Are you feeling gloomy with a sore throat? A sore throat and a bad cold can often leave you feeling tired and exhausted, even when you have not been doing much all day. Sometimes, the cold sore is so bad, you just want to get rid of it at the earliest. Well, there are always simple and easy ways to get rid of the trouble. You have to be careful, cautious and maybe even proactive, to ensure you take care of the cold sore before it becomes full-blown trouble causing issues for you. However, despite all your efforts if you do end up with a cold sore, here are a few things that could help you get rid of it overnight.

Back To Basics, You Might Wonder What Is A Cold Sore?

Did you ever bite yourself on the inside of your mouth or on your tongue? You got a blister or a small wound, right? A cold sore is also referred to as a fever blister where you get or develop small lesions that look like blisters or very small sores inside your mouth or on the face. These sores or lesions can also appear on the cheeks, chin, inside the nose, in your nostrils, lips, sometimes on the gums and, in a few cases, also on the palate.
These sores, or blisters, as most of us will commonly refer to them as, often cause or lead to:

• A lot of itching, burning sensation in the mouth.
• Can cause your mouth to become extra-sensitive to food when you eat extremely hot or cold food, or spicy food for that matter.
• They can also cause a lot of pain and burning sensation.
• You might also experience extreme itching when they begin to heal and develop the crust.

You Got The Cold Sore, But What Caused You To Get The Cold Sore In The First Place?

Every disease, infection, or human allergic response is caused by an external factor mostly. This can be due to exposure to disease-causing bacteria, virus or other pathogens that infest themselves around us. Cold sores are caused by Herpes Simplex viruses. This virus causes lesions around the lips. The cold sore virus is highly contagious and spreads by contact with an infected person.
In some rare cases, it can also be caused due to “Herpes Simplex type-2” virus as well. Medical practitioners also refer it to as the HSV-2. This is a sexually transmitted disease and can spread through oral sex with an infected person.
If you are infected, it is best to first take advice from the doctor and check whether it really is a cold sore or just a normal ulcer. A cold sore outbreak can happen close to 2-3 times a year if the virus is active in your body. Sometimes, the virus is there in the body and will lie dormant maybe all your life, and you would never have even one outbreak. There are a few triggers or causes of the outbreak of cold sore. A few of them are (but this list is not exhaustive):

• High level of stress, depression or mental burnout.
• A deep and a high level of sadness.
• Extreme weather exposure, especially to the sun.
• In women, sometimes it can be triggered due to changes in the menstruation cycle or hormonal changes.

What Are The Symptoms Of The Cold Sore That Can Help You Identify Whether It Is A Cold Sore Or Not?

A cold sore is accompanied by tongue lesions, ulcers in the mouth, swelling of the lips and glands, fever or increase in the body temperature, headaches, nausea, and difficulty in swallowing. The symptoms can vary and range in their outbreak and impact. If you feel you have a cold sore, it is best advised to visit the doctor at the earliest.
If you are willing to wait for the cold sore to heal, you can rest assured that it will go away in two weeks time.
You know you have a cold sore, and your doctor has established the fact for you as well. The problem is none of you would like to have that ugly looking sore or lesion spoil your evening or an important meeting that you have lined up for yourself.
If you are pregnant or have any other medical condition, which needs you to regularly visit the doctor, it is advised and suggested you consult with your doctor before undertaking any kind of treatment.

How To Get Rid Of Cold Sores?

If you want to get rid of the cold sore overnight or at the earliest here are a few tips, tricks or medical ways that could help:

• Antivirals: If you can find some over-the-counter antivirals, make sure to use them or apply them as soon as you feel there will be an outbreak of a cold sore or another outburst of a sore is happening. If you feel that tingling commonly associated with the onset of a cold sore, use the antiviral without any delay. Apply it 4-5 times every day for 5 days without fail, and religiously. These creams will also reduce the repeat cases of the outbreak, but would not eliminate the virus all together in its entirety.
• Use Of Benzydamine: The medicine will help alleviate the pain, and you can use it as a spray or an oral rinse.
• Use antiseptic mouthwash for better hygiene and cleanliness.
• Ibuprofen and paracetamol to help give relief from extreme pain and keep fever’s onset in check.

Here are simple knacks that can help you get rid of that cold sore overnight:

1. Tea Tree Oil:

Dab a cotton ball with tea tree oil and apply it on the sore a couple of times in the day, and also before you go to sleep. It will cause the sore to dry up and disappear.

2. Orange Oil:

Orange oil is naturally rich in vitamin C, and this will help you get rid of the cold sore. Vitamin C will help heal the sore from inside the body, and kill the virus that causes it for the time being. Apply orange oil 4-5 times daily for relief from cold sores.

3. Ice, Ice Baby:

Nothing works wonders like ice for many of the simple problems and irritations. Ice will reduce the swelling and cause the cold sores to heal. Take an ice cube and apply it on the cold sore to reduce the swelling and itching, and prevent yourself from scratching it any further.

4. Peppermint Oil:

Peppermint oil is known to be rich in antiviral properties and substances that will help you get rid of the sores, without any trace of them at all. It also has methanol as a part of its constituents, that makes it a good healing agent and also easy, effective, efficient and safe to use. Take a cotton wad or ball of cotton, dab it in peppermint oil and directly apply it on your cold sore. You need to apply the peppermint oil 3 times a day and slowly, the soreness will disappear.

5. Garlic:

The simple garlic clove is known for its many wondrous properties and also its healing, antiviral, antiseptic properties and effectiveness in healing many of the complicated human diseases. Have a few cloves of garlic early in the morning and also take a clove, crush it and directly apply it on the lesion for relief and to heal it. This is a simple home remedy to take care of the sores without going overboard with money. You can have the garlic on an empty stomach, early in the morning for best results.

6. Peroxide:

Hydrogen peroxide is known for its antibiotic properties and also its effectiveness when it comes to clearing the skin of its marks, or cleansing it inside out. Peroxide will also work as a highly effective coagulant if the sore starts to bleed. Hence, use peroxide to treat the sores by dabbing it on a piece of cotton and applying it on the sores every 2-3 hours. It will stop any bleeding, dry the sore out and shrink the ulcer to a minimally visible mark. It will also kill any bacteria that would be dwelling in and around the sore.

7. Vanilla Is Your Friend:

You read it right, vanilla is one of the best-known remedies to cure and treat cold sores. No, we are not talking about eating ice-cream or other vanilla flavored foods. Pure vanilla extract is known for its medicinal values. Vanilla is also rich in alcohol levels, which makes it difficult for the virus to grow and thrive, and which means it will be effective in treating the sore. If you feel the tingle that marks the onset of the sore, take a cotton swab, soak it in vanilla extract and then apply it on the sore and hold it there for a few minutes. Apply this extract 4-5 times a day for best results and quick healing.

8. Licorice:

You might have heard of the wonderful thing licorice is or had some candies as a kid, but little did you realize you could use it to treat cold sores. Licorice root has an acid called glycyrrhizic which will stop the virus from growing and developing and equips the body to counter their attack. This makes it highly rich in anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties and hence makes it effective for healing cold sores. So, the best way to use licorice to heal the cold sores is to get some licorice powder, or extract, and add some fresh water to it to get a freshly made paste. Alternatively, you could also use the daily use petroleum jelly and mix the extract in it for application. It is best recommended to use jelly as it also has healing properties and, together, they can speed up the healing process after the application of the paste. Apply the paste on the sore, leave it to dry and reapply until the sores are healed.

9. Milk:

It might sound ridiculous to you, but it is a good treatment for the cold sores. Dab a ball of cotton in milk and apply it on the sore and let it stay for some time. Apply milk repeatedly and let it stay.

10. Cornstarch:

Cornstarch paste is a good way to reduce and remove inflammation, and take care of the itchiness caused by the sores. You can readily get the cornstarch paste in the market, and you can directly apply it on the sore and see the results for yourself. While you can let it rest, make sure you apply it evenly and at least 4-5 times a day.

11. Toothbrush Could Be The Culprit:

Change the toothbrush every time you get an ulcer as it could harbour the germs and carry the virus. It would be better to get a new toothbrush if you have developed a sore.
If you are someone who has a medical history of allergy to any of the above mentioned methods of treatment, make sure you consult a doctor. If the sores are many and they have become big, it would be best advised to consult the doctor before you undertake any of the remedies. Also, it is important to remember that if you are already on some medication, and any of the above mentioned remedies could interfere with it, avoid it.
Above all, eat healthy and stay active through exercise and make your immune system strong to avoid any recurrence of the problem, or at least reduce it. Add more fruits and fresh vegetables to your diet to have more antioxidants in your diet and help your body effectively fight and ward away all kinds of problems and diseases.
Increase the intake of water every day and remember that you have to be proactive when it comes to taking care of your health. If you have contracted the cold sore virus, you know the problem could reoccur so the best thing is to avoid any trigger that could cause the sores to come back.