Cold sores and herpes could strike anyone, but the external symptoms are not always visible early on and might take anywhere between two to twenty days to surface clearly and also depends upon the person suffering. For those suffering from cold sores for the first time, the symptoms would be more severe than for those having recurrent infections. The degree of the severeness of primary infection symptoms would vary from person to person. Cold sore symptoms might bring along certain symptoms of general viral infections such as headaches, tiredness, swollen lymph nodes and high fevers.
Pain, burning and itching have been the sensations that 50% - 80% of all people suffering from cold sores or herpes have experienced at places where the blisters would later form. During the first few hours or even a couple of days, these symptoms would be at their peak and the person would feel the maximum pain. These symptoms are easy to identify and occur in both recurrent and primary infections.
The "vermilion border" or the outer edge of the lip is the most prone area for the occurrence of blisters. In about 95% of all the cases, blisters would first form at the vermilion ring. Neck, cheek and chin areas are also prone to the formation of blisters. The maturing of the disease is a hasty process and the red scars and itching scars that form after the initial symptoms would soon turn into painful fluid-filled blisters. These blisters are painful and would either end up bursting or drying up, leaving a scar on the skin. Within the first couple of days, all the red rashes would have turned into blisters forming scabs on the face. These scabs tend to clear out on the 6th day and start clearing out from then on. The scabs clear out by the 10th day in most of the cases, although it might take longer or shorter, depending upon the personal characteristics of the patient's immune system.
A process known as "gingivostomatitis" is the situation where some children might be faced with the nightmarish symptoms of the first herpes or cold sores experience. This condition results in swollen lymph glands, high fever and numerous blisters inside the mouth and all around the tongue, which might make drinking and swallowing food a nightmare for the patient. These blisters actually turn into sores at a later stage, which make it even more difficult to consume food products. The fact that young children facing this situation are not able to drink even water exposes them to possible dehydration threats.
There might be different reactions in different people when it comes to recurrent cold sores attacks. Some might face recurrent attacks just one or twice every subsequent year, while some might never have a herpes attack again. The unlucky few would be faced with the problems of cold sores time and again, in such cases, the blisters would form in the same areas and due to the same reasons, every subsequent time.
