Cures for Cold Sore for 5-Year-Old Child

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), which is quite contagious. Your child can contract the virus by kissing someone with the virus or simply by sharing cups, toothbrushes or lip balm with someone who has the virus. Once the virus is contracted, it remains latent in the body until it flares up because of stress, tiredness, sunburn or illness. Then it appears as cold sores around the lips or the roof of the mouth. Some remedies can decrease flare-ups and keep your child comfortable.

Remedies for Children's Cold Sores

• Cool off the inflamed area. Fill a sandwich-sized plastic bag with crushed ice. Wrap the bag in a clean dish cloth or cloth napkin. Let your child hold the ice pack against his cold sore to relieve the pain. This can be done as often as he likes.
  Moisturize the lips. Cold sores can crack and bleed if the lips become dry enough. Apply some petroleum jelly or lip balm to the lips and cold sore to keep them moisturized. Because cold sores are contagious, do not share lip balms among family members. When your child is going to be in the sun, have him use a lip balm that contains sunscreen because sunburn can cause cold sore outbreaks.
  Try dabbing some zinc-based ointment on the cold sores. These ointments battle the cold sores on two fronts: they dry out the sore while softening the skin. When the skin feels softer, your child is more likely to leave it alone, which helps it to heal more quickly. Many brands of zinc ointment are on the market, including ointments intended to help with diaper rash. The diaper rash ointments work just fine for cold sores as well.
  Food and beverages can irritate cold sores. Help your child avoid spicy, salty and acidic foods and beverages because they can cause a lot of pain to the tender sores. If the cold sore is tender to the touch, give your child a straw to drink through so the cold sore doesn't have to come in contact with the edge of his cup. Potato chips and orange juice are especially painful.
  Don't put alcohol on cold sores. Intuition might tell you that alcohol could dry out the cold sore and speed its healing, but alcohol tends to make cold sores last longer. Instead, try zinc ointment or an ointment prescribed by your doctor. Several prescription ointments have been developed specifically for cold sores.
  After a child has had several bouts with cold sores, he can tell when they are coming because of a tingling sensation in his lips. Teach him to tell you when he starts to feel the tingling because if you start paying attention to the cold sore early and apply the above treatments, you can decrease the duration of the cold sore.