Fever blisters are small, painful sores that can arise on the outside of the mouth, on the face, on the lips, chin and cheeks, and even on the inside of your nostrils. Though they are often confused with canker sores, they are quite different, and are actually better known as cold sores. Fever blisters are caused by an infectious, highly contagious disease called Herpes Simplex Virus. There are two forms of Herpes Simplex; the one that generally causes cold sores is type one. Type two can arise orally, but more commonly causes symptoms in the genital area and is usually caused by sexual contact. Cold sores on lips and mouth are more often spread by kissing, touching and contact with saliva, and people who have the virus usually have their first exposure before they turn ten years old.

Fever Blisters On Tongue

If you have a lesion on your tongue or on the inside of your cheek, it is probably a canker sore rather than a cold sore. Canker sores start out with a small red swelling, then burst and get a white membrane over them. They can be as large as an inch across and can leave scars.

A fever blister will almost never form on the tongue. If they are inside your mouth, they will either be on the roof of the mouth or on your gums; they are also much smaller then canker sores. Fever blisters will start as a grouping of tiny fluid-filled blisters that eventually break and form into one, larger sore. They weep fluid that eventually crust over, then heal. The fluid coming from the blister is filled with the virus, and this is the most contagious of the cold sore stages. If you get a cold sore inside your mouth, try to eat bland food, because spices and salt will make the open sore more painful.

Fever Blisters In Children

It is not at all unusual for children to break out with fever blisters; most people who get them are exposed to the virus before they turn ten. Children are usually exposed by kissing family members who have open sores, or by being touched by another child who is contagious with the virus.

Eighty percent of the population ends up carrying the disease without ever knowing it, because it usually remains dormant, and for those who do get the blisters, it may be years until the first outbreak. But about one in six people will experience their initial outbreak just a few days after being exposed. This first flare up is almost always the worst, not only because it is characterized by fever, aches, and swollen glands, but also because it catches people unaware and without knowledge of available cold sore treatment.

Fever Blisters In The Nose

Though cold sores on lips and mouth are most common, they can also form on the inside of the nostrils. These are extremely painful, because the skin on the inside of the nose is so delicate. Because fever blisters tend to appear in the same area each time they recur, if you get them here you want to do everything you can to avoid them appearing in the first place.

Treatment during an outbreak can include ice or pain killers; there are also preventatives such as taking lysine for cold sores. Knowing your outbreak triggers helps also; many people get fever blisters when they are menstruating, ill or stressed. If you know that sun exposure is a problem for you, sun blocks are effective, especially those that combine spf prevention with lysine.