Cold Sore Treatment – Oxygen Therapy
Cold sores, or fever blisters, are caused by herpes simples virus 1 (HSV-1), which is related to but different from the virus that causes genital herpes. Cold sores first appear three to ten days after exposure to the virus and may last up to three weeks. The virus then remains permanently in the body, and moves into the nervous system close to the lips. It will lie dormant there until triggered by fever, a cold other viral infection, exposure to sun and wind, stress, menstruation, high levels of amino acid arginine, or depression of the immune system. These sores are very contagious and very common. Studies have shown that between 30 and 60 percent of children carry the virus by the age of ten.
