It seems that just about everyone is running around coughing and sneezing at the moment. But when a friend of mine pointed to a reddish looking spot on his lip, complaining that it was very painful and wondering what it was, I did some research. Turns out it was a cold sore sometimes known as a fever blister. Now there is a huge body of misconception and rumors regarding the nature and occurrence of fever blisters and cold sores.

Especially during the colder times of year, quite a few people suffer from these painful and unsightly outbreaks. Then when they occur, the question on every ones mind is, how did I get them, and what can I do now. The answer to that is not as complicated as some folks make out. A little research, will give you all the information you could possibly require, to put your mind at rest.

1. Although unpleasant and painful, fever blisters and cold sores, are not themselves very dangerous. You don't like suffering from them, or seeing someone you love have an outbreak, but they won't kill you.

2. A widely misunderstood rumor states that cold sores are in fact an outbreak of herpes, and as such everyone is terrified of their severity. Herpes has a notorious reputation, mostly as a dreaded sexually transmitted disease, with very unpleasant side effects.Apart from the stigma attached to having a sexually transmitted disease in the first place, Herpes is also highly contagious. So the appearance of a fever blister, sends shivers of terror down most peoples spine, as they think they are now doomed with Herpes.

3. The good news: Yes it is Herpes, BUT a totally different and much less sinister strand of the dreaded Herpes virus. So calm down, and take time to get all the correct facts about your affliction.

4. The bad news: Nearly everyone that has ever come into contact with another human being has this virus lying dormant inside them. The virus only erupts and causes the fever blister when it encounters suitable conditions to do so. These conditions unfortunately befall us quite frequently, causing us to have to cope with the outbreak.

There are however quite a few things you can do to help your situation. Avoidance of being infected, is probably too late, but no contact with a contagious person, will keep your dormant virus dormant longer and stall an outbreak.

There are also some actions you can take to slow down an imminent outbreak, maybe even prevent it, if you discover the symptoms early enough. Simple things, like watching your physical surroundings, your mental state, eating intelligently and your overall state of health.

When you have the virus erupting on your skin, there are ways to reduce the painful unpleasantness, and accelerate healing. There is of course a whole lot more detail regarding all this. But in a nutshell, although cold sores are a type of herpes virus, and can be very contagious, they are not very dangerous.



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