Also called fever blisters, 'Cold Sores' are small wounds, which appear around the mouth or on the lips. Such sores come into sight at random and are both embarrassing and painful as well. In reality it is the HSV or virus called herpes simplex, which is the cause of cold sores.
Many people think that the connection between cold sores and herpes is very frightening, but it is not so. One finds two types of herpes simplex virus called, HSV-1 and HSV-2. Usually HSV-1 is the cause of cold sore and is very common amongst people. Usually genital herpes are caused by HSV-2, though it is very rare. At times HSV-2 causes mouth herpes and HSV-1 causes genital herpes, but this is highly uncommon.
Generally HSV-1 virus is transmitted by contact of an infected fluid like kissing; it can also spread by touching a cold sore, sneezing or coughing. This HSV-1 virus can spread from parent to child when the child is in contact with an item that the parent with a cold sore has used or touched. When the HSV-1 virus infects a person for the first time then it's called the primary herpetic stomatitis though it does not always result in cold sores. The particular virus may lie dormant for a long time. Mostly people come into contact with the HSV-1 virus by the age of five but they do not experience their first cold sore till puberty sets in.
Cold sores cure automatically over a course of ten days to a week. They leave no scars and usually do not recur in a long time. Cold sores burst open following few days and emit a clear liquid prior to drying up and subsiding.
Most people find cold sores to be too embarrassing or painful to be left untouched to merely disappear on their own. Especially for such people, there are OTC and prescription medicines that accelerate the process of healing. The cold sore is a painful nuisance, which most people have experienced. No known prevention for cold sores exists, but many treatments are available which make the experience endurable.