The true origins of Valentine’s Day seem to have been lost to antiquity. Numerous early Christian martyrs were called Valentine, but apparently no romantic elements were attached to their lives.
There are claims that the first association between Valentine’s Day and romance was referenced by Chaucer writing in the 14th century. In any event, there was a certain element of romance by the time Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in 1600.
Paper Valentines, the beginnings of the Valentine Day cards, became popular in the early 1800s; so popular it was written that “St Valentine’s Day” had virtually become a “national holy day” in the USA.
Whilst around the time of Valentine’s Day 2010 our thoughts may still turn to romance, those romantic thoughts may not be so likely if you’re afflicted with an annoying cold sore.
Your friends and family probably won’t find cold sores all that appealing either; a fact confirmed by a survey conducted a few years ago by one of the pharmaceutical companies involved with the marketing of a cold sore relief cream. Cold sores were shown to be more off-putting than tinea, dandruff or even bad breath!
In this warm summer weather, cold sores will be more common. Dry, burnt lips present the ideal conditions for a cold sore to break out.
Nevertheless, there are effective products to treat cold sores and some excellent information from your local pharmacy on how to prevent them from occurring.
Pharmacies which provide the Pharmaceutical Society’s Self Care health information have a recently updated “fact card” on cold sores. It tells you all you need to know, and more, about these annoying little skin infections – what cold sores are, how they occur, what medicines help and how best to use them.
Cold sores are caused by one of the viruses from the herpes family, known as herpes simplex (HSV). There are two types of HSV infections. HSV-1 usually causes infections on the face, such as cold sores around the lips and nose, whereas HSV-2 usually causes genital herpes.
Unfortunately, cold sores come back time after time because, as with all the herpes infections, the virus “hides” in the nerve cells in the skin at or near the original site. A range of triggers can then reactivate the virus to cause another cold sore – as well as sunburn, other triggers can include cold weather, fever, illness, and fatigue; in fact just about anything that puts our immune system under some stress.
There are formulations containing so-called immune system boosters: ascorbic acid, zinc and the amino acid lysine; but there is little evidence to support the use of other herbal or vitamin products in the prevention and treatment of cold sores.
Mild and occasional cases of cold sores can be treated with anaesthetic and analgesic ointments, creams and lotions. Topical antiviral preparations containing acyclovir or penciclovir will help if applied frequently and from the first sign of the lesion – that is when the itch or tingle is first noticed. Severe or recurrent cold sores respond well to oral antiviral medications which are currently available as prescription products.
Cold sores are easily transferred from person to person, and they can be particularly dangerous if caught by babies or people taking medicine that affects their immune system. Cold sores are not the kind of condition that you can kiss better – kissing’s a sure fire way of spreading them around. In fact kissing’s probably very much off the agenda anyway. With cold sores you’re almost certain to get the cold shoulder as well.
There may be no permanent cure for cold sores, at least not yet (not even St Valentine has the answer); but you need to know how best to prevent them and how best to treat them when they do occur – so your social life won’t become “no social life at all”. Phone the Pharmaceutical Society (PSA) on 1300 369 772 or visit the website www.psa.org.au to find the nearest pharmacy providing the Cold Sore fact card and have a talk with your pharmacist.
