(Herpes Simplex), including prescription, over the counter (OTC), as well as home treatments for cold sores. First, we're going to go over some of the basics about cold sores, like what causes them and where it comes from, and then I'm going to tell you about some of the available treatment options and which one was the most effective for me. Basics About Cold Sores

Cold sores usually appear around your mouth. They can sometimes be on your nose, fingers, or chin. On a rare occasion, they can pop up inside of your mouth. Don't confuse a canker sore with a cold sore however.

After you've been initially infected, you'll get your first active outbreak at some point, but keep in mind that this first outbreak when you first realize you've caught the virus may be months or years after you were initially infected so it can be impossible to figure out when, how, where, and from who you caught it. Stress is the basic trigger for an outbreak, stress on the body, and that can come in the form of excessive sunlight, cold dry weather, menstruation, sickness, or psychological stress such as work-related stress.

After you have a sore, the cold sore will blister. It will then break and ooze. You get a yellow greenish color crust that forms over where the cold sore was. The crust will come off naturally allowing a pinkish color spot to appear. The great thing about this is that the sore heals and will never leave a scar on your face.

There are plenty of ways to get relief for your cold sores. There are topical treatments that can help give you relief. One such topical treatment is lidocain. You could also use benzyl alcohol or the medicine called Zilactin that is benzyl alcohol.

There are over the counter ointments that are available for you to use to ease the discomfort you feel. You can take pain relievers to help, such as Tylenol, Advil, or aspirin. Be sure to ask a doctor before you start taking aspirin so that you do not get any side affects or sicknesses from the use of aspirin.

Your doctor can prescribe certain prescription anti-viral medications for you that may or may not shorten the duration of the outbreak and decrease the severity of your symptoms if started early enough. There are also preventative medications and home remedies such as the one below that can help to stop an outbreak before it happens, but this is only really relevant if you're getting outbreaks on a very regular basis and most cold sore sufferers will go months or years between outbreaks.

Be sure to keep your sore moist. Use Vaseline on your cold sore to help prevent pain when it cracks. You could also try triple action to keep your sore from getting dry.

A home remedy for cold sore or cold sore home treatments: these are too numerous to mention, and many of them simply do not work. My own experience on home remedies for cold sores is with something concocted by a close friend of mine, and even though I've never been big on home remedies I must say that this cold sore home treatment worked both times for me, and even more impressive is I've seen it work on about 25 other people she's tried it on, consistently!