Cold Sore Cure Series: How You Got Oral Herpes And What Makes Cold Sores Contagious
Alright, so you've started experiencing the not-so-delightful experience of having cold sores open on your lips and now you want to at least know why it's happening.
That's perfectly natural - especially considering that this virus makes you want to stay in the house until everything comes back to normal.
So let's get right down to brass tacks, shall we? Get ready for this, because not too many people like hearing it, but cold sores are herpes.
And how exactly did you contract what is technically known as the herpes simplex virus? For starters, you might have kissed the wrong person.
Other common ways this virus makes the rounds is through physical contact other than kissing.
Now let's look at what else makes cold sores contagious - poor sanitary habits.
Now, let's say someone with a cold sore wiped their mouth with their hand.
If that person then shook your hand and you later touched your mouth, you could catch the virus that way.
Did you think that the character Jack Nicholson portrayed in As Good As It Gets was crazy for bringing his own plastic utensils into restaurants? You might want to think again - shared utensils are another major way the herpes simplex virus is spread.
This isn't to say you should never go to restaurants, it only means that by avoiding publicly shared utensils, you drastically reduce your chances of ending up with cold sores.
Ever hear the old saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Well, believe it or not there are a number of ways you can prevent outbreaks, that you probably have never even thought about.
Keep Yourself in Shape: This one's pretty much a given.
We should all strive to remain as healthy as possible and maintain our bodies through daily exercise, but doing so actually reduces your chances of outbreaks.
The reason? Oxygen.
Diet: Excessive amounts of acids don't work in your favour under any circumstance and pumping tons of acid into your body via junk foods and fried foods will only aggravate the situation.
If you compare a vegan with the herpes simplex virus to someone who eats deep-fried foods every day, you would see a substantial difference in cold sore outbreaks between the two.
Remain Clean: This might sound like condescending advice, but in all honesty, there would be far less cases of herpes going around if people did a better job of staying clean.
Never skip washing your hands after a trip to the washroom - even if you're hanging out in your own home.
In the summer, always shower after working up a large sweat.
You wouldn't believe how much bacteria resides in human sweat.
In closing - remember the rule of seven.
The human body is at optimum performance when the pH levels are at 7.
0.
Once you drop below that you're more prone to not only the herpes simplex virus, but other diseases as well.
You might want to ask about litmus strips the next time you visit your drug store and ask the pharmacist how to use them to measure your pH levels.
That's perfectly natural - especially considering that this virus makes you want to stay in the house until everything comes back to normal.
So let's get right down to brass tacks, shall we? Get ready for this, because not too many people like hearing it, but cold sores are herpes.
And how exactly did you contract what is technically known as the herpes simplex virus? For starters, you might have kissed the wrong person.
Other common ways this virus makes the rounds is through physical contact other than kissing.
Now let's look at what else makes cold sores contagious - poor sanitary habits.
Now, let's say someone with a cold sore wiped their mouth with their hand.
If that person then shook your hand and you later touched your mouth, you could catch the virus that way.
Did you think that the character Jack Nicholson portrayed in As Good As It Gets was crazy for bringing his own plastic utensils into restaurants? You might want to think again - shared utensils are another major way the herpes simplex virus is spread.
This isn't to say you should never go to restaurants, it only means that by avoiding publicly shared utensils, you drastically reduce your chances of ending up with cold sores.
Ever hear the old saying that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Well, believe it or not there are a number of ways you can prevent outbreaks, that you probably have never even thought about.
Keep Yourself in Shape: This one's pretty much a given.
We should all strive to remain as healthy as possible and maintain our bodies through daily exercise, but doing so actually reduces your chances of outbreaks.
The reason? Oxygen.
Diet: Excessive amounts of acids don't work in your favour under any circumstance and pumping tons of acid into your body via junk foods and fried foods will only aggravate the situation.
If you compare a vegan with the herpes simplex virus to someone who eats deep-fried foods every day, you would see a substantial difference in cold sore outbreaks between the two.
Remain Clean: This might sound like condescending advice, but in all honesty, there would be far less cases of herpes going around if people did a better job of staying clean.
Never skip washing your hands after a trip to the washroom - even if you're hanging out in your own home.
In the summer, always shower after working up a large sweat.
You wouldn't believe how much bacteria resides in human sweat.
In closing - remember the rule of seven.
The human body is at optimum performance when the pH levels are at 7.
0.
Once you drop below that you're more prone to not only the herpes simplex virus, but other diseases as well.
You might want to ask about litmus strips the next time you visit your drug store and ask the pharmacist how to use them to measure your pH levels.