cold sores, anybody know anything bout them?

I don't get cold sores so I'm not sure what they look like when the first appear or how they change and grow. My mom gets cold sores and has always been supercareful to make sure she didn't spread them. Curtis' 8 yrold cousin gets them and she knows how to be careful too and we always watch her around Owen.
Owen got this pimple in the corner of his mouth the other day. It looked like it was going away yeasterday but today it looks like it has a scab on it. Could this be a cold sore and if so, why don't I have them too because I usually finish his food and drinks (yeah, I drink straight from the sippy). And if it is a cold sore how do I treat it? Ugh! I hope this is just a pimple he scratched or something. I would hate for him to have cold sores
Anybody know anything about cold sores?
TIA

Usually if it is a cold sore, you will see a little blister first, and the area gets red and tingly. Once the blister pops, then you will get a scab. If I don't use medication when I get them, my whole lip swells up. It doesn't sound like a cold sore to me, but if it is, just be really careful until the scab heals up- so don't drink out of his cups anymore!

ETA: Cold sores usually transmit by contact with something contacted with the cold sore of another person, like drinking out of a class that someone with a cold sore drank from (that's how I got them from my mom).

This post has been edited by maestra on Jun 2 2007, 08:30 PM

I thought Macie had one a week ago but it did go away on it's own. I don't get them so I don't know a lot about them either but I do know there is OTC stuff that is supposed to help with the pain and shorten their appearance. Is he complaining that it hurts? From what I've heard they're usually pretty painful.

Cold sores are from a form of Herpes. They are transmissable from direct contact...and not that it would be an issue here, but they are transmissable from the mouth to other *ahem* parts of the body, if you catch my meaning.

You probably don't catch them from your daughter because you have antibodies, else you are a carrier and do not show outward symptoms. But if you just have antibodies, you probably don't break out because your immunity system is pretty high. If she had one and you came in contact with her while you were sick yourself, you'd probably get one, since your immunity system would already be compromised form your illness.

It's very very common, pretty much everyone has had cold sores at some point in their life.... Blistex or something like that will relieve the itching and help it heal faster.

Well today it looks like a scabbed over sore with a crease down the center (because it's on the lip). He doesn't seem to be in pain with it. So I think it is just a random pimple that he scratched open and became a sore.

It's also spread by indirect contact. Here's from Web Md:

The herpes simplex virus usually enters your body through a break in the skin around or inside your mouth. It is spread through coughing, sneezing, direct contact with a cold sore, or touching contaminated fluid-such as from kissing an infected person and touching the person's saliva.

The virus can also be spread from one person to an area of someone else's body by touching an active cold sore or sharing things that a person who has a cold sore has used. A parent who has a cold sore often spreads the infection to his or her child.
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-tre...-Topic-Overview

Blistex has never helped me, but abreva has helped my husband. I have to use zovirax prescription cream. You also have to be careful with blistex that you don't contaminate the tube or container, as it will harbor the virus. I used a little tin of carmex on one once, and forgot about the tube in the bottom of my drawer. I pulled it out a year later (forgetting about it) and then noticed the tingle and remembered it. I got a raging sore that time.

It doesn't sound like a cold sore. They show up as a blister first. I've gotten them the last couple years out of nowhere (you can be exposed to it, and not show signs of it till years later).