As someone who has gotten cold sores every few years since I was a kid, believe me, if you've had them before, there is no way to mistake them for anything else!
Yes, they are caused by a virus that, once it invades, makes itself at home and sits dormant until you are weak...and then it pounces and makes your life miserable for a couple of weeks.
They can be triggered by so many things! Stress, changes in weather, too much sun or sunburn, too much cold wind, dryness and chapping, a cold, a fever, other illness, spicy foods, citrus foods, even a trip to the dentist if he spends too much time mucking around in your mouth and pulling and poking and prodding around in there.
Does vaping cause them? No. Can vaping trigger them? I can see how it might. Quitting smoking can trigger - it's a big change for your body to release the toxins, and the damned little virus might wake up to take advantage of it. Especially because of dehydration - that's the "in" the virus needs. Muahahaha!
The best defense is a good offense. Stay hydrated. Use sunscreen. Keep your lips moisturized. Eat well or at least take vitamins. Exercise to give stress an outlet.
At the first sign of one, get an ice cube and freeze that virus into place. It can't spread very far under ice. Apply ice until it melts, apply ice until your lips are frozen and you feel like an icicle. Take ibuprofen for the pain. Apply a cream with zinc - both for the sunscreen and to keep it from spreading. Take zinc lozenges, if you can stand the taste. After that, leave it alone. It will run its course and very little that you put on it will do much to help.
Yes, they are caused by a virus that, once it invades, makes itself at home and sits dormant until you are weak...and then it pounces and makes your life miserable for a couple of weeks.
They can be triggered by so many things! Stress, changes in weather, too much sun or sunburn, too much cold wind, dryness and chapping, a cold, a fever, other illness, spicy foods, citrus foods, even a trip to the dentist if he spends too much time mucking around in your mouth and pulling and poking and prodding around in there.
Does vaping cause them? No. Can vaping trigger them? I can see how it might. Quitting smoking can trigger - it's a big change for your body to release the toxins, and the damned little virus might wake up to take advantage of it. Especially because of dehydration - that's the "in" the virus needs. Muahahaha!
The best defense is a good offense. Stay hydrated. Use sunscreen. Keep your lips moisturized. Eat well or at least take vitamins. Exercise to give stress an outlet.
At the first sign of one, get an ice cube and freeze that virus into place. It can't spread very far under ice. Apply ice until it melts, apply ice until your lips are frozen and you feel like an icicle. Take ibuprofen for the pain. Apply a cream with zinc - both for the sunscreen and to keep it from spreading. Take zinc lozenges, if you can stand the taste. After that, leave it alone. It will run its course and very little that you put on it will do much to help.