If you’re one of the millions of people who suffer from cold sores, you know that once that tingly sensation in your lip shows up, it’s time to do something. But what cold sore treatment will you decide on? And how will you decide?
Your decision process will determine whether or not your cold sores last for two or even three weeks, or 2 or 3 days. And if you chose a smart cold sore treatment, your social life just might be back on track before the weekend.
The best way to be smart about your cold sore treatment is to evaluate really stupid cold sore remedies and why they truly are so stupid! And after combing the internet, it really wasn’t difficult to find cold sore remedies that fell into the category of not so smart moves of what to do about that little group of sores on the lip.
Are you ready? Here we go:
Stupid Cold Sore Remedies
1. Bleach
At least the instructions for this were somewhat smart. They could have said “Apply it with a sponge on your whole mouth area.” Instead, the instructions were to apply the bleach to the cold sores with a Q-tip.
Dah! Now haven’t these people heard of the Environmental Working Group yet? This is a nonprofit organization on the internet that is similar to a Ralph Nader for consumer products, beauty products, and chemicals put into baby bottles like bis-phenol. Bleach containing products would never get a thumbs up from the EWG!
Bleach has been linked with heart disease and other major health problems that aren’t too pleasant. For example, some types of cancer may be a result of exposure from bleaches. So why would you want to use bleach as a cold sore treatment when the average cold sores sufferer has reoccurrences of the herpes virus sometimes as often as once a month? Think about it.
2. Freeze It. Salt It. And Brush Its Teeth
How people create cold sore remedies is just plain crazy. Listen to the instructions on this one. Take an ice cube. Wrap it in saran wrap. Hold it on the cold sores for 20 minutes. Then mix salt and toothpaste together and apply the mixture to the cold sore. Leave on for 1 hour. Repeat as often as possible.
Well, first of all let’s evaluate the ice cube part of this cold sore remedy. The proper way to ice a body part is to use towel layers in between the ice and the body part so that the damage done to the skin isn’t permanent. There is something called frostbite which can occur when cold or ice directly impacts living tissue.
Twenty minutes of ice cube directly on the skin may freeze the little cold sore cluster, but it can also damage the skin cells.
Next, after you insulted the skin cells near and on the cold sores, now come in with a basic substance – salt, which is corrosive. Add it to toothpaste?
A few years ago, I was on a survival excursion, which is where a bona fide survival expert takes a group out into the mountain and teaches them how to survive. He stressed the importance of brushing one’s teeth out in the wild, with some specific plants. “You shouldn’t be using toxic toothpaste anyway! Who here is still using commercial toothpastes? Stop it today!” he warned.
And the Environmental Working Group (EWG) couldn’t agree with him more. There are dozens of toxic chemicals in toothpaste.
And now someone is going to mix these toxic chemicals with salt and apply it to already distressed skin from an ice cube! Another stupid one of the cold sore remedies! Please do seek another smarter, safer cold sore treatment!
Please remember that every time you insult your body with chemicals, your body records it. Sooner or later, the damage will catch up to you and present itself in a disease you really don’t want. Be loving and caring to your body! There are safe cold sore remedies out there!
Smart and Safe Cold Sore Remedies
When you evaluate cold sore remedies for their safety, there are a few things to remember:
- Cold sores are caused by a virus. Thus, you need a solution that attacks the virus itself.
- Cold sores are activated by stress and decreased immune system functions in the body.
- Viruses act by penetrating the cell walls of your body’s normal cells. Once they get in, they begin reproducing like crazy.
Let’s consider these facts. If cold sores are caused by a virus, you need a substance that is anti-viral. In nature, there are plants with very strong anti-viral activity. Peppermint and lemon balm are two of them. Cat’s claw is another. These plants are safe to consume. Regularly incorporating a few cups of tea each week can go a long way in preventing cold sores. You can take herb capsules if you don’t want to drink the tea. The normal dosage for prevention is 2 capsules a day, and 2 capsules up to three times a day.
With the peppermint, you’ll find other surprising benefits. For example, your digestive system will feel more relaxed and you will feel relaxed with peppermint. You’ll have less gas, too. With lemon balm, you’ll feel very relaxed and possibly sleep better at night. With cat’s claw, you will have increased immunity against infections, and if you have an ulcer, it may heal. Within 2 hours of taking cat’s claw, there is an increase in not only the activity of the white blood cells in your body, but also the activity of those white blood cells. They become like a recruited army to eliminate any microbes, including herpes that causes cold sores.
All three of these herbs can go directly after the herpes virus in your body. Cat’s claw, also called Uncaria tomentosa, has specific research studies on it that show it is effective for herpes. It also works with warts. Now what we find here is that these plants are effective against the herpes virus, and this is something that drugs have never been able to accomplish. How often have you heard the doctor say, “If it’s a virus, it has to run its course.”
What the doctor is saying is that the medical profession doesn’t have a solution for what to do about viruses like cold sores. They don’t have a solution for the common cold, for the Asian flu, for the regular flu, or dozens of other viruses.
But you do have a cold sore treatment that can be taken from the plant kingdom with these herbs. Let’s say you get a cold sore outbreak tomorrow. Go to your bottle of cat’s claw capsules and start taking 2 capsules every 2-3 hours. You could even make a cup of peppermint tea or lemon balm tea to calm you down a little once you see the cold sore.
Using this to treat your cold sore, you can time how long it takes for it to go away.
Step away from stupid cold sore remedies and start experimenting with a cold sore home remedies that works.
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