Dealing with cold sores which are actually a form of oral herpes is not only painful at times but can be quite embarrassing as well. Lets take a look at a few tips for managing cold sores that will make your day to day life a bit easier.

Using over the counter medications to treat cold sores.

There are different forms of store bought cold sore remedies that all work in different ways. First are those that are primarily designed to relive the symptoms associated with cold sores, such as the overall pain, burning and itching many sufferers experience.

Then we have certain medications that try to create an environment that will halt the cold sore formation it self along with promoting the healing process to begin early.

Medications that try and just treat the symptoms of cold sores typically employ various numbing agents to do their work, using chemicals such as lidocaine, benzyl alcohol, tetracaine, benzocaine, camphor, and phenol.

The products that try and slow the formation of cold sores and promote healing tend to use ingredients that have anti viral properties such as lysine, zinc, phenol, and tannic acid. While these compounds do not have a direct impact on the herpes virus it self, they do create an environment that makes it more difficult for it to thrive.

Many people also have quite a bit of success with many different home remedies and herbal cures for treating their cold sores.

Here are a 3 helpful tips for preventing and dealing with cold sores.

Use a lip balm that contains zinc and provides sun protection. Sun light seems to be a trigger for the out break of cold sores in many people.

Apply ice to your cold sore while it is still in its "tingling" phase for about 10 minutes. There are two benefits to this. The first being that the ice will act as a numbing agent providing immediate relief for the symptoms you are feeling right now. The second benefit is that the coldness from the ice will slow down the formation of the cold sore by affecting its metabolic process.

Lastly try putting a moistened tea bag when a cold sore is first forming. Tea contains a natural form of the antiviral chemical called tannic acid mentioned earlier.

I hope you found the information provided useful, and I wish you cold sore free future!