Cold sores can be a real pain.
They can be a pain for both the person who has them and for people who have to look at them.
But what are cold sores and how do they start? What causes cold sores and what can I do to prevent them? They are essentially fever blisters.
They are small red and swollen blisters that form around the mouth.
They can be very contagious.
If the blister was to break open and you make contact with the fluid it can be transferred to another person.
This can be do by touching mucus membrane or through breaks in the skin of the uninfected person.
Such as mouth.
If you did not know 90% of the population has the virus in there body and about 70% actually have breakouts.
So what is a cold sore? Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV).
The virus will inter the body through breaks in the skin and is usually passed through contact.
Here are some of the ways is can be passed.
If the infected person touches the sore that is infected or is broken open.
They can pass the virus, by touching eating utensils or anything they touch.
It can be passed through kissing, or touching a persons saliva.
It can not be passed just through skin to skin.
It takes a open source.
Such as broken skin, touch mucus membrane (ie eyes, mouth etc...
) The virus can be spread to other areas of the body as well (genital).
So what are some of the symptoms? A early Sx are pain around the mouth and on your lips.
Other symptoms are fever, sore throat, and swollen glands.
The cold sores will usually break open because the sore will fill with clear fluid and need to break due to limited fluid space within the sac.
It will then crust over and go away with in 10 days to 2 weeks.
One of the biggest causes is stress...
One thing that can help prevent is exercise.
There are some treatments to help prevent cold sores from developing for more information on this and other information on cold sores