![\"woman](\"https:\/\/assets.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/uploads\/2017\/09\/woman-cold-sore-300x196.jpg\")
A cold sore<\/a> is a painful blister that forms on or around your lip, or sometimes around your nose or eyes. It normally starts with a tingling sensation or itch, followed by painful blisters that may eventually break and ooze infectious liquid.<\/p>\nThough unpleasant, cold sores usually heal on their own within 7-10 days.<\/p>\n
What causes cold sores?<\/h2>\n
Cold sores, or fever blisters, are usually caused by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV 1)<\/a>, which is also called oral herpes<\/b> to distinguish it from genital herpes<\/a>, more often caused by herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV 2).<\/p>\n There may be no symptoms at all when you become infected with the herpes simplex virus, although if you do experience symptoms, they may resemble the flu \u2013 fever, muscle aches, and swollen glands. The lip blisters, however, may not appear at all at this stage \u2013 instead recurring sporadically much later \u2013 and, as discussed below, these recurrences especially take place when you are unwell, stressed, rundown, or on your period.<\/p>\n Up to 80% of the population is thought to be infected with herpes simplex virus type 1, yet the majority of us rarely or never show any symptoms at all.<\/p>\n Some of us, though, especially pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and newborn babies, may experience cold sores a few times a year, or even once or twice a month.<\/p>\n In adults, frequent herpes outbreaks indicate low immunity, which may be related to:<\/p>\n In the case of babies<\/a>, who may become infected from breastfeeding, the frequency of cold sore occurrences is normally due to their defences not yet being well established. Consult your paediatrician for the best course of action if your newborn suffers from a cold sore.<\/p>\n A cold sore might not be dangerous but is a big nuisance for kids and adults alike. It itches, hurts, and looks unpleasant on the lip. Furthermore, once you\u2019re infected, it\u2019s not possible to fully eradicate herpes from your system \u2013 so the cold sores may continue to return throughout your life. But you can decrease the frequency and intensity of the outbreaks by using antiviral treatments, by boosting your natural defences, and by avoiding triggers. However in some cases cold sores come out without an obvious trigger.<\/p>\n Herpes can be transmitted through bodily fluids but it\u2019s not that contagious unless you are going through a cold sore outbreak. That\u2019s when you should really be careful about infecting the people closest to you, so:<\/p>\n Cold sores aren\u2019t fun, they can make you feel self-conscious, and can be very irritating. But by avoiding the classic triggers of tiredness, stress, and extreme weather, and by learning to react fast and treating your cold sore with antiviral aciclovir before breakouts occur, you can effectively limit how much they affect you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last updated 28 February 2022A cold sore is a painful blister that forms on or around your lip, or sometimes around your nose or eyes. It normally starts with a tingling sensation or itch, followed by painful blisters that may eventually break and ooze infectious liquid. Though unpleasant, cold sores usually heal on their own […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cold-sores"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"What's in a cold sore? Causes, treatments, advice - Dr Fox","description":"Cold sores can be very upsetting, but by avoiding these classic triggers and by reacting fast with this treatment, you can effectively reduce how much they affect you.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/whats-in-a-cold-sore-causes-treatments-advice\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_GB","og:site_name":"Dr Fox Pharmacy | Medical, health, pharmacy, and wellness news","og:type":"article","og:title":"What's in a cold sore? Causes, treatments, advice - Dr Fox","og:description":"Cold sores can be very upsetting, but by avoiding these classic triggers and by reacting fast with this treatment, you can effectively reduce how much they affect you.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/whats-in-a-cold-sore-causes-treatments-advice\/","article:published_time":"2017-09-04T15:23:14+00:00","article:modified_time":"2022-02-28T17:55:43+00:00","twitter:card":"summary","twitter:title":"What's in a cold sore? Causes, treatments, advice - Dr Fox","twitter:description":"Cold sores can be very upsetting, but by avoiding these classic triggers and by reacting fast with this treatment, you can effectively reduce how much they affect you."},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"9873","title":"What's in a cold sore? Causes, treatments, advice - Dr Fox","description":"Cold sores can be very upsetting, but by avoiding these classic triggers and by reacting fast with this treatment, you can effectively reduce how much they affect you.","keywords":[],"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":[],"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":"{\"article\":{\"articleType\":\"BlogPosting\"},\"course\":{\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"provider\":\"\"},\"faq\":{\"pages\":[]},\"product\":{\"reviews\":[]},\"recipe\":{\"ingredients\":[],\"instructions\":[],\"keywords\":[]},\"software\":{\"reviews\":[],\"operatingSystems\":[]},\"webPage\":{\"webPageType\":\"WebPage\"}}","pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","location":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2021-01-06 05:07:57","updated":"2025-06-10 16:09:50","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9873"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12781,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9873\/revisions\/12781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doctorfox.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cold sores are tightly bound to your immunity level<\/h3>\n
\n
How to deal with a cold sore<\/h2>\n
Here\u2019s our advice on speeding up the healing process and relieving the symptoms of cold sores:<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Photo](\"\/imgs-products\/large\/aciclovir-tablets.jpg\")
Buy antiviral aciclovir tablets<\/a> or cream<\/a><\/strong>
\nAntiviral aciclovir helps reduce both the severity and duration of your cold sore. By starting to apply the cream or starting the course of tablets early \u2013 as soon as you notice that familiar tingling sensation \u2013 you can effectively treat your cold sore. However, if you wait until a few days after the sore breaks out, the treatment is likely to be ineffective, and you\u2019ll have to let the cold sore run its course.<\/li>\n
\nIn more serious infections, or when outbreaks of cold sores are especially frequent \u2013 such as may be the case with immunodepressed patients \u2013 a higher dose of aciclovir (400mg or 800mg) is required. These prolonged or high dose treatments are not available from Dr Fox, and in these circumstances, we advise that you consult a doctor in person.<\/li>\n
\nAn excellent way to protect yourself against herpes is to boost your immunity by avoiding excessive stress, improving sleeping patterns, and eating healthily.<\/li>\n
\nCold sores are often triggered by changing weather conditions, especially sunburn (UV light exposure), and cold winds. Protect your lips and delicate skin on your face and around your eyes with creams, lip balms, and UV-sunscreens.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nHow to avoid infecting people with a cold sore<\/h2>\n
\n