There are many children who grow up afraid to smile and, above all, terrified of the camera. The reason for this? In the absence of a trusted cold sore treatment, they suffer from recurrent cold sores and feel worried about the gaze of both friends and strangers.
Some will become expert camera lens dodgers, others will grow their hair long as a screen to hide behind, while some will become shy to the point of social phobia. It is hard enough being an uncertain and developing youngster as it is, but when you also suffer from a condition that results in sores and crusts forming on and around the mouth, these difficulties can be many times compounded.
Of course, cold sores are rarely as bad and rarely as prominent as the sufferer imagines them to be, particularly in the case of teenagers who are hypersensitive to any slight or blemish on their own personal appearance. This is not to say that cold sores can't be bad and can't be unsightly, and, without a trusted cold sore treatment, depressing. Take, for example, the globally common home scene of a teenager slumped desultorily over the kitchen table, forced to drink through a straw because of a painful cold sore.
Of course, it helps the feelings of stigma and isolation if the young person has family and friends who are in the same situation. It also helps if those in their peer group have an understanding of exactly what cold sores are, rather than a crude and rudimentary prejudice against any form of physical imperfection, especially where the schoolyard too readily and too cruelly conflates cold sores with related conditions that manifest in more private places.
Like many problems, the way to combat both the physical and psychological impact of cold sores is to take ownership of its ailing aspects and to try and find a way to become empowered in doing so. By finding a cold sore treatment that works for them – of course, at Herstat, we believe that ours is the best (and we have clinical evidence to support this view) – it is possible for young people to lessen the problem and, by doing so, to give themselves the confidence to front up for school, school photos, parties, Instagram and more.
