Check Ingredients in Cold Sore Remedies
Finding cold sore remedies that work isn’t an easy task. In the first place, you’re dealing with a cold sore – it’s painful, embarrassing and generally tenacious in its efforts to hold on and prolong your misery. So when you have a cold sore, it’s difficult to stick with one of the cold sore remedies that seem to have little effect on the cold sore or the symptoms. But sticking with one of the available cold sore remedies may be exactly what you need to do. After all, most remedies, therapies and medications only work if you follow the directions for use and continue to use them over a period of days.
So does that mean that you should just continue to use the same cold sore remedies? Actually, it means just the opposite. If you use some particular cold sore remedy and it seems to have little impact on the severity or duration of the cold sore, choose something else the next time you have a cold sore pop up. But when you choose a new medication, give it a chance to work before you give up on the potential benefits.
Cold sores are generally very visible and the person who has a cold sore feels the sore and the symptoms very clearly. That’s why it’s often difficult to stick with cold sore remedies if you aren’t feeling any major difference after the first few hours. But sometimes, cold sore remedies are working even when you don’t feel the healing.
Drying and healing seem to be the most touted benefits of most cold sore remedies. If the medication truly is drying and healing, you’re probably going to be able to feel it.
Some of the ordinary cold sore remedies include some various brands of lip balm or medications that use camphor. Some home cold sore remedies that simply help you deal with the symptoms while the cold sore is a problem include ice or cold drinks. This even includes Popsicles. The major reason this cold sore remedy appears to help lessen the severity of your cold sore is probably that it lessens the symptoms – the cold helps with pain and the moisture keeps the sore from cracking. Ice or something cold held on the area for a period of time will also help with the swelling, making the cold sore less noticeable.
If you do come to the point of giving up on your old cold sore medicine and get ready to buy a new kind, pay attention to the ingredients. If you’ve been using cold sore remedies with camphor but weren’t impressed with their performance, look for cold sore remedies that use other ingredients. Choosing a medication based on the ingredients instead of the brand name or the price will probably help you choose more wisely.