Over 50% of the population carries the herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores. Since lockdown due to Covid 19, there has reportedly been an increase in people contracting the herpes simplex virus as well as an increase in cold sore outbreaks, maybe due to lowered immunity due to contracting covid itself or an increase in the contracting of other infections and bugs due to lack of exposure during lockdown.
There are also suggestions by doctors that after lockdown, intimate physical contact spiked as people got back on the dating scene, which is another risk factor for catching the virus.
“Winter and in particular the festive season is often one of the times of the year that cold sores peak, due to the colder weather, seasonal illness, increased alcohol consumption and festive socialising habits,” says consultant dermatologist Dr Eva Melegh.
Many treatments are available once a cold sore has broken out but once this has happened the sore is going to take its course and likely crust, burst and then scab. The key is to try and prevent this from happening.
The earlier an emerging cold sore is caught the less severe the outbreak is likely to be, and the sore can even be prevented from break out at all, so knowing the signs or triggers for a cold sore are crucial in order to try and prevent the sore actually breaking out and running Christmas.
Dr Eva Melegh advises on 5 signs a cold sore could be coming:
Chapping & cracking
With cold winter winds outside and dry centrally heated environment insides, winter is a time when lips get very dry and often chap or crack.Even the smallest injury or abrasion to lips prone to cold sores significantly increases the risk of a cold sore outbreak. At areas on lips prone to cold sores, the skin is even more fragile and tends to crack or chap more easily than in other areas of the lips so if this happens, then a cold sore is highly likely to follow.
Tingling & itching
A sure sign that a cold sore is on its way is a tingling or itching feeling on your lip at the site the cold sore is going to appear about 2-3 days before a small hard lump begins to form at the site of the emerging cold sore.
Painful gums & metallic taste
Often the skin on the inside of the lips and the gums can also give off warning signs that a cold sore is soon to emerge. Aching gums and prickly sensitive and metallic tasting skin on the inside of the lips, similar to a feeling when you have eaten abrasive salty food, is a telltale sign of a cold sore coming.
Sore throat & feverish
When a cold sore is on its way it means that the herpes simplex virus that lies dormant in your spine and in the skin around your lips is in an active stage. When the virus is active it can put the body into a state of alert. A slight sore throat and mild feverishness without the presence of the other symptoms of a cold can mean that a cold sore is on the way in a few days.
Swollen lymph nodes
Lymph nodes in the neck swell when the body has low defences, or a virus or bacterial infection is present and are often an early tell-tale sign that a cold sore is about to be active. Small pea-sized lumps just below and behind the ears and a slightly sore neck are both signs of swollen lymph nodes.
What to do when a cold sore is on the way;
Start drinking a lot of water (if drinking from a bottle, clean the lid after each time you drink from it)
Stop drinking alcohol.
Avoid hot water and hot drinks getting in contact with the lips.
Stop using lipsticks.
Do not exfoliate or scrub the lip area.
Don’t touch the lips.
Drink tepid Liquorice Tea.
Apply a preventative treatment several times a day at the first warning signs of a cold sore. Try Lip Q Liquorice & Melissa Rescue Gel (lipQ.co.uk) which has been proven by the Herpes Virus Association to help reduce the intensity of outbreaks due to its strong anti-viral action. Sufferers should apply the lip gel at the first warning signs of a cold sore. If possible, use a cotton bud to apply the gel, or a clean dry finger that you wash immediately afterwards.
100% Natural Liquorice lip balm helps prevent winter sun cold sores
Winter is a bad time for lips. Due to the drop in humidity and frequent dry cold winds our lips tend to dehydrate much more quickly in winter. Sun, even winter sun, is the most common trigger for cold sore outbreaks.
Chapping and wintry sun often triggers an outbreak of cold sores, leaving winter lips looking flaky, chapped, and blistered. But a lip balm containing an extract of liquorice helps reduce the severity and duration of cold sores better than most conventional cold sore treatments, according to a new study carried out by the Herpes Virus Association.
Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus and once you have contracted the virus they can reappear annoyingly. Over 30 million people in the UK are infected with the herpes simplex virus, which can be picked up from a single kiss, and outbreaks of cold sores can vary from as often as once a month to once a year.
The liquorice lip balm was found to be effective in a double-blind trial, carried out by the Herpes Viruses Association on forty people*. It reduced the severity and duration of outbreaks for over 73% of subjects tested and, furthermore, 83% of subjects using the liquorice balm reported experiencing less severe outbreaks than when using their conventional treatments. While using the liquorice lip balm, testers reported that on average their outbreaks were only half their normal length.
Unlike conventional treatments, due to its naturally derived ingredients, volunteers were able to always wear the balm without any negative side-effects, meaning that it could be used to prevent outbreaks before they could take hold.
The key cold sore fighting ingredient in liquorice is glycyrrhizic acid (GA). GA specifically targets the genes that are required to maintain the virus in its latent state by interfering with the production of special proteins that feed the infected cells. Research published in the US Journal of Clinical Investigation has shown that liquorice has the ability to weaken the cold sore virus which lies dormant in the skin between outbreaks. (1)
The Liquorice Balm used in this trial is available from Skin Shop at £9.50 for 30g visit www.lipq.co.uk
