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What are cold Sores?
Cold sores are a type of herpes virus infection. When people hear this they usually immediately think of sexually transmitted type of Herpes. Well there are a lot of them that have nothing to do with the sexually transmitted one. Chicken pox is a type of herpes virus in fact. The ones in the mouth area are generally type 1 herpes and are typically picked up at first when one is a child by touching toys etc with their mouth that infected kids have touched or slobbered on. It is also commonly caught by sharing a drink or food with an adult with an active lesion. Once infected, the virus travels into the center of the area’s nerves and incorporates itself into the DNA of these nerve center cells. This is why it is with you the rest of your life and can reoccur. When stress or other stimuli affect these cells the cell can turn on the virus genes in its DNA and start to make more viruses. these travel down the nerve to the nerve endings by your mouth and get released near the skin. The skin gets reinfected and blisters form on your mouth until your immune system attacks and destroys the viruses in the skin and the nerve producing the virus goes dormant again.
What can I do about cold sores?
Cold sores are the result of a viral infection that returns from time to time from its hiding place in nerve cells. These sores most commonly to the skin around the mouth and can further infect areas around it or other parts of the body. When the sores are present they are also infectious to others. There are several medications that treat cold sores. Acyclovir and Valacyclovir are prescription medications that disrupt viral copying. They require a visit to your doctor or dentist and prescription. Other over the counter options can be effective as well. Examples include Docosanol (Abreva®) and Benzalkonium Chloride (Releev®). They target the virus in the skin sores directly and, if started before the sore appears, it may stop it from completely forming. A combination of these products can sometimes be used. Ask your doctor office what they recommend. The over the counter medications described are shown below.
