(NC)—You picked out your best outfit, you had your hair and nails done and the night of your big date has finally arrived. You're ready to make a great first impression, but your confidence has just vanished. Instead of welcoming your date with a dazzling smile, you feel like wrapping your face in a scarf to hide the awful cold sore which has erupted.
Sound familiar? To more than seven million Canadians, the possibility of this scenario is too close for comfort. And when 40 per cent of Canadians agree that the most attractive feature on a woman's face is her smile, getting rid of a cold sore as soon as possible is key.
According to a recent Canadian survey, not only do Canadians avoid intimacy when they have a cold sore, but 37 per cent would cancel a date if they had one, citing the pain and embarrassment as the worst things about them. In fact, many Canadians would rather deal with a bad hair day or pimples than cold sore outbreaks.
Cold sores, which usually appear around the lips, are caused by the herpes simplex type 1 virus. They are very common and quite contagious, and if left untreated can last from eight to 10 days.
The good news is there are steps that can be taken to shorten healing time and duration of symptoms associated with cold sores.
"Watch for that tingling or burning feeling and begin targeting the tingle with an over-the-counter remedy," says Dr. Kucy Pon, a Toronto based dermatologist. "Effective over-the-counter products include Abreva, which contains Docosanol 10% cream. It can help reduce some of the pain, burning and itching and shorten the healing period."
Don't let a cold sore cool down your social life. The tingling stage is one of the most important periods to treat a cold sore infection with Abreva– right before the outbreak. For more information on how to target the tingle visit www.abreva.ca.
- News Canada
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