At this point, a scab has fully enveloped the sore and new skin is developing underneath. It usually takes two to three days for the crust to develop into a scab. At this point, the body’s immune system begins to actively heal the sore by developing a brown, immunoglobulin crust. Most cold sores remain open for one to two days, during which they are highly infectious. During this period, the blister (or blisters, if you have multiple sores) will open into an exposed sore. The fifth stage is the open herpes lesion stage. These blisters are often painful and can make eating, chewing and moving the lips uncomfortable for the affected person. Over the course of one to two days, one or multiple small, hard blisters will begin to develop on or around the lips. This takes around one day, with swelling and discomfort in the affected area. At this point, if you haven't taken proper precautions in the prodromal stage, the herpes virus targets cells in the lips or mouth, beginning the process of creating a sore. The third stage is the inflammation stage. It's in this phase that you're most likely to stop a herpes outbreak in its tracks. This stage lasts for one to two days in most people. During this period, people often experience a tingling sensation on or around the lips and red skin in the affected area. During this stage, your body may still be shedding the HSV-1 or HSV-2 virus even without symptoms. In this stage, the herpes virus is dormant in the body and you, if you’re infected with the virus, won’t notice any symptoms. In fact, the development and healing process for a cold sore can be divided into eight stages, all of which have the potential for the virus to shed and spread to other people: So, even then, if your question is, "Can you kiss someone with a cold sore scab?" the answer is a definitive hard no.
During this healing period, they’ll go through a consistent process, starting as a small blister on the lip that develops into an open sore before it heals over. Shop Cold Sore Medicine The Eight Stages of a Cold SoreĬold sores usually take one to two weeks to heal. Still, it’s important to take precautions to prevent cold sores from spreading, even if you’re fairly confident you or your partner already have HSV-1. This is because only a small percentage of people infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2 develop physical symptoms, such as oral herpes (cold sores) or genital herpes. Most people are infected with HSV-1 without ever realizing, often through intimate contact with a partner, an innocent kiss from a relative or even contact with infected things like eating utensils, razors, etc., that unintentionally transmits the virus.Įven if you already have HSV-1 (or, less frequently, HSV-2), you might not ever develop a cold sore.
In fact, most research suggests that around 47.8% of all people aged 14 to 49 are infected with the HSV-1 virus. Since cold sores are so prevalent, most people are already infected with the HSV-1 virus that causes them. How Do Cold Sores Spread?Ĭold sores spread through contact with infected people. We’ll also explain when it's safe to kiss someone after a cold sore, engage in oral sex or have any other kind of oral contact. In this guide, we’ll explain how cold sores can transmit HSV-1 (and less frequently, HSV-2) from one person to another. Kissing and cold sores is risky business, because if you kiss someone while you have one or more cold sores, there’s a significant risk of the other person being exposed to and infected by the virus. Like all forms of the herpes simplex virus, cold sores are highly contagious.
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