Cold Sores
Updated Jun. 13th, 2023
Cold sores are the result of an infection with herpes simplex virus. This highly contagious virus is usually contracted in childhood through skin contact.
The virus then lies dormant in the body and only produces sores when triggered.
Triggers for cold sores are individual but some of the more common triggers are exposure to cold, wind or sun, food allergies, a decreased immune system due to other infections or stress and hormonal fluctuations.
Initially, a cold sore will present a tingling or burning sensation around the lips. This is the cold sore forming. The next stage is the formation of a red bump that itches and turns into a blister filled with fluid. Next, the blister will break and form a crust which indicates that the infection is no longer contagious. These breakouts usually last for approximately 10 days and will occasionally develop multiple sores. Along with these sores will be a mild fever and fatigue.
Dietary help for preventing and treating cold sores involves decreasing the amino acid arginine in the diet. Arginine is used by the virus for replication. Avoid arginine rich foods such as nuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, peas, lentils, oats, corn, buckwheat, barley, chocolate and coconut.
Also increase the lysine content of the diet because lysine inhibits herpes virus replication. Lysine rich foods include fish especially halibut, shrimp, poultry, milk, lima beans, mung bean sprouts and yeast.
Avoid foods that decrease the immune system like white flour and sugar products and trans-fat products like margarine and shortening.
Use immune boosting foods like flaxseed oil, raw fruits and vegetables, pumpkin seeds, wheat germ and seafood.
Physical treatments for boosting the immune system include: alternating hot and cold water at the end of your shower (always ending with cold), regular exercise, relaxation exercises and dry skin brushing. Topical treatment of cold sores can be done with colloidal silver, licorice extract, vitamin E oil, and creams containing vitamin C and zinc. All of these treatments help to kill the virus and heal the skin.
This is a very informative article and I will make sure to try some of the supplement suggestions to see if they help. Thank you National Nutrition for another great article!
Hello Garcia,
We are glad you enjoyed this article and learned what supplements can help lessen cold sore break outs. Many have success with managing breakouts using these supplements, especially Lysine. If you'd like to learn more about this supplement specifically, check out our article on it too:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/lysine/
Stay healthy & well!
This article is very informative, thank you for the supplement suggestions!
I'm happy to hear you're feeling better and have found natural remedies!
Yes, these articles are so great at helping us find the best natural remedies for our health!
Hello Brayan,
Thrilled you are enjoying our articles and able to learn something new about caring for your health naturally. Be sure to check out our healthy recipes too, we think you'll enjoy them.
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/healthy-recipes/
Have a healthy day!
Glad to have found some relief!
These natural recommendations have helped me manage my cold sores and find relief too!
Hello Betty,
That is wonderful to hear these supplements have worked for you and are helping you manage outbreaks.
Stay healthy & well!
I am so happy, I never believe I will be this happy again in life. I never felt sick or have any symptoms, till all workers were asked to bring their doctors report, that was why I got tested and I found out that I am HSV positive. Thank you for this article and natural remedies to help treat cold sores.
I'm from US and for a year now, I have been living with this virus. I have been taking some medications from my Doctor and there was no improvement. Thank you for speaking on this and natural remedies that can help. I have purchased Lysine and hope it works well for me!
I get cold sores when my immune system is low. I really enjoyed this article and will check out more on keeping my immune system strong.
Hello Joy,
We're glad you've been enjoying our articles, here is one on immune health for your enjoyment:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/immune-system/
Stay healthy & well.
Hello Kayla,
Thank you for sharing your experience. We hope Lysine helps you manage your health concern, many people have had success with this natural remedy. If you'd like to learn more about Lysine, check out our other article as well:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/lysine/
Stay healthy & well.
I suffer from cold sores and really enjoyed this informative article. Thank you National Nutrition for providing so many natural remedies to help with this issue.
Great tips on how to cure and deal with annoying and embarassing cold sores, thank you for this info!
Cold sores have always been so painful and unsightly. I try to take as many vitamins and herbs as I can to keep my immune system strong so I don't get a break out.
Hello Candice,
Indeed, a strong immune system is the ticket for supporting outbreaks. As well as taking supplements that target and support the cold sore virus as well. If you'd like to learn more about powerful immune boosting supplements, check out this article too:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/immune-system/
Have a healthy day!
I like to manage my cold sore outbreaks the natural way. I take many vitamins and immune boosting supplements to keep me healthy which helps keep my outbreaks at bay. Thank you for all this info NN, I will add these extra supplements to my regimen.
I am definitely going to try L-Lysine to help manage my cold sore outbreaks. This article is great, so informative and I love learning about natural health remedies!
Hello Gina,
Glad you love to learn about natural health and our articles are able to help. We hope L-Lysine does the trick for you, it works well for many others. Also, check out our article on immune health; after all, a strong immune system is also necessary to ward off viruses and infections.
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/immune-system/
Have a healthy day.
I unfortunately get cold sores and didn't know how to prevent them. Thank you for this information, I'm going to give these natural remedies a try as well as keep my immune system healthy to lessen or stop these breakouts.
I really enjoy your articles, but this one in particular because Lysine helped me so much with my outbreaks. They are few and far between now thanks to this information.
Hello Mary,
We love to hear your success stories with natural health! Glad Lysine was able to help you and lessen your breakouts and severity. Immune health is also important, be sure to check out our article on that too for further support.
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/immune-system/
Have a healthy day!
Excellent information on cold sores and how to lessen outbreaks. They're not only painful, but embarassing. Glad I stumbled upon your site and got this information. Ordering Lysine now!
I hate when I get an outbreak. It's painful and embarrassing. This article is informative and now I can find some natural remedies to try so I won't break out as much.
I like the way this article explains the causes for cold sores, as well as how each of the supplements and dietary changes can stop their progress or prevent them. Cold sores have been an ongoing problem for me, even though I attempt to eat nutritiously. Recently, the most helpful thing for me has been taking L-Lysine and also putting on a lip cream that includes that, as well as some other vitamins. It has lessened the severity and reduced the frequency of outbreaks.
Hello Susan,
We are thrilled you were able to learn how to manage your health by learning from out article. Cold sores can be very painful and often are a signal that your immune system needs a boost. L-Lysine is a great supplement to help decrease the onset of breakouts and support your health. Lypo C is also a great supplement to take to keep your immune system elevated.
Stay healthy & well!
Cold sores are so pesky, painful and embarrassing. I enjoyed this article because I learned that keeping my immune system healthy will help with the amount of breakouts and what supplements will help diminish the frequency of breakouts as well. I will definitely be boosting my immune health and trying Lysine after reading this article, thank you so much!
Hello Sofia,
That's excellent to hear! We are thrilled you learned so much from our article to better take care of your health and support your health concern. We love hearing when our friends can take the knowledge they learned here and apply it to their everyday health needs.
Stay healthy & well!
I really enjoyed reading this article. There's so much information that I didn't know before and I appreciate the supplement recommendations, I hope they will help me.
Hello Jenny,
Thank you for sharing and we're glad this article has helped you discover natural ways to support your health concern. Let us know how they work for you. If you have any future questions, please reach out, we're always happy to help!
Have a healthy day.
I really enjoy learning about natural health and am glad I stumbled upon your articles. I didn't know you had such great information on your site, thank you!
Hello Kelly,
We're glad you're enjoying our articles and learning more about your health. We work hard on our articles to provide new knowledge to our customers so you can make better informed decisions. After all, knowledge is health.
Have a good day!
Good to know Lysine helps with cold sores!
I have been getting cold sores most of my life, and one thing I learned in my teens is that they can erupt with a lot of stress. I experienced a substantial amount of stress in my teens, and therefore spent a lot of time treating these painful lesions. What I didnt realize though, is that there are nutrients we can take to suppress them, that is amazing news. I wish regular doctors were more educated in natural medicine, it would result in a much healthier population. Thank you for giving us a reliable place to go to find useful information.
Hello Sarah,
Indeed, stress can cause an outbreak because stress lowers our immune response. There are a few nutrients and supplements that can help combat cold sores naturally and lessen the chance of outbreaks, Lysine being a major contender, check out our article on Lysine to learn more about it:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/lysine/
Stay healthy & well!
I really enjoyed the information in this article. I dislike when a cold sore breaks out, they're both irritating and embarrassing for me so I'm happy to know some natural ways I can help lessen the chance of a breakout, especially as the cold weather approaches.
Hello James,
Thank you, and we're glad that you found our article helpful. Let us know which helps you the most & in the meantime you can read more about Lysine here:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/lysine/