Discover the Best Ways to Treat Cold Sores

Cold sores are a very embarrassing illness that sometimes sufferers need to stay home and hide. It is really frustrating to stay home when you want to go out and enjoy with your family and friends. You have to find out how to treat cold sores to improve the quality of your life.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1), the cold sore virus, stays dormant in your system for years but with the right trigger it could flare-up from time to time and it could disturb your personal or social life. It is important to treat cold sores and get rid of it for good.

There are different treatments for cold sores to speed up healing and prevent recurrence. Here as some tips:
Prevent the virus from spreading. It is a contagious disease and it can be transmitted through skin to skin contact. Avoid kissing or oral sex while you are under treatments.

Topical creams and antiviral medicines. Creams with lemon balm and Vitamin E have antiviral properties that promote quick healing. Topical creams with witch hazel bark extract is also effective. Of course it is best to seek medical advice. Your doctor can prescribe you with antiviral medicines to get rid of a cold sore.

Change in your diet. Cold sore virus grows faster with high consumption of arginine but the amino acid lysine inhibits viral multiplication. It is essential to change your diet to treat cold sores. Limit arginine consumption and increase lysine intake to prevent outbreak. Chocolates and nuts are high in arginine. You can get lysine from fruits, vegetables, red meat and dairy products. Lysine supplement is also another option, 1,000 mg a day may suppress the virus and prevents outbreak.

Vitamin C and flavonoids. To treat a cold sore, vitamin supplements are very helpful. There are studies that flavonoids and vitamin C shortens the duration of cold sore symptoms. Daily intake of vitamin C and flavonoids will make you less prone to cold sores. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, grapes, blue berries and red berries are rich in flavonoids while citrus fruits and vegetables are rich in Vitamin C.

It is important to find a treatment that will work for you. An effective way to treat cold sore is to treat it from the root cause. To find out how visit Cold Sore Free Forever