Why Do I Have A Cold Sore?

A cold sore is the active symptom of the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) and they generally affect the mouth and nose areas. Cold sores are an extremely contagious and therefore, extremely common infection. The main issue people find with cold sores is that once you have had the infection, you are stuck with the virus forever and therefore the cold sores are likely to keep coming up.

As already said, the HSV-1virus is very contagious and most people who have it were infected when they were very young. HSV-1 spreads when there has been direct contact between someone with an active cold sore and someone else.

This could happen any number of ways but the most obvious and most common methods of contact are kissing, sharing lip balms and drinks, or sharing hankies if it is a nose cold sore. The contact does not necessarily have to have been direct either. If someone that is infected has touched their cold sore and not washed their hands, anything they touch after that could become infected – such as your food, or your hand.

Another possibility is that the virus can be contracted when items such as face cloths or towels are shared with someone who has a cold sore. It can also be difficult as a person with HSV-1 does not necessarily have to have an active cold sore to still be contagious. This is why it is a good idea to not share things like drinks, lip products or towels, regardless of whether someone has a cold sore or not.

How Does a Cold Sore Develop?

When you become infected with HSV-1 the virus goes through your skin into a group of nerve cells known as a ganglion. Here the virus sits and lays dormant, meaning you do not have any physical symptoms yet are still considered to have the virus.

There is no real explanation for what triggers the virus to wake up and cause physical symptoms to flare up. Although there seems to be a link between illness and cold sores coming out, this is not a cause and effect relationship. Cold sores tend to come out when people are rundown, stressed, suffering reactions, or hormonal imbalances or changes.

However, the pattern for cold sores is ultimately unpredictable and unfortunately there is no medicine available to cure or even prevent them once you have HSV-1.