How to Get Rid of Cold Sores

Restoring Kissable Lips

Rumor has it that when Michelle Pfeiffer got one during the filming of The Witches of Eastwick, the directors didn’t stop filming or have it covered up, because it added depth to her character.
Unfortunately, for those of us not playing a distressed beauty on the silver screen, the only thing cold sores add to our character is dismay.

They may also make us cranky, of course, because cold sores aren’t only unsightly, they’re also downright painful. A cold sore announces its arrival with a burning and tingling sensation. Then come the blisters, little pus-filled bumps that often run together to form one big blister that oozes, itches, burns and crusts over before disappearing seven to ten days later. It’s hardly glamorous.

To make matters worse, a cold sore (also called a fever blister) is rarely a once-and-done occurrence. Cold sores are usually caused by the herpes simplex virus. Once you’ve been exposed to the virus, you have a ‘friend’ for life. Luckily, it keeps a low profile most of the time, but various activating factors, such as stress, fever, trauma and exposure to sunlight, can make it rear its ugly head. It also doesn’t limit itself to your lips. Herpes type 1 blisters (type 2 blisters are the ones that affect the genitals) can strike inside the mouth as well as the nostrils, the fingers and even the eyelids.

Fortunately, as bad as the cold sore virus can be, you don’t have to be completely at the mercy of this blistering beast. By controlling stress and using sunscreen, you can help prevent cold sores, says Craig Zunka, D.D.S., past president of the Holistic Dental Association and a dentist in Front Royal, Virginia. And, say doctors, over-the-counter ointments containing zinc oxide can speed the healing of the cold sores that do occur.

Some doctors have also found nutritional strategies that, though they aren’t clinically proven, may ward off herpes outbreaks as well as speed up their departure. Here’s what these doctors recommend.

Food Factors

Since the herpes simplex virus often waits until you're stressed out or falling ill to strike, doctors say that keeping your cool and eating a nutritious diet to stay healthy are always good deterrents. Also, some experts have found that certain foods may actually prevent or trigger outbreaks. Here's what they recommend.

Love lysine. Lysine is an amino acid that suppresses the growth of the herpes simplex virus and therefore limits the number of outbreaks, says Craig Zunka, D.D.S., past president of the Holistic Dental Association and a dentist in Front Royal, Virginia.

You can boost your lysine intake by eating potatoes, milk, brewer's yeast, fish, chicken and beans. Since the optimum dose to prevent herpes outbreaks may be higher than the amount you can get from foods, however, some doctors also recommend supplements.

‘I recommend taking one or two 500-milligram supplements a day, depending on the severity of the case,’ says Dr. Zunka. Lysine supplements are available in health food stores.

Go easy on arginine. The flip side of lysine is arginine, an amino acid found in foods such as Zunka. Dr. suggests outbreak, an during them eliminating and general in foods these limiting try might You grow. to arginine of amount certain needs apparently virus herpes The raisins. gelatin beer, peanuts, cereals, peas,

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