Cold Sore Home Remedies

Home Remedies for Cold Sores

Nobody has to live with the pain and discomfort of cold sores. There are some excellent home remedies that can help you get rid of these growths. It is possible to get rid of cold sores without spending a fortune on over-the-counter remedies.

 

The first step in treating cold sores is to understand what they are and what causes them. Many people end up suffering with these blisters because they do not understand them. They end up suffering unnecessarily because they don’t know that cold sores are not caused by colds at all. Nor do they realize that most cold remedies and cures will not get rid of sores. The sores are a problem that will have to be treated separately.

The sores are small clusters of blisters that form around the mouth or nose. They usually heal in about two weeks, but they can last longer.

What You Didn’t Know About Cold Sores

Cold sores maybe one of the most misunderstood everyday ailments. Most people don’t know what causes them. Nor do they realize that you can suffer from cold sores without having a cold. In fact, most people afflicted with colds will not suffer from the sores.

 

 

Cold sores are not caused by colds or the cold virus. Instead, they are caused by another contagion called the herpes simplex virus. This is the same virus that causes genital herpes. The reason people think the sores are caused by colds is that herpes simplex can cause some symptoms that many people mistake for colds.

These symptoms include:

• Sore throats
• Headaches
• Fever
• Swollen glands
• Aches and pains

If you have these symptoms and cold sores, you don’t have a cold at all! Instead, you have herpes simplex. Don’t worry because this is a minor ailment that will disappear in a few weeks without drugs.

Treating Cold Sore Related Viruses

There are some things that you can do to get rid of it. The most important is to get plenty of rest and eight hours of optimal sleep a night. You also need to exercise and to follow the usual advice such as drinking a lot of liquids. A detoxification diet such as Yuri Elkaim’s Total Wellness Cleanse can also help.

One suggestion is to drink water with wheatgrass which gives you plenty of vitamins. Water mixed with fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice is another good thing to drink. Mushroom tea and mushroom soup are other treatments that you can try. Drink the tea every day mushrooms have some powerful medical effects.

Maitake Mushroom Tea

Ingredients:

Filtered water

3 to 4 grams of dried maitake mushrooms

Grind the mushrooms up in a coffee grinder. Put them in two to three quarts of water and bring it to a boil. Simmer the mixture for two to four hours or until it is as strong as you want it. Pour the water through a coffee filter before drinking. You can save the ground mushrooms and reuse them.

 

Reishi Mushrooms

Part of the reason you should be consuming more mushrooms is that they are good sources of protein and vitamin D. You will need these to fight off the virus and strengthen your immune system. Mushrooms to try include:

• Reishi
• Chaga
• Maitake
• Shiitake

You can actually grow some of these natural infection fighters at home. Chaga can be even harvested from trees in many parts of the US and Canada.

How Cold Sores Spread

Something many people don’t realize is that cold sores are actually contagious. People with cold sores can spread the Herpes Simplex virus. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent this infection from spreading.

The most important is to avoid physical contact with those with cold sores. It may sound like a bummer, but don’t kiss a person with cold sores. Couples should avoid sexual contact while they have the sores.

People with cold sores shouldn’t prepare food either. Wash any glass, plate or eating utensil that a person with cold sores touches right away. The best way to sanitize that stuff is in the dishwasher.

People with cold sores should wash their hands often. If somebody in your house has cold sores, you should wash every surface in the kitchen and bathroom down with a good disinfectant such as bleach. You should also wash all of their clothes and bed clothes at a temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit because that kills germs.

It is also a good idea for people with cold sores to stay home from work and school and to avoid places like the gym. This prevents the virus from spreading to others.

Finally, people with cold sores should stay away from infants, the elderly and the chronically ill if possible. The herpes simplex virus can have serious side effects in those people.

Remember: prevention is better than any cure. Take a few of these basic steps and you should be able to avoid getting cold sores. If these steps fail, there are some natural remedies that you can resort to.

Home Remedies for Cold Sores

The good news is that there are a lot of really good home remedies that are very effective against cold sores. These are not a cure; instead, they will get of the sores themselves or at least ease them. If you don’t like the idea of those ugly sores on your lip, these remedies should be able to help you.

Many of these natural remedies don’t involve any expensive drugs, so they can help save you money as well as fight cold sores. Here are some of our favorite natural cold sore fighters.

• Tea Bag – press a warm tea bag such as one you just used to make tea on the sores for 30 minutes. This will ease the symptoms and draw out the virus. Any tea bag should work for this.

• If you make chaga or maitake mushroom tea, take the mushrooms you used to make the tea and wrap them up in a coffee filter or a piece of cheese cloth. Then hold that on the cold sores for 30 minutes.

 

Witch Hazel in the wild

• Witch Hazel – this is a powerful herb that you can order online. It is a traditional folk cure. It is made from a shrub and witch hazel alcohol rubs are available online. Rubbing them on cold sores is a really good natural cure.

• Licorice – No, the candy does not work as a cold sore cure. But the active ingredient in it does. Licorice is a powerful herb that you can use to treat cold sores and other skin problems. You can also drink licorice tea to treat the symptoms of cold sores or a cold sore virus. Chewing on a licorice root or making a rub of it can help get rid of sores in the mouth. You can also get herbal soaps with licorice in them to wash with. Unfortunately, the candy will not help. Your best bet is to find licorice roots at a health food store. Chew them or make tea from them. Licorice tea is a traditional English or American cold sore remedy.

• Cold Milk – some experts recommend rubbing cold milk on cold sores. It can get rid of them and speed up the healing process. Raw milk would work best for this if you could get it. Don’t drink raw milk because it could be bad for you. Put the milk on a cloth and use it to wash down the sores.

• Mother’s milk – if you or somebody you know is nursing a baby, you can use the breast milk as a cold sore cure. Breast milk will kill yeast infections, so it should work against cold sores too. Simply put some on a cloth and rub it onto the cold sores.

• Peppermint Oil – like licorice peppermint is a natural herb that is a powerful medicine as well as a tasty candy. You can order peppermint oil online for about $6 a bottle. Simply rub it on the sores.

• Reishi mushrooms – you can buy reishi mushroom supplements and take them. You can also apply reishi powder directly to cold sores. This mushroom is a powerful nutraceutical or medicinal food. If you grow your own, you can make and eat reishi soup. The great thing about reishi is that it can strengthen the immune system to fight off the sores.

• Chaga, Licorice or Maitake tea – can be used as a rub. Just put the tea on a cloth and rub it on the fever blisters. Drinking the tea is a good treatment for cold sores on the tongue or the throat.

• Garlic – this herb is one of the most powerful nutraceuticals around. Putting raw garlic on cold sores can help. Eating or chewing on a clove of garlic will get rid of sores in the mouth. Soups with a lot of garlic are another good treatment for the sores. Apply small pieces of raw garlic directly to the sores.

• Raw onion – small pieces of raw onion can be placed directly on the sores. Chewing a raw onion can help get rid of sores on the tongue or in the mouth. Fresh onion soup is another really good remedy.

• Plum Juice – fresh squeezed plum juice can be used like a mouthwash to rinse the mouth. It can also be applied directly to cold sores.

• Lemon and Juice – this juice can be used just like plumb juice either as a mouth rinse or to put on the sores directly. Lemon, lime or plumb juice can be added to tea to increase the effects.

• Cayenne Pepper or Paprika – this is another spice that can kill infections. Adding some to your tea or cocoa can help you kill viruses. You can also mix it with water and use it to rinse your mouth

Diet and Cold Sores

Your diet plays a big role in the way your body fights diseases like herpes simplex and their symptoms. A proper diet can strengthen your immune system, so it can fight off the sores.

The main thing to do is to eat a lot of greens and foods rich in vitamin D, A, C and E. You also need to get lots of proteins and foods rich in energy. This includes beans, nuts, eggs, fish oil, fish, greens, spinach, broccoli and others. Drinking almond milk every day is a good idea. Add some fermented cod liver oil to it to give yourself an extra energy boost.

Many experts recommend that you increase your protein consumption when fighting an infection in order to strengthen your immune system. Eating proven virus fighting foods such as garlic, maitake, reishi and shiitake mushrooms can also help.

Foods to eat to get rid of cold sores:

• Ginger
• Green leafy vegetables
• Medicinal mushrooms
• Garlic
• Fermented cod liver oil
• Almonds
• Almond milk
• Nuts
• Eggs
• Supplements

Foods to avoid to get rid of cold sores:

• Processed foods
• Meats
• Dairy products
• Coffee
• Tea (mushroom and herbal teas are okay)
• Citrus fruits (the juice is okay)
• Soda pop
• Sugar
• Bread

One tip: eat at least one meal rich in garlic and mushrooms once a day. A mushroom and garlic soup is perfect for this. Here’s a really good natural soup recipe that can boast your immune system and fight cold sores.

Mushroom Immunity Boost Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of filtered water
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 1 1½ inch piece of fresh ginger root
• 1½ cup of organic vegetable broth
• 5 pieces dried Astragalus root (available at natural supermarkets and online). It is also available at Asian grocery stores as huang qi.
• 10 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 large reishi mushroom
• Cayenne pepper
• Black pepper

Astragalus Root

Dice the onion, mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Slice the shiitake up into small pieces. Boil the water and the broth. Next, sauté the garlic, onion and ginger in the olive oil. Pour the garlic, onion and olive oil into the water/broth mixture. Add shiitake, reishi and astragalus root. Simmer for two hours. Remove the astragulus and reishi. Add cayenne and black pepper for flavoring then reheat and serve.

This dish will strengthen your immune system to fight off cold and cold sores. It’s also very tasty.

A Final Word of Advice

The best way to fight off infections like cold sores is to be strong and healthy. If you eat right, exercise and get plenty of sleep, you should fight them. You should also fight stress with yoga and exercise. One good way to be in great shape to do this is to adopt a raw food diet like Yuri Elkaim’s Eating for Energy. This can help you fight off the cold sores.

 

• http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Cold-Sores.html
• http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/licorice-000262.htm
• http://www.licorice.org/Health___History/health___history.htm
• http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/cold-sores-topic-overview
• http://www.simple-remedies.com/home-remedies/dark-skin/whitening-groin-home-remedies.html
• http://www.familyherbalremedies.com/herbal_immune_system.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppermint