Cold Sores Explained

With the advent of winter, there seems to be an abundance of cold sores coming to the fore as well.

Just about everyone has or will get cold sores at some stage in their life. Although they are painful and unpleasant, they are not nearly as dangerous as most people believe.

There is a common misconception that a cold sore infection will lead to other more serious infections in our body. Herpes of the genitalia, and other more sinister ailments.

This belief stems from the fact that cold sores are caused by the Herpes virus called HSV1 , and are in fact a type of Herpes infection, namely Herpes Simplex. Genital Herpes on the other hand is caused by the Herpes HSV2 virus.

Contact from a person with HSV1 type cold sores infections, could cause genital herpes in another person if there is direct contact.

Since most children contract cold sore infections, the HSV1 virus enters the body at that stage. Like many other viruses, the HSV1 virus, never leaves the body again, but goes into a dormant state.

When conditions are optimal, the virus becomes activated and cold sores appear. The circumstances that predispose this activation, are very often stress related.

The body undergoes additional stress in winter, having to cope with colder weather and more extreme conditions. Any condition that weakens the bodies natural resilience, such as illness, fever, menstruation and extreme exposure to sunlight, would be enough to trigger a cold sore outbreak.

One is usually aware of the impending cold sore occurrence, by different sensations in the skin around the area to be affected. A tenderness, and higher sensitivity to pain, as well as a tingling feeling often announce an imminent cold sore attack.

The cold sores are very contagious. The virus is easily spread by touch, of either lips or fingers that have touched the affected areas. Any contact with another person, anywhere could trigger an outbreak with the other person.

This can happen, even when the sores are still in development stage and not fully active. You can infect another persons genitalia, mouth and eyes, easily merely by touch.

So to prevent any spreading of the cold sores to people around you, be aware of the contagious nature and act accordingly.