Air Pollution – Likely to Have you Reaching for the Cold Sore Cream

Among the several triggers for cold sores – the most common culprits being UV radiation, stress, and a diet full of arginine-rich foods – there is another that sometimes gets overlooked, an invisible trigger that is unfortunately incredibly difficult to avoid: pollution.

Air pollution can re-activate the cold sore virus, meaning that is even more imperative that the UK and other countries meet the World Health Organisation's targets on reducing the density of ultra-fine pollution particles in the air.

This revelation comes in the wake of various studies published this year linking pollution particles to a range of health conditions and illnesses, including heart disease, cancers, lung disease, and impaired foetal and brain development.

Read more: Air Pollution – Likely to Have you Reaching for the Cold Sore Cream

Plant-Based Eating and Cold Sore Treatment

There is a good chance you are reading this blog because:

A: You’ve heard that a vegan diet has miraculous healing properties and will either cure or lessen the recurrence and severity of your cold sore outbreaks.

B: You’ve heard that a vegan diet is absolutely terrible for cold sore management and adopting one will result in you having your worst ever cold sore outbreak.

C: You’ve heard both A and B and are confused by these conflicting accounts.

 If you fit into any of the three above-listed categories, fear not, we at Herstat, the makers of clinically proven effective cold sore treatment, hope to provide some clarity.

Read more: Plant-Based Eating and Cold Sore Treatment

Cold Sore Kissers under the Mistletoe

Not many people consider that an innocent kiss can lead to the contraction of the cold sore virus, yet the truth is that for an unknown proportion of the 3.7 billion under-50s in the world currently living with the HSV-1 virus, the first outbreak can be traced back to nothing more sinister than a kiss.

Unfortunately, there is sometimes no way for either the carrier or the uninfected person to be able to tell whether they have the virus – for example, there may be no visible evidence of the blister or even sign of the tingling that inevitably heralds the onset of an outbreak.

And cold sores are not the only illness it is possible to contract via kissing. In fact, there are many other types of pathogen a person can be exposed to through kissing. Below we examine this frequently overlooked issue, with particular reference to Christmas.

Read more: Cold Sore Kissers under the Mistletoe

Beekeeping in the Amazon

propolisBees, the authors of propolis, the active ingredient in Herstat’s cold sore treatment, may also be the “greatest ally we have in the fight against rainforest destruction” in the Amazon, according to a report this month in The Guardian newspaper.

Neida Pereira, who has spent her entire adult life as an environmentalist with Casa Familiar Rural working in some of the most under-threat areas of the Amazon in the north of Brazil, commented, “Bees are everything to me. They help me to protect the forest. They help the trees to stand tall, to produce fruit and to be strong,” she says, tears welling. “The bees are much more important than me for the environment.”

It has long been known that bees are essential to the world’s ecosystems. However, it is only recently that scientists have begun to appreciate just how integral they are at every level of existence. Bees do much more than simply pollinate; they also offer an alternative to the harm of Amazonian soy plantations, mining, slash-and-burn and cattle ranching.

Read more: Beekeeping in the Amazon

Second-hand Makeup Could be Cold Sore Contaminated

Nowadays makeup can be incredibly expensive, particularly in the age of the super-glossy, super-sculpted Kardashian style, in which more is invariably more. It is little wonder then that when costs begin to add up, many people are tempted to buy their makeup second-hand.

However, buying second-hand makeup, even if it appears to be new or has been “used just once”, comes with a considerable risk. Whether you are purchasing second-hand foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner or other cosmetics, they could easily be contaminated with bacteria or a virus, potentially leaving you with conjunctivitis, staphylococcus aureus or indeed the cold sore virus. The same is true for most makeup-related paraphernalia such as second-hand make-up brushes; if you don’t want to be taking antibiotics or taking cold sore treatment, second-hand makeup products are best avoided. They are simply not worth the risk.

Read more: Second-hand Makeup Could be Cold Sore Contaminated

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