Article by BR Kellie
It starts with a tingle. You may even feel like you’re coming down with a cold. Your heart sinks. You know what is it, you’ve felt it before. And typically it tends to turn up when you’ve a hot date, an important meeting or a glam event to attend.
Cold sores are right pains in the… lip. So what can you do to hold one off or even head one off?
The moment you feel a cold sore coming grab a cube of ice, heck grab a bag of frozen peas, whatever you’ve got on hand, as long as it’s icy cold, and apply it to the tingling area. Why? The cold sore virus prefers a warm environment to thrive, so when it is met with a cold environment it backs off…for a while anyway. It’s not a complete fix, but at least you can go to a big event without feeling self conscious about the ugly mass on your lip.
Lemon balm or lemon balm cream is another natural way to help stop cold sores in their tracks; it can also be used to help heal cold sores. Best of all you can grow your own lemon balm in your garden, so when that familiar tingle hits you can quickly grab a fresh leaf and rub it over the affected area.
If the halt method doesn’t work, get set healing. Some swear by soaking a cotton ball in room temperature full fat milk and applying it to the area for 10 to heal a cold sore more quickly, while others crack open aloe vera and apply the gel onto the cold sore. Witch hazel, a paste of licorice powder and water, and even toothpaste are also often recommended by sufferers as ways to treat cold sores.
So what if it’s too late and the cold sore has exploded onto your lip and you want to minimise the look of it? Head to your makeup bag and grab your concealer and a cotton bud, pop some concealer on the cotton bud and lightly dab it over the area, then chuck out the cotton bud and use a fresh one if you find yourself needing extra coverage – remember, we don’t double dip chips and dip and we don’t double dip concealer and cotton buds that have touched cold sores. Whatever you do don’t apply the concealer directly to the cold sore, as you’ll have to toss out your concealer and buy a fresh virus-free one. Once you’ve concealed the cold sore you can then apply lipstick with a cotton bud, remembering to use a fresh cotton bud when building the colour so as not to infect the lipstick.
In an ideal world we’d never get cold sores, but if you’re prone to getting them there are ways you can cut down how often they appear.
One of the biggies is to take care of yourself. The moment you’re feeling tired, stressed or ill the virus is more likely to come out to play. So exercise regularly, get a good amount of sleep, manage stress by learning relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing exercises, boost your immune system with Echinacea and eat well. Speaking of eating, if you’re regularly getting cold sores keep a diary of the food you’re consuming, as there may well be a food trigger you can eliminate from your diet. Eating lysine-rich foods like meat and dairy products are said to battle arginine, aka the evil protein that likes to make cold sores. They lysine replaces the arginine at a cellular level, therefore stopping the likelihood of a breakout. Of course there are medicinal methods to stopping or clearing up cold sores and your local pharmacist can assist with advice on that.
Other tips to prevent cold sores? You might want to buy stock in a toothbrush company, because it’s recommended that the moment the blister has formed you chuck out your toothbrush and get a new one, and the moment the cold sore has cleared up you’re to chuck out that toothbrush and replace it again. And if you’re a fan of heading out into the great outdoors be sure to wear sunscreen on your lips, as the sun loves to help kick start the cold sore virus.
So do tell, do you suffer from cold sores? How do you head them off or help them heal? Have you got covering them down to a fine art? Sharing is caring so get chatting!
I find that stress and tiredness can bring on a cold sore, which I hate.