Q: I get cold sores on my mouth a lot. What causes them and how can I get rid of them?
A: Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV), a stinker of a bug that establishes permanent residence in your nervous system once it infects you. Fortunately, most of the time the virus lies around doing nothing, but it can be “reactivated” by any number of things: stress, fever or sickness, menstrual cycle, burns and damage to the skin by sun or wind. Click the link for more information.