1. Avoid Arginine

One of the easy ways to treat cold sores is to avoid foods with the amino acid arginine. Cold sores need arginine in your body in order to successfully replicate. On the contrary, the amino acid lysine helps heal and prevent cold sores. You can eat foods high in lysine or take supplements to help prevent cold sores from appearing and to speed up healing time.

2. Change Your Toothbrush

The next time you get a cold sore, make sure you change your toothbrush after the cold sore forms and again after it has cleared up. Your toothbrush can harbor the virus for up to seven days and if you keep your toothbrush, you’re taking a chance of getting more cold sores. Sure it can be a hassle but better safe than sorry, right?!

3. Shirk Stress

Staying relatively stress-free is another way to prevent cold sores from appearing. Have you noticed that cold sores tend to pop up when you’ve been running low on sleep, or when you're tired and stressed? Cold sores are often activated by stress and anxiety. No matter how busy and stressful life gets, make time for a full night’s rest and try to relax for the sake of your health and well-being.

4. Lemon Balm

Another way to naturally treat cold sores is to use lemon balm cream. When you get a cold sore, apply some lemon balm to the affected area to help speed up the healing process. You can also try drinking lemon balm tea, which has anti-viral properties, or you can apply lemon balm tea to the cold sore itself a few times a day.

5. Sharing Isn’t Caring

When it comes to cold sores, you don’t want to share anything! When you’re experiencing cold sores, keep personal items like lip balm, straws, eating utensils, makeup, food and drinks to yourself. This will help you avoid bringing about more cold sores and avoid spreading the virus to others. Be sure you wash your hands often and avoid touching the blister!

6. Boost Your Immune System

Cold sores can also rear their ugly heads when your immune system is weak. The herpes virus prefers an acidic environment and when you have a cold, flu or are stressed out, your body can become acidic. You can take a multi-vitamin and supplements that help boost your immune system, like astragalus, Echinacea and reishi to strengthen and maintain a strong immune system.

7. Shun Sun

Protecting your lips from the sun is another easy way to shield your lips from the sun’s harmful rays and prevent cold sores. Researchers found that those who get cold sores that are triggered by the sunlight can prevent cold sores by using a lip balm or lipstick with SPF 15 or higher. Always reapply while you’re out in the sun.

8. Got Milk?

Another way to treat cold sores is to apply whole milk to the affected area. If you’re at the stage where you feel a cold sore coming on, soak a cotton ball in milk and apply it to the area right away and you can help jump start the healing process before it even appears!

While getting a cold sore can be a big nuisance, it’s comforting to know that there are many ways we can treat and prevent cold sores! If you get frequent cold sores, make sure you talk to your doctor about it, as prescription medication might be a better way to go. Do you have any of your own home remedies for cold sores?