With all of the shopping to do, food to eat and family gatherings to attend, the holidays can be a crazy time. The last thing you want to worry about is a cold sore breakout!
To help minimize your chances of getting a cold sore this holiday season, here are a few tips to help you avoid common cold sore triggers:1
Avoiding Cold Sores During the Holidays
- Remember to get enough sleep
While you might have a million things on your to-do list this holiday season, don’t forget to make sleep a priority — fatigue may trigger the formation of a cold sore. Make it your goal to sleep 8 hours every night.
- Do your best to de-stress
Another common cold sore trigger is stress. If you begin to feel overwhelmed or anxious during the holidays, do something to relax and clear your head. Simple activities like walking outside or taking hot tea breaks can help reduce stress and improve your mood.
- Be mindful of food allergies
It’s easy to break your diet during the holidays, especially when there’s a seemingly endless supply of sweet and savory treats everywhere you go. As a result, many people eat things during the holidays that they wouldn’t normally eat. If you have a food allergy, or you know your body doesn’t respond well to certain foods, avoid those “trouble foods” at all costs — they may invite an unwanted cold sore to the party.
- Maintain healthy habits
A weakened immune system can lead to a cold sore outbreak, and may increase the amount of time it takes for a cold sore to heal1. Sticking to a healthy workout routine, maintaining a nutritionally sound diet and making hygiene a top priority can all help decrease your chances of getting a cold sore this holiday season.
If you do feel a cold sore coming on during the holidays, ask your physician if prescription Sitavig® (acyclovir), 50mg Muco-Adhesive Buccal Tablet is right for you. Sitavig is a single-dose prescription cold sore treatment that can ease cold sore symptoms, speed up healing, and in some cases, stop cold sores before they start.
Click the following link to find a Sitavig prescribing physician near you.
1 – WebMD (June 4, 2014). Cold Sores – Symptoms [Skin Problems & Treatments Health Center]. Retrieved October 20, 2015 from http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/cold-sores-symptoms
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Sitavig should not be used in patients with known hypersensitivity to acyclovir, milk protein concentrate, or other components of the product.
Sitavig has not been studied in pregnant women or in immunocompromised patients and no interaction studies have been performed. Sitavig’s safety and efficacy have not been established in pediatric patients.
Sitavig is a Pregnancy Category B product; therefore it should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk to the fetus. It is not known if Sitavig is excreted in breast milk; however, systemic absorption is minimal.
In a controlled clinical trial Sitavig’s most common side effects (greater than or equal to 1%) were: headache (3%), dizziness (1%), lethargy (1%), gingival pain (1%), aphthous stomatitis (1%), application site pain (1%), application site irritation (1%), erythema (1%) and rash (1%). In the same trial these side effects ranged from 0%-3% for placebo.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch.com or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
