Heal cold sores in a hurry using these proven methods. If you will let me, I will give you some great ideas you can use today to speed heal cold sores.

For you to heal cold sores most effectively, you will need to use at least one of these two ways. Use them together and heal cold sores even faster.

Your body can and will heal cold sores on its own. But it is a slow process. It often takes three to four weeks - or more. You do not have to tolerate the discomfort of a cold sore that long with what we know today.

To heal cold sores in half the usual time, we need to understand what causes the actual sore. So, before we go on, let us take a quick look at how a cold sore is created.

Herpes simplex virus is the cause of all cold sore outbreaks. It enters a surface cell and forces the cell to make exact replicas of the virus. Once the cell is full or exhausted, it is destroyed - releasing these fully functional virus copies.

When you see the swelling, you know thousands of cells are infected and creating new virus. Then, all these cells burst open to spill out the new clones and a new cold sore ulcer is born. It is quite fortunate that all this occurs only on the surface.

There are only two ways to heal cold sores. Here they are.

1. HEAL COLD SORES BY USING THE INTERNAL TREATMENT APPROACH.

Do you get more than one cold sore a year? If so, your first priority should be to take a top-rate vitamin and mineral supplement every single day.

You will soon find this to be the best cold sore prevention and healing method around. A quality vitamin supplement will build up a strong immune system defense against this and other types of viruses.

It is also wise to add a lysine supplement to your vitamin program - especially during an outbreak. This amino acid can extinguish a cold sore like water puts out a fire.

Although it is good to consume high lysine foods, such as fish and dairy products, the 500-milligram capsules are much easier and very convenient. Lysine is a common protein and quite safe, even up to 7000 milligrams per day or more.

The sooner you stop the virus from replicating, the quicker you will heal cold sores.

Multiple and frequent outbreaks often is a sign of calcium deficiency. Your body uses calcium, either from diet or your bones, to keep your body from becoming acidic. The higher your alkaline level the higher your oxygen levels. Oxygen is very anti-virus.

The normal recommended calcium intake for everyone is 1000 milligrams per day. That should already be in your multi-vitamin. It would be wise to take additional calcium - up to about 2000 milligrams more.

2. HEAL COLD SORES BY EXTERNAL APPLICATION OF REMEDIES.

You can heal cold sores much more rapidly with a proven cold sore treatment, salve or ointment, applied directly to the outbreak.

Topical remedies that contain zinc generally work well. Zinc is a great healing mineral, both externally and internally. If the salve does not contain the sulfate or gluconate forms of zinc, avoid it. Other zinc forms will not absorb well enough to be of any value.

Two, strong anti-viral oils that are great as topical remedies are garlic and oregano. Either of these will chase away the cold sore virus quickly, and promote speedy healing of the wound.

Once in the healing stage, the level of your health will determine how fast your body will heal cold sores. You can speed it along with the use of a warm, damp tea bag - along with the oils mentioned previously.

Additionally, constantly cleansing the sore with alcohol or peroxide is very important for fast healing. It can also prevent re-infection, or spreading the virus to a new location.

As mentioned at the top, your body is perfectly able to heal cold sores without your help. But, the cold sore treatment methods mentioned above will definitely increase your comfort and shorten the duration of your outbreak.

Truly, this will mean a shortened period of discomfort, and will get back your social life much sooner. And, quite likely, you could experience far fewer of these social interruptions in the future.

Combining internal cold sore treatment options with the external remedies of your choice is the smartest, most powerful way to effectively heal cold sores.