Most doctors will diagnose cold sores by the way the sore appears, and also by the symptoms.

Laboratory tests are available to look for the virus, but it is not a common practice to use the lab tests, because usually if a sore looks like a cold sore than it is. If a laboratory test takes place, a cotton swab is used on an open sore and a viral culture will be completed in the lab. The sample is used along with human cells during the testing process– the doctors see if the sample kills the human cells. Then the results are looked at under a microscope to determine if it was the herpes virus.

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