Indigo Faulkner, 18, is an A Level student from Bridgenorth in Shropshire Indigo says; “When you say to friends you can’t go out because you have a cold sore, they think you’re being silly or vain.

Every cold sore sufferer’s biggest dread is getting a cold sore just before an important event. And with over 30 million people in the UK who are infected with the herpes simplex virus, it means that almost half of us are at risk.

A gene that can cause cold sores has been discovered by scientists.

Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. Once the virus enters the body it is never removed by the immune