Halloween/Samhain

 

Before There Was Medicine

 

The Cold Sore Battle

It's not a pretty subject, but one that is common and treatable.

Very often we feel hopeless because nothing from the pharmacy seems to be helping.

No surprise there, you don’t need the ointments and creams from the pharmacy, they rarely work anyway.

If you experience frequent cold sores, it's likely you have a weak immune system, so that's an important part of your life to look at.

Find ways to increase your immune system and that will be a big help fighting off the virus.

With cold sores a person may feel flu like symptoms for 4 or 5 days because the virus can affect your whole body. 

You may develop a fever and become a bit sick or not enjoy eating. 

So, if you are suffering from cold sores, let’s discuss some natural options available.

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way, we aren't doctors, but we do practice self healing and everything we are saying about the nasty cold sore is based on our experience and from others.

So, we aren't prescribing anything, simply explaining what works for many people.

Ok, let’s get this out of the way, Don’t pop a cold sore.

Left to heal on its own, a cold sore will usually disappear without a lot of drama.

The blister will break, scab over, and eventually fall off.

But by popping the blister the healing process self destructs and can lead to several problems, like:

• More cold sores. Cold sores are highly contagious. 
• Once the fluid from the blisters is released, it can spread the virus to other parts of your skin. 
• This also increases your risk of passing the virus to someone else.
• New infections. Having an open sore gives other viruses, bacteria, and fungi an entry point, which can lead to developing another infection. 
• Having another infection will further slow down the healing process and only make the affected area more visible.
• Scarring. Cold sores don’t usually scar when left alone to heal or treated with medication. 
• But squeezing a cold sore inflames the area, make it more prone to scarring.
• Pain. Cold sores can be painful enough as it is. Popping one will only irritate it and make the pain worse, especially if it becomes infected.

No one knows exactly what wakes up the virus to cause the blisters, but it seems they are aggravated  by stress, sun, alcohol, sugar, some other viral infection, or by fatigue. 

There is no effective medicine that will cure cold sores, but there some very safe and effective natural remedies.

A cold sore goes through five stages:

Stage 1: Tingling and itching occurs about 24 hours before blisters erupt.

Stage 2: Fluid-filled blisters appear.

Stage 3: The blisters burst, ooze, and form painful sores.

Stage 4: The sores dry out and scab over causing itching and cracking.

Stage 5: The scab falls off and the cold sore heals.

The amino acid L-lysine, is very effective in preventing recurrence. 

It appears that lysine suppress herpes activity, while another amino acid, arginine, encourages it. 

There are studies that show lysine treatment can be very helpful for cold sore sufferers. 

The best way for lysine to prevent cold sores is to take an everyday dosage as a preventive and then increase this dosage if you experience an outbreak of the infection. 

Since the cold sore virus responds to the imbalance of the amino acids arginine and lysine, it might be smart to avoid or limit arginine rich foods. 

These foods include chocolate, peanuts and other nuts, seeds, and cereal grains.

Healers tell us to take L-lysine: 3,000 mg. daily during the worst of it.

1,000 mg. with each meal at the first sign of a cold sore outbreak. 

After the symptoms decrease, reduce intake to 500 mg. a day. 

But if you break out at the 500 mg. dosage, increase your dosage to 1000 mg. everyday to prevent recurrence.

If you’ve got the virus there's always a chance you may experience an outbreak, the virus isn't going away, but these  natural remedies will help reduce the severity and speed up the healing process.

The first thing and this is important, as soon as you feel that first tingling discomfort break out the Tea Tree Oil.

Tea Tree Oil is antibacterial, antifungal and helps dry out the cold sore.

During the first stages of a cold sore, at that first sign and before it dries out and ‘scabs over’ apply Tea Tree Oil undiluted directly to the affected area using a cotton swab three or four times a day.

Doing this can reduce the first stage of a cold sore from three days to less than 24 hours.

Another treatment is Apple Cider Vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar exhibits antimicrobial and antibacterial activities.
It can help in preventing further infection in the affected area and removing the cold sores once they have reached the scabbing stage.

You Will Need:

Apple cider vinegar

Cotton swabs

What You Have To Do?

Apply ACV on the cold sore with the cotton swab.

Leave it on until it dries.

How Often You Need To Do This?

You may repeat this 3 times a day.

Then we have Manuka Honey.

Manuka honey (native to New Zealand) has antiviral and wound promoting properties.
It can not only heal the infected sore but also soothe inflamed and irritated skin.

You Will Need:

1/2 teaspoon of honey

(Manuka honey is our choice because of the healing properties it has)

What You Have To Do?

Apply honey on the cold sore with your fingertip.

Leave it on for 5-7 minutes.
Rinse with water.

How Often You Need To Do This?

Do this 2 times a day.

Next, after the sores start drying use Coconut Oil because of it’s anti-viral properties.

Coconut Oil does encourage the healing process, reducing the severity and duration of the cold sore.

Aloe Vera Gel

Aloe vera is a popular treatment for burns, but did you know that the clear gel from this succulent can also work as a cold sore remedy? 

Aloe vera contains enzymes which promote fast and natural healing, so if you have an aloe vera plant, just break off a leaf, wash it thoroughly, then split it lengthwise to expose the inside sticky part of the plant. 

Dab the gel on your cold sore throughout the day to relieve pain and discomfort. 

If you don’t have an aloe plant, you can use pure aloe gel purchased at the store or online, just make sure it’s 100% aloe gel.

There are numerous cures for cold sores and maybe they all work, who knows?

But we like to keep things natural and simple.

Why We Like Bitter Melon

Bitter melon really lives up to its name, it’s very bitter, and many people like that.

Fortunately, there are bitter melon capsules for the rest of us, taking the bitter out and keeping the benefits in.

Bitter melon is very low in calories, carrying just 17 calories per 100 g. 

But its pods are rich sources of dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants.

Bitter melon notably contains phyto-nutrient, polypeptide-P, a plant insulin known to lower blood sugar levels. 

In addition, it composes hypoglycemic agent called charantin. Charantin increases glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis inside the cells of liver, muscle and adipose tissue. 

Together, these compounds may have been thought to be responsible for blood sugar levels reduction in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Bitter melon is an excellent source of vitamin-C (100 g of raw pod provides 84 mg or about 140% of RDI). Vitamin-C is one of the powerful natural antioxidants which helps scavenge deleterious free radicals from the human body.

It is also an excellent source of flavonoids such as ß-carotene, a-carotene, lutein, and zea-xanthin. 

It also contains a good amount of vitamin-A. 

Together, these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging, cancers and various disease processes.

Bitter melon stimulates easy digestion and peristalsis of food through the bowel until it is excreted from the body. 

Thus, it helps in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.

In addition, it is a moderate source of B-complex vitamins such as niacin (vitamin B-3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and minerals such as iron, zinc, potassium, manganese and magnesium.

Ingredients

• 2 pcs Bitter gourd
• 2 pcs Red apple
• 1 pc Cucumber
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 4 pcs ice cubes
• Salt to taste

Instructions

• Cut the skin from the bitter gourd and wash the gourd under cold running water.
• Scoop out the seeds and white flesh from the bitter gourd with a spoon, leaving the green outer section. Cut it into cubes.
• Soak the cubes for few minutes in a bowl of water with salt or juice from half a lemon.
• Add the bitter gourd to a blender. Pour water, apple, cucumber and lemon into the juicer or blender.
• Strain the juice to remove any solid pieces and blend it again with ice cubes, serve it cool.