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4 tips to avoid getting fever blisters

Try these simple steps and never get another cold sore again.

27 May 2008
by The Clicks health team

If you get fever blisters, also known as cold sores, you may know that they're caused by the herpes simplex virus. A cold sore can be triggered by stress or anxiety, sunburn, a cold, fever, food allergy, mouth injury or even dental treatment.

To speed up recovery, make sure you're getting adequate sleep and eating a healthy diet: the body heals fastest when it receives rest and good nutrition.

To prevent future cold-sore outbreaks, try some simple lifestyle changes. According to ClubCard expert nutritionist Megan Pentz-Kluyts, what you eat can make a big difference to how often you develop cold sores.

What to do to avoid and treat cold sores

1. Some foods irritate the tissue of the lips and mouth, and can trigger outbreaks. These include pineapple, citrus fruit, cheese, salty foods, and spices such as cayenne pepper. These food-related triggers are different for every person, so take note of the ones that trigger a cold-sore attack for you, and avoid them.

2. The herpes simplex virus needs lots of the amino acid arginine to survive (it’s found particularly in nuts, peanuts, and chocolate). If you avoid those foods, you can starve the virus.

3. The amino acid lysine helps prevent viruses from replicating themselves, so eat more vegetables, legumes, fish, sprouts and low-fat or fat-free dairy products to increase your lysine intake.

4. An adequate intake of vitamin C (found in strawberries, broccoli and citrus fruit, among other sources) can also be helpful because it boosts your immune system.

Speak to your Clicks pharmacist about the best over-the-counter remedies to help relieve and control fever blisters.

IMAGE CREDIT: 123rf.com