Cold sores or fever blisters are small, painful and fluid-filled blisters that appear on and around lips, nose and chin. It is a contagious skin disease caused by herpes simplex virus – 1 (HSV – 1) that stay dormant permanently in the body and gets reactivated when you’re sick and forms these ugly blisters on the skin.
Taking over the counter medications will give relief but might cause harm to the body’s internal system. So, choose natural home remedies for relieving the cold sores along with its symptoms. Ice is one such wonderful remedy that widely used for treating cold sores. Applying ice as soon as you experience the telltale tingling will help to reduce the duration of the outbreak and thus ease the discomfort caused by the sores.
Here are the properties which make ice as a best remedy for treating cold sores.
- It helps to reduce the swelling, redness and pain caused by cold sores.
- It instantly provides relief from the symptoms of cold sores. it also reduces the blood flow to the area and thus reduces its spreading.
- The freezing property of ice will prevent the virus from spreading it to other parts of the skin.
The best method of applying ice on cold sores is explained below. Follow the process regularly to get rid of these sores on the skin.
Method: (Ice)
- Wrap an ice cube in a clean thin towel or washcloth.
- Place it on the cold sores affected areas.
- Let it hold for about 10 – 15 minutes to numb the pain in that area.
- Take it out from the site and wait for 10 minutes to place again on blisters.
- Dry the area properly and apply petroleum jelly or lip balm on the areas to lessen the skin – splitting sensation that happens when the blister gets too dry.
- Continue the cold pack or compress with ice for every 3 – 4 hours till you got relief from the sores.
- Be sure to use the ice at the first sign of tingling to end up the small sores and to prevent the pain and swelling.
Tips and Precautions:
- Also, you can place any frozen items like a bag of frozen peas, ice popsicles which doesn’t have chemical content in it.
- For quick relief, apply ice when you feel a cold sore is coming on and also after it has already appeared on skin.
- Avoid any personal contact like kissing or sharing utensils or clothes when you’re suffering from fever blisters.
- Never ever apply ice directly on the skin, as it not safe for your skin. But suck ice chips or popsicles to get rid of the problem.
- Dispose lip products or toothbrush which you have used while having cold sores, as these have been contaminated with herpes virus and might re-infect the skin after these sores disappear.
Applying ice is just like doing first aid to the cold sores for preventing it from getting infected or spread to other parts. So, go through this process to clear the problem quickly and let me know your story after healing cold sores by using ice.