Cold Sores - Do You Get Them?

Looking back when growing up, nobody seemed to take any precaution about spreading them in my family.

Everyone in my family had them and they were always passed down to the children, which included me.

Adults blowing bubble kisses to babies while infected in the 1970s now make me sick to think of it.

I have always taken huge precautions when I have had one, and neither of my older kids or wife has caught it from me.

I always get one after being rundown. Nothing too major and usually in a relatively inconspicuous area.

Anyone do anything to treat them, or help to make the symptom less of a problem?

Ive read majority of people have the virus it’s just most peoples immune systems can handle the virus and doesn’t produce any symptoms.

Same thing with Sts’s ( herpes, genital warts ).


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Originally Posted by noTAGlove

Anyone do anything to treat them, or help to make the symptom less of a problem?

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Its herpes . A lot of people try to make out its different but its pretty much the samevirus Heroes Simplex . Type 1 and type 2 . Type 1 is most commonly the one that causes cold sores , Tupe 2 is the more common cause of genital outbreaks .

However both are interchangeable and pretty much cause the same symptoms in either location.

Before you panic most adults will test positive for HSV1 by the time they turn 21 even if they have never had any symptoms . Kissing and human interaction is the main cause .

Generally its harmless and outbreaks become less as you get older ( why kids usually have cold sores more often than adults).

However it can cause serious secondary infections of the eye/cornea which can cause kerratitis which can damage your eyes ( and is very painful).

People with genital herpes often take antivirals like Alcovir to keep it at bay . This also works for those suffering cold sores ( funnily enough I know a lot of actors and models that regulatly take alcovir to keep cold sores at bay for upcoming film shoots.

There is no cure , there is no vaccine and probably never will be as the virus goes dormant and hides in in your nerves channels at the sight of infection. Hence why it resurfaces when your immune sustem is low ; “cold sores”.

Its very easy to spread , its very common , you can get it without any fault of you or your partner(s) as many people carry it and are asymptomatic : so never having had a cold sore is no safeguard you don’t have it .

Mostly its a harmless skin condition , the social stigma is way worse than the disease ( most std tests don’t even screen for herpes as its so common place most people will panic when they test positive for herpes.)

There is some evidence that being infected with HSV1 on your mouth makes it more difficult to infect you with HSV2 on other parts of your body . But nothing is proven.

Unfortunately its probabky no worse than athletes foot but has significantly more troubling social stigma than symptoms . If you do have a cold sore refrain from oral sex until its healed as you can easily pass it to people’s genitals .

One of my earlier roles involved me advising young expats how to take care of themselves whilst operating in India and sexual wellbeing came into it , which is why I know this stuff . Incidentally domestic condoms in India are actially smaller sized than in the West and its actually quite important to know due to the dangers from a poor fit .

NO......:icon_biggrin:

I recall a saying from my youth and training days … “What’s the difference between love and herpes ?
Answer , herpes last forever !
It reinforced exactly the message the previous member Mr. D has detailed so eloquently.


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STD......

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Originally Posted by Chris_in_the_UK

STD......

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Idiot.

I get them, damn things.
Usually when I'm run down, same place on my top lip. I can usually feel as soon as they start so I always have a tube of something around. It needs to contain acyclovir.
If you plaster it on for the first 24 hours often you can kill it off but once it's there you're in for a week to 10 days of treating it. Then it just goes away till next time.
Take special care to avoid your eyes - I see dendritic ulcers at work and whilst they are quite pretty they are very uncomfortable and potentially very damaging to your sight.

I try and avoid the kids (any excuse!) whilst they are active but I dare say they will be infected anyway.

Very similar to the original post here

I suffer from them when run down and probably got it from my Mum who also suffers in a similar way

I take care with those around me to try and not pass it on

Almost always in the same place on my lower lip and ends up looking pretty nasty if I’m honest and I get self conscious in work especially

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Originally Posted by Chris_in_the_UK

STD......

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Triggered him there, didn't you!

Popping his charging cable into places it didn't belong.

Or karma, one of the two.

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Originally Posted by noTAGlove

Looking back when growing up, nobody seemed to take any precaution about spreading them in my family.

Everyone in my family had them and they were always passed down to the children, which included me.

Adults blowing bubble kisses to babies while infected in the 1970s now make me sick to think of it.

I have always taken huge precautions when I have had one, and neither of my older kids or wife has caught it from me.

I always get one after being rundown. Nothing too major and usually in a relatively inconspicuous area.

Anyone do anything to treat them, or help to make the symptom less of a problem?

---

You don’t catch a cold sore from anybody else with a cold sore.

The cold sore is the secondary infection, to get one you must have had the primary infection aka Primary Herpetic Gingivostomatitis. You only get the primary once. If you haven’t had it, you can catch it from somebody with a cold sore.

Similar to the relation between Chickenpox & Shingles.

The answer is acyclovir 5% cream when you first feel the cold sore coming on.

Count your blessings

https://archive.ph/Aspv7

Wife does, I don’t.

Wait a minute…

Zovirax cream works well

Suffered with them for as long as I can remember.
When I was at school and just a nipper, foolishly I’d pick at it in the hope it would go away quicker-it didn’t, it got bigger and scabbed over. Lots of pointing and whispers from other kids.
Couple of years back experienced the worst outbreak of ever had. Was in Spain and felt the tingle but not just in one spot which is how I’ve normally always had them. Wound up with basically my whole mouth covered resulting in lots of pain and wearing of a mask.
Can honestly say I dread a cold sore coming. Mine are painful, and a huge inconvenience.

My wife and son have them , myself and my daughter seem to be lucky. As my lad works out of the US he can access oral antivirals. He swears by them. He tried to get some in the UK when home once. £90 plus through some online prescription with Supadrug.

In both my wife and sons case they come just after they have shed off a cold or bug , just the icing on the cake and they make them both feel awful. Plus you cant visit the dentist when infected.

My kids have had them from an early age , they are now late 20’s and for at least the last 10 years use virulite light treatment devices.
They swear by them and say they speed up the healing time and limit the size if used as soon as they feel the tingle which they say they feel before one appears.
They weren’t exactly cheap but initially got one for them as zoviraz / acciclovir didn’t do a great deal , they now have one and a backup each.

My son has them on his arm since he was a baby. I suspect due to the fact he had really bad eczema with weeping skin which involved overnight hospital stays. He’s now 30 and occasionally has to treat it with 5% acyclovir.
Somewhere along the line I must have transferred the virus to my eye which is a real ball ache. Every time it reads its ugly head I have to go to the eye hospital A&E to get 2% acyclovir as you can’t get it over the counter.
Some people say L-lysine capsules reduces the reoccurrence of the virus and speeds heeling.

Never had cold sores since I grew a beard.

No one in our family gets them.

Nobody in my family that I know of gets them.

never as far as i remember, i think my sister had them

Yep...P I T A.
To this day I'm convinced I caught it from the mother-in-law.
Mixed results with Zavirax.

Very rare but mine invariably follows a cold

This thread is useless w/o pics.

Always used to get them but a woman I was seeing a few years ago gave me a stash of Aciclovir tablets she got from the doctors for hers, if I ever get one I just pop a couple of pills for 2 days and they go very quickly, not like the week dragging out pain I used to suffer.


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