Today we are featuring a guest post on Healthy Living Natural
Beauty. Today we have a returning author, Jane Chitty. She has kindly written
us an informative article about how to prevent cold sores.
Her biography follows the article and she has provided the pictures for
both her biography and the article. If you have ever had a cold sore and want to learn how to prevent them, this article will be very informative. Please feel free
to leave any questions or comments at the end of the article.
HOW CAN YOU PREVENT THOSE PAINFUL COLD SORES ON
YOUR LIPS?
The cold sore virus is easily contracted by young
children and it is at a young age that most people contract the herpes virus as
it is spread in saliva or mucus that comes from the nose and mouth. The virus is highly contagious when cold
sores are present and kissing is the main culprit for cold sore transmission. You can also get cold sores at any age
through close personal contact with someone else with a cold sore or the herpes
virus.
You can protect yourself and your family from cold
sore transmission by:
1.
Changing your toothbrush and towels regularly and
not allowing family members to share
such personal items.
2.
If you have a cold sore outbreak, the person
affected should start using a brand new toothbrush at the beginning of the
outbreak, half way through the cold sores cycle and then again at the end when
the cold sore is completely healed.
3.
Avoiding sharing eating utensils, cups and
glasses.
4.
Avoiding kissing anyone especially babies and
young children who are so vulnerable.
5.
Washing the hands frequently while taking care not
to rub the eyes or have contact with the genital area in order to prevent the
virus spreading.
6.
Educating your children on how to protect
themselves and others from contracting cold sores.
7.
At the first sign of a tingling sensation on the
lips, starting a course of natural antiviral cold sores treatment which can
prevent the cold sore commencing its life cycle or at the very least, lessen
the intensity, pain and discomfort of a cold sore outbreak.
8.
At the same time, keep applying a small ice pack
to the tingling area. The herpes virus
actively dislikes the cold.
9.
Making every effort to boost the immune system
with healthy lifestyle habits.
10.
Always try to prevent the spread of cold sores to
others.
When the cold sores virus invades the body's
system, the primary infection can progress in different ways. Some will have no
symptoms; some will have very mild symptoms; and in young children, the virus
can infect the mouth and throat and be accompanied by a fever and general aches
and pains. Others will develop the
classic cold sore with a tingling sensation, followed by redness and then a
group of small blisters that become filled with fluid. These sores become covered with scabs which
are part of the healing process. The
normal cold sore cycle lasts for approximately 8 to 10 days.
You may have no further outbreaks; you may have a
few outbreaks; or you may have frequent recurrent outbreaks of cold sores. Fortunately, such outbreaks usually become
less often as you grow older. In the
case of children having skin problems such as eczema (or suffering from another
condition that affects his or her immune system) there is a small risk that he
or she could have more severe cold sores.
Author Bio:
Jane Chitty writes regularly for Healing Natural Oils, a producer
and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of
conditions (including acne, arthritis, moles, warts, skin tags and many more).
Jane lives in Cape Town, South Africa, but is able to spend some time in both
the USA and the UK because of close family living there. She loves to compare natural treatments and
lifestyles – especially in the areas of health, green living and nutrition – in
these three very different countries.
Her daily posts can be found at www.amoils.com/health-blog.
