Lysine and cold sores? A great remedy if you use it the right way. If you will let me, I would like to share with you the right and wrong way to use lysine for cold sores.

Lysine for cold sores is much talked about these days. The truth is - lab and empirical data strongly support the use of lysine for cold sores.

Why can lysine stop cold sore, fever blister or oral herpes outbreaks? How do I use it for best results?

Good questions for sure.

But, prior to using lysine for cold sores, it is best to know as much as possible about how a cold sore is created.

Herpes simplex virus is the root cause of all oral herpes outbreaks. Some call them cold sores or fever blisters but they are both identical oral herpes events.

An extremely contagious virus, it currently infects about 89% of humans around the world. The majority of these people catch the herpes simplex virus before 12 years of age.

The herpes virus hides in the root area of your facial nerves and will be dormant there most of the time. This is an area located behind either ear. As long as it is hibernating, you will not have any symptoms.

The herpes simplex virus will become active to produce new virus. Since it lives in the nerves, it can quickly tell when your immunity drops. Stress of any sort can create the right conditions for cold sores to happen.

The herpes cold sore virus wiggles its way to the surface along the nerve fibers. Once there, each virus chooses a nerve cell, enters it and takes control.

The herpes simplex virus then compels the cell to build new virus. The cell eventually swells and explodes. Then millions of highly contagious virus particles cascade out.

Your open cold sore is caused by this destruction of millions of adjacent cells.

Arginine, an amino acid, is the main ingredient your cells need to create this new herpes virus. Arginine is a common protein found in many foods. Chocolate and nuts are quite rich in this protein.

Your cells have a special area to store proteins, such as arginine, inside the cell.

Lysine is also an essential amino acid. Dairy and fish are good sources of lysine. New herpes virus can not be created using lysine. It is like putting water in your gas tank.

Lysine is stored in the same area as arginine in your cells. And, the more lysine your cells put away, the less room it has for arginine.

Reducing your arginine supplies by increasing lysine intake is a trick many folks use to stop herpes virus activity and support quick healing. It can also prevent future cold sore events by starving the herpes virus of the fuel it needs.

Lysine and arginine fight each other. Increase lysine in your diet with vegetables, fish and dairy products. Decrease arginine in your diet by leaving out arginine foods such as chocolate, nuts and grains.

But, modifying your way of eating for the sake of fighting cold sore, fever blister or oral herpes outbreaks is usually not convenient or fun. I prefer lysine supplements. They are easy to find, quite cheap and convenient.

Lysine capsules normally come in 500-milligram size. You can get much more lysine into your system this way than trying to eat more lysine food. And you can easily take extra lysine rather than go without chocolate.

Lysine is one of many common proteins and is quite safe. To treat a cold sore, dosages of 2000 to 4000 milligrams daily are the norm. Many people take 500 milligrams per day to help prevent future oral herpes cold sore outbreaks.

But, watch out for the hype.

Lysine for cold sores is powerful when used as an internal treatment. But it does not work very well as a topical treatment.

There are lysine salves on the market for use as cold sore remedies. Lysine must get into the cells to work. Lysine does not absorb through the skin. You must take it orally for good results.

Lysine for cold sores is one of several really good cold sore remedies that you will find useful.

There is much more I could share about lysine for cold sores and several other good cold sore remedies that honestly work. Unfortunately there is not enough room here. I would hope you have time to read some of my other articles.

If you are a victim of long duration or frequent cold sore events, lysine is an excellent choice. But do not stop there. There are many other great cold sore remedies. You may find some will work even better for you than lysine for cold sores.