Natural Skin Care

Indeed there are six cold sore stages, but most books and guides discuss the five cold sore stages only. Never displaying signs or symptoms including any pain, stage 6 is in fact the first one. This is actually the latent stage, in which the cold sore is merely dormant. At this point the herpes virus that is responsible for cold sores isn’t active and is hiding in the nerve ganglia. A third of those who contract the virus show no signs of it progressing to another stage. Blood tests are the only indicator of a dormant cold sore stage as it can be very deceptive. If you’re in this stage of cold sore development, you need not do anything about it, not even take any medication, for the virus remains inactive.

The first obvious stage of cold sores is called Prodome. The dormant virus becomes active and rises to the surface of the facial skin via the nerve endings. You’ll know that the virus is activating when you begin to feel tingling or burning, or notice exorbitant itchiness or drying. Two days is the standard time for this and then you’ll move into the next stage.

The cold sore will be in pre-formation in stage two, and will be inflamed. The nerve cells are infected by the virus, oftentimes resulting in redness and irritation. The first small blisters to appear on the skin are pimple-like, usually in small clusters, and painful to the touch. You may also get a headache and a fever.

Things have progressed into the third stage when you have developed an open sore or ulcer within your cold sore as the small pimples will begin to burst. The pain can in fact be so bad throughout this phase that folks take to their beds. This is also the most infectious stage of a cold sore, since the sore is discharging the virus. It can infect any other part of your body that’s touched or it will infect anyone that comes in touch with it.

The scab forms in the fourth stage. This stage has a substantial amount of discomfort, especially with movement, as the scab starts to crack. If there’s pus seeping from the cold sore then you can be sure that it is still very infectious. A scab will almost certainly develop and fall off several times while the cold sore is in this stage. New skin formation that’s occurring will be itchy and uncomfortable.

The cold sore is near healing when the scab falls off and new skin is exposed. The recovery is complete when the new skin regenerates and the millions of damaged or dead cells are replaced. You will no doubt be very pleased that you do not actually feel this final process happening, and any tenderness remaining ought to recede within one or two weeks.

You might be surprised at how many truly effective ways there are to clear up your cold sores using natural remedies. You can try a number of different remedies, anything from aloe vera to tea bags for treating cold sores. Find out more at Home Remedies for Cold Sores.

Technorati Tags: cold sore, cold sore stages, cold sores, stages of cold sores

Tags: cold sore, cold sore stages, cold sores, stages of cold sores

Related posts

• What Causes Cold Sores – How To Avoid A Cold Sore Lesion (0)
• Useful Cold Sore Tips To Stop Cold Sores! (0)
• Tips about cold sores (0)
• How to get rid of cold sores fast (0)
• Finding cold sore treatment (0)