There are several different terms for fever blisters – they are also known as cold sores or Herpes Labialis – are refer to painful lesions that form on areas such as the lips, cheeks, nostrils or chin. Fever blister treatment of often not required since these lesions soon turn into crusted yellow sores and then resolve themselves in time.
Fever blisters and cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus, for which there is no known cure. Since there is no known cure for herpes, fever blister treatment is also limited in terms of what you can do.
Outbreaks of these lesions and sores will recur in the form of outbreaks repeatedly so the treatment is usually limited to easing the pain of the sores, stop their spread and speed up healing of the existing sores.
Fever blisters have been around for a very long time, and there is one historical record of fever blister treatment as adopted by Tiberius, leader of ancient Rome – he banned kissing in public ceremonies to keep in check the spread of this problem.
Since this virus is also known to spread via body fluids including saliva, fever blisters are an infection that is also spread by kissing since the sores actually facilitate easy spread of the virus from one to another person. It is also possible to pass on the infection from adults to children, so it’s the highly infective nature of this problem must be kept in mind.
Prior to beginning any fever blister treatment it is important to identify that the problem one has is indeed a fever blister, or a cold sore. Though these two terms mean the same, the term canker sore has quite another meaning and refers to ulcers that occur on the inside of the mouth.
The treatment is limited to easing the symptoms of the infection; also there is no vaccine against this problem, though researchers are currently engaged in creating a vaccine to prevent this infection. Though animal trials have been successful to an extent, the development of a vaccine is still some time away. In any case a vaccine would not be effective fever blister treatment since this would not be able to cure a person who already has the infection – at best it could prevent an infection from occurring for those that are vaccinated.
Fever blister treatment can include –
- Keeping the area of the lesions clean and dry so that bacterial infections may not complicate the problem. If there is a secondary or bacterial infection then antibiotics may be required as part of the treatment though this would not be treatment for the primary problem.
- Trying not to irritate the sores (particularly about the mouth) by eating a bland and soft diet.
- One of the most important aspects of fever blister treatment is to avoid touching the lesions. Also after touching the lesions do not touch other parts of the body or other people to prevent spread of the infection.
- Use sunscreen to prevent outbreaks since this is an effective treatment to prevent outbreaks.
- Certain prescription medicines can also help in fever blister treatment by reducing the frequency and symptoms.
- Change toothbrushes at the start of an outbreak and avoid mouth to body activities.
