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The Cold Sores Virus

In actuality, the cold sore virus is actually a type of herpes simplex virus. Most cold sore infections are typically caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1. On the other hand, 20% of cold sores worldwide are caused by the type 2 herpes. It does not play any big part because the two types are mostly identical in almost every way possible – how they look, feel and heal, it’s all the same. The virus is a sub-microscopic living particle. It is extremely tiny up to the point that it can hide inside your nerve cells without you noticing. When it becomes latent, the virus will then hide in the root of the nerve of its choice when a person is first infected.

Recently, scientists made a discovery that the cold sore virus can shut down nearly all function when hibernating, causing difficulty in tracking it down. This fact alone makes the virus practically invisible to our own body defenses as well as any medicines that have been devised up until now. When the condition is right for the virus (or when all criterion are fulfilled) it will gleefully travel through the nerve fibers to the surface. When the virus travels along the nerve, it will give you a tingling, itching and burning sensation at the target area. The target area is the nerve of its choice. You should take this as a warning that within two days, you are going to be experiencing the torture of cold sores. What happens then are the nerve cells being destroyed by the sly cold sore virus.

The only reason for the virus to activate itself is to replicate. Unlike bacterias, cold sores virus lack the ability to reproduce itself. The moment this virus arrives at the surface of its nerve of choice, it enters a nerve cell and forces the cell to become something like a virus factory to create as many clones as possible. When the cell is full of the new virus, the original virus that initiated the process destroys the cell and subsequently releasing all the replicated clones. The process will continue and the same fate will befall other neighboring nerve cells. The destruction of countless cells in close proximity will then create the visible ulcer around the cold sore area. As per normal, your healing system will proceed to create some kind of fluid to cleanse the open wound. The fluid will wash away the new viruses, but it takes time to do so.

Keep in mind that this fluid makes you extremely contagious. If you are not careful enough, it is very likely that you can infect different areas of your own body. Worse, you could infect your friends or your loved ones – even strangers who you happen to accidentally bump into. Regularly use cotton balls or tissue soaked in alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to keep the wound sanitary. Whatever happens, try your best to not touch the cold sores area with your fingers. The area might get especially itchy and uncomfortable if this warning is not heeded.