What causes cold sores (or oral herpes and fever blisters) in most folks? By the time you are done reading this article, you will know for sure what causes cold sores in nearly all situations.
What causes cold sores? The short answer is the herpes simplex virus. About 80% of the sores are caused by herpes simplex type 1 - the rest by type 2.
Normally the herpes virus is asleep, deep in the roots of your facial nerves. For about 35% of those infected, it never wakes up. But the majority of those infected will have at least one cold sore attack in the next 10 months.
When the herpes simplex virus senses the conditions are right, it will move along your nerve fibers to the surface of your skin. Each virus particle will then enter a cell and force that cell to create virus copies.
When you see the swelling, the cells are filling up with new virus. When full, they burst open. This releases the virus particles and creates the visible sore.
The herpes virus is the root cause of all cold sore, fever blister and oral herpes outbreaks. But what are the right conditions in our body that activates the virus and causes cold sores?
They call them triggers. Here are the three primary triggers that will create conditions favorable for the activation of the herpes simplex virus.
1. IMMUNE SYSTEM WEAKNESS.
Good immunity depends on strong antibodies. This keeps the herpes simplex virus from taking control of your surface nerve cells. Building powerful antibodies depends on certain factors.
The strength of your antibodies is directly affected by the quality and quantity of nutrients in your diet. This includes both food and nutritional supplements.
Do you have frequent cold sore bouts? It is an obvious sign of weakness in your immune defenses. Consume more vegetables - preferably organically grown. They provide you with the very best quality vitamins and minerals.
You should start taking a multiple vitamin every day. For many people, this is the only extra thing they do for success in preventing cold sores. But use caution. There are many drug store rip-off vitamins that are totally worthless.
Do not buy vitamins unless from a dedicated vitamin provider or store. If you do not buy a high quality product, you will not see results. You get what you pay for. Look for high vitamin B and C content. These are the stress vitamins.
2. ARGININE AND LYSINE NOT WELL BALANCED.
Arginine and lysine are two very important amino acids critical to your good health. The also are important when it comes to cold sores, fever blisters and oral herpes.
Arginine does many good things. But it also is the primary protein used by your cells to create herpes simplex virus. Without plenty of arginine readily available, it cannot build new virus (and a new cold sore).
Lysine is not friendly to herpes simplex virus creation. In fact, it is like putting water on a fire. Your cells store both these amino acids in the same area. Space is limited - the more of one protein, the less space for the other.
Eating high lysine foods - dairy products and fish, for example - crowds out a lot of the arginine. Lysine capsules are available and a great way to go. Often this lysine remedy is enough to prevent cold sores for many.
3. YOUR ACID-ALKLINE BALANCE IS TOWARD THE ACID SIDE.
You are healthiest when your pH level is slightly alkaline. The pH scale ranges from 1 (very acid) to 14 (very alkaline). The perfect level for health is said to be 7.35 on this scale - which is slightly alkaline.
Your system will usually range between 6.5 to 7.35 pH. Any drop below 7 moves you into the acid range and creates the right conditions for activating the herpes simplex virus and causing cold sores.
The herpes virus loves an acid environment. This also means lower oxygen levels and weak immune defense. Contributing factors that acidify your body include coffee, carbonated drinks, sugar and tobacco. Surprisingly, citrus fruits do not.
Cold sores are more frequent in the winter months because of the many acid-producing factors. These include cold temperatures, less outdoor exposure and exercise, lower vegetable intake and drinks like coffee and cocoa.
Keeping you pH balance in the healthy alkaline range is not hard at all. Avoid acid creating food and drink. Eat more green vegetables for the calcium they provide. Also, vitamin stores have great kits for raising you pH level quickly and safely.
There a few other causes of cold sores to share with you. But, hopefully, this short article has helped you toward answering the question of what causes cold sores in your life.