To be freaking out about coldsore (OCD related)

[CupcakesForBreakfast]

Ok so I have major health anxiety and ocd which also revolves around contamination so please be gentle
My mum was eating earlier and bit a piece of her food off for ds who is 4.
She later said she had a cold sore last week and awful mouth ulcers but it had all cleared up now.
I could still see an ever so slight red raised patch on her lip when I looked for it and I'm now freaking out that d's will get a coldsore. Cold sores were one of my major issues when d's was first born so I always freak out a little when I see one.
I don't even know why I've posted just needed to vent a bit.

Try not to worry I have very very bad coldsores and have managed (touch wood) never to infect my kids (13 & 9) . TBH I would share food without a second thought, but not kiss etc when I have one.

Even if he did get a coldsore, it wouldn't be the end of the world! It's only temporary and very small in the scale of things!

Thanks partypopper sorry I hope I dont offend anyone with my post all of my family have had coldsores at one point or another but I just remember reading horror stories when ds was a baby about babies and small children becoming very Ill and it's stuck with me.

Cold sores aren’t contagious once they’ve scabbed over. If it was barely visible I imagine all’s fine.

As far as I'm aware cold sores only cause serious illnesses in very young babies before they have built up a decent immune system. At age 4 your boy would be fine. Nothing to worry about. Also, I could be wrong about this but I think cold sores are only contagious when they're coming up rather than at the stage your mum's one was at.

Cold sores definitely are still contagious until they have completely gone.

They're only dangerous for young babies

I read that if you have the herpes virus it is always present (as it sheds), and so the risk is always there. Right?

It's also not dangerous unless they're babies.

It's also only passed by direct skin to skin contact, I believe...

A cold sore is not a little thing or temporary, they are a recurring infection.

I’ve had them since I was 13, I had multiple cold sores the first time I got one as I didn’t realise how infectious they are. For around 10years I consistently had one, thankfully they got more infrequent and now they arrive whenever I have a cold or am run down or I’ve been in the sun. I’m stuck with them for life, they hurt and itch and are something I wouldn’t wish on anyone nevemind a child.

She shouldn't have done that and cold sores are miserable, but if the cold sore was several days old it is unlikely to infect your DC. It's true though that an infected person sheds virus, on the other hand I believe research has shown that people who have had the virus for a while shed less than those who are having a first attack. Try not to stress about this .

I had horrendous coldsores from about age 4 but apart from being incredibly painful they've not caused any serious harm.

You could buy her cold sore patches for her next outbreak, as they stop the virus being transferred as they are sealed in. That said, I only get a cold sore every 5 years or so, so she may have huge gaps between them.

Please don't worry, she won't still have been infectious when you saw her.

talulahbeige I suffer from them too, and you're right, they're not nice but in the grand scheme of things they're not life threatening and worth getting anxiety over

Although your mother absolutely shouldn't have kissed him. My mother in law did this to my child when they were a baby and I got so annoyed