Have Herpes? Visit the Forum on herpes

In the past ten years recent studies and
research with alternative treatments for
shingles has shown it is possible to
recover in less than one week and to reduce
outbreaks of lesions and pain in three
days.

Shingles is a serious health condition and
it is important to follow your doctor’s
recommendations. Traditionally, most
doctors prescribe painkillers for the
temporary symptomatic relief of the pain
and an antiviral drug to suppress the
virus. This form of treatment with drugs
reduces the severity and frequency of
outbreaks but does not eliminate it from
the body. This course of treatment can take
six weeks or more and does very little for
the patient. The pain associated with
shingles can continue long after the
initial outbreak.

Some doctors prescribe steroids or itch-
relieving creams that contain steroids.
Recent studies question the effectiveness
of steroids in relieving shingles and
suggest avoiding any treatment with
steroids. Monitoring by your doctor is
recommended, if steroids have been
prescribed. It is best to find alternative
treatments with your doctor and to seek out
natural remedies.

The virus herpes zoster causes shingles and
is the same virus that causes chicken pox.
Shingles is an infection of the central
nervous system and may affect the elderly,
those with a compromised immune system,
anyone under severe stress or those who
have been exposed to the chickenpox virus
again. Symptoms may include burning,
itching, or pain in one part of the body. A
few days later, blisters and a rash appear.
The infection may run along a nerve path
and look like a branch of a tree. Shingles
usually appear on the trunk area and the
chest but can also be found on the face.
Shingles can cause blindness if it affects
the eyes. If an outbreak occurs on the face
the patient should get immediate medical
care.

Natural Remedies For Shingles

A good starting point for treating shingles
is a diet full of fresh fruits and
vegetables. A good diet and reducing daily
stress will help boost your immune system

A simple remedy for lesions is to apply a
cool or cold wet washcloth or towel to the
affected area. A wet towel can be put into
the freezer for a while after wetting it to
make it colder.

Eliminate sugar from your diet and add
these important nutrients to your daily
diet – vitamin E, vitamin B12 and vitamin
C.

* Vitamin C is suggested with an initial
diagnosis of shingles. You may start with
1,000 mg. (+)

* Vitamin E taken daily before meals may
reduce the pain of shingles (Study
published in the Archives of Dermatology)
(+)

* Vitamin B12 injections may reduce the
pain of shingles (Study published in the
Journal Geriatrics) (+)

(+) It is recommended that you consult with
your doctor before starting any vitamin
program.

* E capsules can be squeezed directly onto
lesions.

* Avoid heat as well as tight clothes and
itchy fabrics like wool.

* Calamine lotion may relieve the pain and
help dry the lesions.

Shingles is a serious illness and before
starting any treatment program you should
consult with your doctor. Shingles is the
same virus as chicken pox. You cannot catch
shingles from someone else unless you’ve
never had chicken pox. If you have shingles
you should use caution being around
pregnant women who have not had chicken pox
- you could infect both the woman and her
unborn baby.

About the Author:

Wayne McDonald is a health care
professional and public speaker for safe
natural treatments of annoying and
burdensome health challenges. Learn more at
http://www.OurFamilysHealth.com/shinglestreatment.html

Visit the forum on Herpes

Cold Sores – The Alien Herpes Virus

Cold sores, fever blisters, oral herpes are
3 names for the same thing – a blister or
sore on the face – normally occurring on
the outer edge of your lip or nose.

“Cold sores” is the most common term used
for these hideous, painful and contagious
facial sores. Herpes simplex virus type 1
and type 2 are the root cause of cold
sores. About 80% of cold sores are caused
by type 1. Type 2, although primarily the
cause of genital herpes sores, is
responsible for about 20% of facial cold
sores.

Cold sores are “location specific”,
occurring in roughly the same place each
time. The herpes virus is normally latent,
or asleep, in the nerve ganglia behind the
jaw on the same side of your face as your
cold sores occur. Fortunately herpes virus
does not travel internally to infect other
locations – but stays put in the area where
first contracted.

Cold sores, when in full blossom, look like
a hideous explosion on you lip or nose.
Fact is – that’s pretty close to how cold
sores are actually formed.

If you’re a science fiction fan like me,
you’ll notice that a lot of these shows are
based on the idea of alien creatures using
humans to reproduce. The alien creature
“infects” the human body with their seed.
When the young are ready for birth, the
human host is destroyed to release the new
alien creatures. The herpes virus
replicates in the same way.

Cold sores are the result of the
reproduction process of the herpes virus.
This virus, unlike bacteria, cannot
reproduce on it’s own but must have a host.
A single herpes virus enters a nerve cell
and forces that cell to create, or clone,
many copies of itself. The original virus
then destroys the host cell to release it’s
young. This “explosion” of millions of
cells in a close area produces the massive
cold sores.

Cold sores are very painful because the
herpes virus has a particular affinity for
nerve cells. Herpes virus travels the nerve
fibers like a highway to the surface and
create the cold sores on the end of those
nerves. If you’ve ever had a dentist hit
the end of a nerve while drilling – well,
it’s pretty much the same feeling when your
teeth hit the cold sores.

Cold sores are very contagious from the
first tingle to the last red spot. Even
your saliva and nasal fluids (and on rare
occasions even vaginal fluids) can contain
the herpes virus at this time. As a result,
nearly 89% of the world population is
infected with type 1 or 2 herpes virus.

Touching your cold sores or kissing can
cause a new site for cold sores on yourself
- or someone else. Contaminated fingers can
also transfer the cold sores virus to
objects such as telephones, faucets, and
towels. The virus can live on these objects
for days under the right conditions. Use
extreme caution, especially during the
weeping and crusting phases of your cold
sores.

Symptoms of cold sores begin with a
tingling, dryness sensation, burning,
and/or itching. Cold sores then progress to
these stages: a group of tiny blisters
form, enlarge, and burst to create one
large open sore. In 2 or 3 days a crust
forms over this open, weeping sore and the
healing begins. The skin heals, the crust
falls off, but there is still healing going
on below the new skin – which leaves a red
spot for up to 2 more weeks before cold
sores are considered totally healed.

The entire event for most people averages 3
to 4 weeks -depending on their current
health and on the treatments these folks
used during the various stages of the cold
sores.

For cold sores there is nothing currently
available from medical science or natural
science that will eliminate the herpes
virus from the body. If you want to be cold
sore free for life – the secret you must
know is keeping the virus asleep.

Without any treatment, the body will cure
the cold sores through it’s own natural
healing process. There are a wide variety
of effective home treatment remedies that
will GREATLY hurry up the healing of your
cold sores – or actually prevent the
outbreak from happening altogether.

Cold sores over-the-counter medications
have not been shown to shorten the life
cycle of cold sores. However, these lip
balms and salves do provide much comfort
and help prevent secondary bacterial
infection of your cold sores.

About the Author:

Denny Bodoh is a newspaper publisher and 33
year veteran research writer on alternative
health and nutrition. If you would like to
know more about cold sores, and what you
can do about them today, join others and
visit his wildly popular website:
http://www.be-cold-sore-free.com

Visit the Forums on Herpes

Genital herpes is not the only kind of
herpes that exist today. There are other
forms like cold sores and these can be
painful and embarrassing as well not to
mention the fact that they are a harder
form of herpes to hide. Did you know that
there are over 80 different forms of the
herpes virus? It is a good thing that only
8 of them affect humans. The most common
forms of herpes can affect both the mouth
and genital areas, they do not stick to one
localized area.

Genital herpes is the most well known form
of herpes and it affects millions of
Americans today and each and every year at
least 1 million more herpes cases are
reported. You can get this type of herpes
through any sort of skin to skin touching
and it is something that both men and women
can get. The symptoms of genital herpes are
rashes, bumps or even blisters. When you
are having a genital herpes outbreak you
are much more contagious than when you are
not although herpes can still be spread
when there are no symptoms felt or seen.

You can also catch herpes through oral to
genital contact, not just genital to
genital. Herpes is a virus and just like a
cold it can be easily spread from one
person to another. Some of those who get
herpes cold sores only get these painful
blisters once while others get them
throughout their entire lives. If you have
ever had a cold sore then you have herpes
and you always will, there is nothing that
can be done to get rid of this herpes
virus.

You can get herpes through any sort of
contact and sexual contact is the most
common way to transfer this virus. Any kind
of sexual contact including genital, oral
and even anal sexual contact will put you
at risk.

About The Author: Herman Smithe is the
owner of The Herpes Info Site
(http://www.herpesinfosite.com). His site
contains information and resources for
people with Herpes.