What are the stages of cold sores episodes?

Blisters form & heal: Cold sores on the lips or near the lips, are usually caused by recurrent oral herpes virus. They start as a slightly raised reddish area, with a bit of numbness & tingling there. Then comes a cluster of tiny blisters, which break open soon, with some pain; leaving a sore (ulcer) to heal up over a week. Sores appear more often when one is under stress or is ill from another illness.

3 I know of: Itchiness, eruption (seeing the sore) which can last 10-14 days and resolution.

Many: After the initial event, 1. A blister - like lesion 2. That breaks leaving a reddish ulcerated area. 3. This area kind of dries up, gets a whitish covering and heals over. 4. This takes about a weekto ten dahys. 5. It is sore once the initial blister breaks.