What does it look like?

Herpes blisters can look really dreadful, but we would not like to start this blog with pics which could frighten you off the very moment you came here. So, here's one which gives a perfect idea of what a typical cold sore can look like, and does not fill the audience with utter disgust at the same time. A little sore spot on the upper lip. A very familiar thing, isn't it?

Herpes simplex virus infection

The herpes simplex virus infection is a common, contagious disease caused by a double-stranded DNA virus. There is a number of widely spread common names for it, including "cold sore", "fever blister", and "night fever". People who get herpes infection usually suffer from occasional outbreaks of painful, watery blisters in the skin and or around mouth or on the genitals. In the first case (cold sores around the mouth), we can speak of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1). In the second case (blisters on in the genital area), of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2). Unfortunately, in both cases, the disease is incurable. That is, ones the virus gets into a person's body, it stays there for ever. Of course, it does not mean that the person infected with herpes always has those sores and blisters, but the symptoms of herpes manifest themselves from time to time, usually when the immune system fails to react to some other health problem immediately and effectively. Typically, when someone infected with herpes virus catches a cold, he or she will most likely get herpes blisters in addition to the running nose and sneezing. However, one does not have to catch a cold to get the blisters. The latter can erupt all of a sudden any day just because a person gets too cold, or spends too much time in the open sun, or... Well, any trigger can work. So, one can never get rid of herpes simplex, and we may call the disease incurable. However, the symptoms of herpes can be cured successfully and excellently! We'll discuss it later.