebody once infected, it lies dormant in the nerve cells most of the time becausethe immune system is strong enough to subdue it.

But as soon as the immunesystem is weakened, the virus begins to replicate and moves from under the skinto the surface, at which time a fluid-filled blister forms. The blister laterbursts and becomes the cold sore. The first phase of any long-term cold sore treatment istherefore aimed at preventing the virus becoming strong enough to activate, ascan be achieved by eating a healthy, well balanced diet; taking regularexercise, such as 30 minutes walking every day; ensuring adequate sleep andavoiding overtiredness; avoiding periods of prolonged stress. These all cancontribute to keeping your immune system working at its best and help reducethe number of Cotton Printing Canvas Manufacturers cold sore attacks. However, even if you follow this advice there will be timesin which your cold sores make reappearance, which is when you need to move intothe second phase of your cold sore treatment. I mentioned before, it is notpossible to completely cure cold sores, or at least at the moment, but you cantreat the symptoms when they occur. One method is through the use of anti-viral medication thatcontains penciclovir or acyclovir.

These drugs act as a suppressant to herpessimplex virus I and if applied when the tingling sensation first starts caninterfere with the virus's ability to replicate, reducing the severity ofattack compared with it being untreated. The other method for tackling cold sores when theyappear is through natural remedies, some of which date back to Roman times. Onepopular treatment is to take L-Lysine supplements which can act to reduce theseverity of attacks and the application of ice to the infected area when thetingling sensation appears is also popular.