When is a Cold Sore Healed Enough to Kiss?
Nothing ruins a romantic moment quite like an open, oozing cold sore. If you’re in the midst of a herpes outbreak, you’re probably concerned about spreading the virus to your partner, especially through kissing.
Your HSV-1 infection didn’t come with a rule book, but there are certain precautions you should take during every herpes outbreak. It helps to understand how the virus spreads and when it’s finally safe to be intimate again.
When Is a Cold Sore Healed Enough to Kiss?
Cold sores are always contagious. The unfortunate truth is that the herpes virus is easy to spread. This explains why more than 66% of the human population has HSV-1!
This means that it’s never safe to kiss if you have a cold sore on or around your mouth. It’s best to wait until all symptoms are completely gone before kissing again. We know you don’t want to wait, so we’re here to explore the rules of engagement for healing cold sores quickly. Follow our tips to get back to kissing ASAP!
How Do Cold Sores Spread?
The HSV-1 virus spreads during close contact with skin or saliva. This doesn’t mean you’ll catch herpes by accidentally bumping into someone in the grocery store, but it’s easy to become infected during close, intimate contact with someone who already has the herpes virus.
Kissing and oral sex are the two most common ways HSV-1 is transmitted. The herpes virus enters the body through any break in the skin, even a small cut. The virus can lie dormant in your nerve cells until activated by some sort of trigger.
Some people with HSV-1 remain asymptomatic most of their life and rarely, if ever, experience outbreaks. Others experience an intense initial outbreak followed by regular monthly or yearly outbreaks for many years to come.
Though it’s possible to spread HSV-1 when you’re asymptomatic, the virus is significantly more contagious during an active outbreak. This is why cold sores should never be touched or treated with bare hands. It also explains why kissing is off-limits until your cold sores heal completely!
How Can You Speed Up the Healing to Kiss Safely Sooner?
It’s frustrating to abstain from kissing and intimate contact while your cold sores linger as long as two to four weeks. Fortunately, there are many ways to speed up the healing process!
Heal Your Cold Sore Faster
What can you do to heal your cold sore faster than expected? Try these techniques and strategies to feel confident that your cold sore is healed enough to kiss.
- -Over-the-counter creams
- -Cold compresses
- -Antiviral prescription medication
- -Ibuprofen
- -Avoid heavily processed food and added sugar
- -Don’t pick your cold sore
- -Get more sleep
- -Use the Luminance RED
What are the Stages of Healing?
The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) emerges and heals in five distinct phases. It’s important to remember that your cold sores remain highly contagious throughout each stage. The chance of spreading herpes through kissing only decreases after the final stage when every cold sore has scabbed over and healed.
Every herpes outbreak continues through these five stages:
- An itching and burning feeling develops underneath the skin. This sensation indicates that a cold sore is forming
- Fluid-filled cold sore blisters develop on or around the mouth
- The blisters burst or “weep” and release their fluids
- The core sores dry up into a yellow and brown crust
- Cold sore scabs heal; the skin around the mouth looks healthy once again
Cold Sore Bandages Reduce Chances of Transmission
These invisible cold sore bandages offer a simple and popular way to protect, cover, and hide your cold sores during the healing process. Each bandage is designed to limit contact and transmission of the herpes virus at its most contagious points. Simply apply hydrocolloid “Moist Bandages” over your cold sores during an outbreak to limit virus exposure, alleviate pain, and accelerate healing.
Use This Treatment to Speed Up Recovery and Prevent Future Outbreaks
Cold sores don’t have to control your life… or your love life! Use the Luminance RED to speed up healing time and prevent your next outbreak altogether.
The light from the Luminance RED is metabolized by your skin and turned into cellular energy, which your skin uses to heal faster and force the herpes virus into hibernation. Clinical data conclusively shows that this type of treatment reduces healing time by up to 50% so that you can get back to doing what really matters!
The Luminance RED can be used before, during, and after outbreaks to fight symptoms of HSV-1 and HSV-2. Thanks to the precise design of the Luminance RED, every treatment provides a medically optimized wavelength and irradiance of light necessary to maximize treatment efficiency and prevent cold sore outbreaks. Try this advanced light therapy to get back to kissing faster than ever before.
