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Cold Sore Treatment

Cold sores are all too familiar to a lot of us.

Sometimes they show up on your upper lip, and sometimes your lower one. Sometimes they show up in hard to see spots where you can not even locate them. No matter what time you get these red blisters, it’s always a bad time. They do not feel good, and they do not look good. You should note that cold sores, also called fever blisters, are not canker sores at all. Some people relate these two things together, but they are very different. The main thing to remember about cold sores is that you can not cure them, and there is nothing that you can do to stop them. They are very common, and they are not fun, but there are steps that you can take to limit how long they last and how long you have them for.

Prevalence

Cold sores are something that everyone gets. Most people spend a longer time trying to figure out how to get rid of them instead of how common they are. You have to remember that anyone can get these at any time of the year. You also have to remember that they are common in both men and women. However, they do seem to appear on men a little bit more than women for whatever reason. Now we are going to cover a few of the symptoms that you should be on the lookout for.

Symptoms

There are a few symptoms that come with cold sores that you should look for. The main thing to remember is that cold sores are not too bad, and they do go away after about seven days. There are no really bad side affects to having cold sores either. Most of the time, you are going to get small and painful little raised areas of skin around your mouth. Remember that, a lot of times, these are fluid filled and sometimes called blisters. This is where the name fever blister comes from. They do normally show up on the lips, but they can happen around the nostrils as well. Some people even get these little blisters on their chin and fingers. Although it is very unusual, you can even get them in your mouth. These are the ones that get confused with canker sores all the time.

Diagnosis

You should be able to diagnosis a cold sore by yourself. If you want, you can go in and see a doctor to have him do it for you, but this is not a must. After all, this is something that you should be able to handle by yourself. If you do go in to see a doctor for it, all he is going to do is take a quick look at it. After that, there is not much that he can do.

Treatment

There is not much that you can do for cold sores. They normally go away after about seven days. Sometimes they can last for ten. Although there is not much that you can do to make them go away faster, you can take stuff to relieve the symptoms of them. If you take antiviral medication, you may be able to shorten the life of the cold sore a bit, but not much. Most people want to get rid of cold sores fast because of the pain.

Home Remedies

A cold sore treatment that you should try to use is to use ice on it. This is a great cold sore home remedy, because it can remove the pain. You should only leave the ice on the infected area for a few minutes, then remove. Other people like to use tea bags. These are very affective and used in a lot of home remedies for cold sores. The way that you use tea bags to cure them is pretty easy. All you have to do is simply take the tea bag and place it in warm water. Then take the tea bag and place it over your cold sore for about 30 minutes. Other cold sore home remedies use witch hazel. Although this will not decrease how long you have it for, it will remove some of the pain. Although you may not think that these home remedies for cold sores work, they really do, and they work rather well.

Conclusion

Overall, cold sores are something that you are more than likely going to have to deal with at one point in your life or another. Since there is nothing that you can do to stop them, you just have to hope that they come at a good time for you. Cold sores are not fun by any means, but there is nothing to worry about when you get them. All you have to do is live up to the pain that they cause.
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Medical Notes

Avocados lowering cholesterol.

QUESTION: I have had high cholesterol for many years, mostly around 335. I have taken statin drugs to lower it, but I didn’t like the side effects.

I read about avocados lowering cholesterol in your column and decided to try it. I love avocados. So for two months, I ate an avocado every week.

When I had my blood work done, the doctor even called me at home in the evening to give me the report. He was amazed at how well I am doing.

My cholesterol count is now 215. The doctor says to keep it up.

ANSWER: Seven months ago, we heard from a reader that eating an avocado every week helped lower his cholesterol from over 200 to 176. We are pleased to learn this also worked for you.

Research in rats has shown adding avocado to the diet can improve desirable HDL cholesterol (Archivos de Cardiologia de Mexico, March 2007). There don’t seem to be many studies in humans, but one demonstrated an avocado-enriched diet could help lower total and LDL cholesterol while it raised HDL cholesterol (Archives of Medical Research, Winter 1996).

Avocados are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, the same type found in olive oil. You seem to have found a delicious way to control your cholesterol.

Arthritis treatment avoids alcohol

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Banana peels ease poison ivy’s itch.

Q: I recently spent an entire day weeding our overgrown yard. Unwittingly, I pulled a lot of poison ivy. During the next few days, my arms and shins were covered with itchy rash.

I treated this with Benadryl at night and Ivy-Dry in the morning. The spray usually wore off around 11 a.m., making for a rough afternoon at work.

I did a search for poison-ivy remedies and found some people use banana peels for temporary relief. I always pack a banana as part of my lunch, so I had nothing to lose.

I was surprised to find it was effective. Right after rubbing the peel on the affected area, the skin turned red, and the poison-ivy itch subsided in a few minutes. The relief lasted about three hours. It worked as well as some of the over-the-counter remedies I was paying $9 for.

A: We’ve never heard of using banana peels for poison ivy, though readers have suggested using them for warts and hemorrhoids.

Arthritis treatment avoids alcohol

Q: Several years ago, a friend recommended a remedy for arthritis and tendinitis. It was raisins soaked in apple-cider vinegar and honey instead of gin. When I found it worked, I wrote you, and you printed the letter.

Lately, several people have written looking for alternatives to raisins in gin. I think it might be helpful to repeat the advice to substitute apple-cider vinegar. That way, more people would learn about a helpful approach for arthritis and still avoid liquor if they wish to. The gin routine seems to be widely known, but the alternative isn’t. Thank you for considering this.

A: Many people like the raisin remedy, but it’s not the only natural approach for easing arthritis pain. There are many other options in our Guide to Alternatives for Arthritis. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (64 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. AA-2, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our website: peoplespharmacy.com

Optimism may lower stroke risk