How To Deal With Genital Herpes Outbreak

What Increases Your Risk

WHO claims 3.7 billion people infected with herpes virus

Things that increase your risk of getting genital herpes include:

Having more than one sex partner.
Having a high-risk partner or partners .
Having unprotected sexual contact .
Starting sexual activity at a young age. The younger people are when they start having sex, the greater their risk is of getting genital herpes.
Having a weakened immune system.
Being a woman. Women are more likely than men to become infected when exposed to genital herpes. And their symptoms tend to be more severe and longer-lasting. Women also are at a greater risk of having complications from a genital herpes infection.

Having herpes, especially if you have open sores, also increases your risk for becoming infected with HIV if you are exposed to HIV.

Any child with genital herpes needs to be evaluated by a doctor to see if it is the result of sexual abuse. For more information, see the topic Child Abuse and Neglect.

What Happens If Herpes Goes Untreated

The first outbreak of genital herpes can be the most severe and can cause complications such as vaginal yeast infections, urinating problems, and meningitis.

Treatment may not be necessary for subsequent outbreaks, but anyone experiencing very regular or severe outbreaks should speak with a doctor about preventive treatment.

Best For Online Consultations: Lemonaid

Price: $25 for consultation and prescription, cost of medication varies
Pros: convenient online appointments and medication delivery
Cons: does not accept insurance for consultations

This telehealth company provides prescription medications for herpes.

People must fill in an online health questionnaire and provide a photo ID. Depending on the state a person resides in, Lemonaid may require a video or telephone consultation with a healthcare professional.

The company offers preventive treatment with a prescription that lasts for 1 year or immediate treatment for current herpes flare-ups.

People can choose home delivery or pick up their medication at a local pharmacy.

However, Lemonaid does not offer genital herpes prescription medications for people using the service for the first time. In this case, users must go to a doctor or gynecologist for an initial diagnosis.

The majority of Lemonaid consultation fees cost a flat rate of $25. This fee does not cover the cost of medication.

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How Can I Prevent Herpes Outbreaks

If you have lots of herpes outbreaks, your doctor may tell you to take medicine every day this is called suppressive therapy. It can help prevent future herpes outbreaks, and lower your chances of giving herpes to your partners.

Whether or not you take medicine to treat herpes, taking care of yourself by eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, and avoiding stress might help keep future outbreaks from popping up.

No one knows for sure what triggers genital herpes outbreaks. Other infections, surgery, sex, your period, skin irritations, and stress may cause outbreaks. Sunburns, injuries to your lips, or other infections can cause oral herpes flare-ups. Try to avoid getting sunburned if you have oral herpes.

Genital herpes outbreaks usually happen less often and become shorter and weaker after a few years whether or not you get treated.

What Is Genital Herpes

Genital herpes is a common viral infection caused by a virus known as the herpes simplex virus .

There are two types of the virus, types 1 and 2 . As well as genital herpes, HSV can infect your mouth and cause cold sores. HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections look the same and you can only tell them apart by lab testing.

Because genital herpes can be passed to others through sexual contact, it is often referred to as a sexually transmitted infection .

As many as 1 in 3 adults has the virus that causes genital herpes. Once you have HSV it remains in your body and becomes active again from time to time.

On average, symptoms of genital herpes are likely to recur 45 times in the first 2 years after being infected with HSV. However, over time the virus tends to become active less often and each time you get symptoms they are less severe.

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Is Genital Herpes Infection Related To Hiv

Herpes and HIV are caused by different viruses. But patients infected with these viruses are more likely to transmit either disease to their sexual partners. Patients with herpes are more vulnerable to HIV infection. People newly diagnosed with herpes should be tested for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections.

Patients who are infected with both herpes and HIV also may have a higher concentration of HIV viruses in their body because of the interaction between the herpes virus and the HIV virus. When HIV damages a persons immune system, the person may be more likely to shed herpes simplex virus asymptomatically.

What Can I Do To Prevent Frequent Herpes Recurrences

There is no need to change your lifestyle or take steps to prevent recurrences until you know whether or not you are going to get any. You will see plenty of internet sites offering dubious treatments that are unnecessary and probably have no effect for treating herpes.

These suggestions to help control outbreaks come from people with genital herpes, based on their own experiences. The HVA cannot confirm that any of them will work for you, but we believe they are worth considering:

Try not to worry: worry or stress is known to affect the immune system and lower our ability to fight infections. As you learn more, you will be able to put your diagnosis in perspective and worry less. Your immune system will benefit from this and you may get fewer outbreaks.

Get enough sleep and avoid getting too tired.

Eat a well-balanced, healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Take a modest vitamin E supplement . This has been shown to boost immune response.

Give up smoking and cut down on excessive drinking.

Take regular exercise: 20 minutes brisk walk each day is a good start.

Try taking one soluble low dose aspirin each day with food.

Try to avoid causing soreness to genital skin. Skin trauma caused by waxing, shaving, thongs, tight trousers, horse or bike riding or even sexual activity may trigger outbreaks. Talk to the helpline on 0845 123 2305 if you need advice about these.

If sex is a trigger try using silicone based lubricant .

Also Check: Herpes Simplex Type 1 Treatment

Easy Herpes Pain Relief Tips

While herpes has no cure, even though there are methods to stop outbreaks, there are none that are totally fool-proof. The following tips can help relieve your herpes pain and discomfort.

Practice good hygiene: take a bath, wash your hands often and try not to touch the sores.

Wear loose clothes-this reduces discomfort and helps heal the sores. Put on cotton, instead of synthetic underwear.

Have epsom salt baths this will clean, dry and relieve the pain of sores and blisters. Put a few spoons of salt in shallow water.

Abstain from sex-this will prevent you from spreading the herpes virus when youre experiencing its symptoms, such as tenderness, tingling or itching on the affected area.

Urinate in a shower or cool bath if you feel pain while urinating, this trick dilutes your urine and guards against burning of sores.

Cool the affected part apply ice directly to the area or blow dry the area to get some relief.

Use over-the-counter medications you can reduce the tenderness and fever by taking aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

Dont use deodorants, perfumed soaps, bubble bath or anything else that can irritate.

After a warm bath, gently dry the sores using a soft towel or hair dryer if a towel is too harsh.

Drink lots of water and fluids daily this dilutes your urine more and makes urination less painful.

Avoid stress. Reducing stress can boost your immunity and potentially reduce your symptoms.

Advil can help, as well as fever reducers.

What Do I Need To Know About Dating With Herpes

Why Herpes Flare Up

Some people feel like their love lives are over when they find out they have herpes, but its just not true. People with herpes have romantic and sexual relationships with each other, or with partners who dont have herpes.

Talking about STDs isnt the most fun conversation youll ever have. But its super important to always tell partners if you have herpes, so you can help prevent it from spreading.

Theres no one way to talk about having an STD, but here are some tips that may help:

Keep calm and carry on. Millions of people have herpes, and plenty of them are in relationships. For most couples, herpes isnt a huge deal. Try to go into the conversation with a calm, positive attitude. Having herpes is simply a health issue it doesnt say anything about you as a person.

Make it a two-way conversation. Remember that STDs are super common, so who knows? Your partner might have herpes too. So start by asking if theyve ever been tested or had an STD before.

Know your facts. Theres a lot of misinformation about herpes out there, so read up on the facts and be prepared to set the record straight. Let your partner know there are ways to treat herpes and avoid passing it on during sex.

Tell your past partners too, so they can get tested.

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No Ulcers Doesnt Equal No Herpes So Then What

If youve never had genital ulcers and as far as you know, have never been exposed, is it worth getting tested? Thats a controversial point and in fact, the widely followed official guidelines discourage screening.

Why? Many reasons: Lets say a person has a blood test that comes back positive for HSV-2. This means that the patient may have been exposed to HSV-2 at some point in their lives, somehow, somewhere. Research tells us that these folks may be periodically shedding virus particles in their genital fluids. These patients would then be diagnosed with genital herpes, encouraged to share their status with future partners, and offered daily antiviral medication to prevent possibly spreading the virus.

All of this can be a tough pill to swallow, so to speak. There is significant social stigma and shame associated with herpes. In addition, there are occasionally false-positive tests. Labeling someone with the diagnosis can be devastating to their future relationships, and asking someone to take a pill for a condition they may or may not have and may or may not spread seems unreasonable.

However, not all experts agree with the official guidelines. Except for the uncommon case of a false positive blood test for HSV-2, a seropositive test means one of three things:

The person has had herpes with symptoms.

The person has had herpes with symptoms but didnt realize the cause.

If you are not sure about getting tested, talk with your doctor.

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When Should You Call Your Doctor

If you haven’t been diagnosed with genital herpes, call your doctor if you have:

Painful blisters or sores in the genital or pelvic area.
Burning or pain while urinating, or you can’t urinate.
Reason to think you’ve been exposed to genital herpes.

If you have been diagnosed with genital herpes, call your doctor if you are having frequent outbreaks or if you can’t pass urine or are constipated.

If you are pregnant and have genital herpes, or if you think you have genital herpes, tell your doctor.

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Symptoms Of Herpes Discharge

The primary symptoms of HSV-1 infection are burning and stinging of the cold sores caused by the virus. In HSV-2, many symptoms can appear with a flare-up, like:

A herpes infection in active stages can cause several symptoms, and the first infection is usually the most severe. A few symptoms can cause noticeable discharge.

Genital Herpes Is Spread By Skin

The virus can be spread when someone with HSV has an episode or an outbreak characterised by having a sore, blister, ulcer or skin split . It can also be spread between episodes, when there is no sore, blister, ulcer or skin split present called asymptomatic viral shedding.

During viral shedding the virus is on the skin surface and can be spread through genital skin-to-skin contact, or from the mouth or face to genital skin during contact.

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How Is The First Outbreak Different

The first outbreak of genital herpes is the most severe because your body hasnt previously encountered the virus and has no immune response. Youll likely have more sores, pain, itchiness, and burning during your first outbreak than during future outbreaks. The first outbreak is also the longest, with symptoms sticking around for two to four weeks.

Some people experience additional whole-body symptoms during their first outbreak, including:

Swollen lymph nodes

After the first outbreak, the virus lays dormant in your nerve cells. When it reappears, your body can mount an immune response, fighting the virus. Because of that, subsequent outbreaks of genital herpes are less severe, and most people experience fewer outbreaks over time.

During your first outbreak, youre most likely to spread genital herpes, so its important to abstain from sex for the entire time that you have lesions.

How Common Is Genital Herpes

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 40 million to 50 million adults in the United States have genital herpes. HSV II infection is more common in women and in people who have had more than five sexual partners. Most people with HSV II do not know they have it, because it does not always cause symptoms.

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Send The Message Before You Have Sex

The conversation needs to happen before having sex and hopefully not in the heat of the moment. Alexandra Harbushka, founder of Life With Herpes and spokesperson for Meet People With Herpes, says a great way to lead with the topic is talking about both parties sexual health, and insisting that you both get tested.

What Are The Possible Complications Of Genital Herpes

Herpes Simplex 1 & 2: Symptoms, Transmission and Treatment

There are a number of dangers and complications associated with having genital herpes. These include:

When you have genital sores you increase the risk of catching or giving other STIs
Bladder problems caused by inflammation around the urethra
Babies whose mothers are infected by genital herpes can be contract the virus, which can cause brain damage, blindness, or even death
Meningitis is a rare but very possible genital herpes complication
Rectal inflammation can be a result of having genital herpes, and is particularly common in men who have sex with men
A persons mental health is one of the greatest risks when it comes to contracting herpes, as there is a social stigma associated with the condition that can affect a persons quality of life and future sexual relationships.

How Can I Reduce The Symptoms Of Genital Herpes

If you think you have genital herpes because you have one or more of the symptoms or have been sexually intimate with someone who has, you should have a sexual health check-up and get treated as soon as you can. However, there is more that you can do to reduce the symptoms of an outbreak.

If you are experiencing a genital herpes outbreak, you may want to:

Use an ice pack wrapped in a towel or flannel to soothe pain
Pour water over your genitals or use painkilling cream/petroleum jelly to reduce pain while you urinate
Use regular water or salt water to keep blisters clean and not infected
Keep your hands clean whenever you touch your genitals

You should not:

Touch blisters or sores unless putting cream or jelly onto them
Have sex of any kind
Wear tight clothing that may irritate sores or blisters
Put ice directly onto your skin

What Is The Difference Between Genital Herpes And Genital Warts

Both genital herpes and genital warts are STIs, are spread through skin-to-skin contact, and are caused by a virus. But the viruses that cause genital herpes and genital warts are different:

Herpes simplex virus is the virus that causes genital herpes.
Human papillomavirus is the virus that causes genital warts.

There is no cure for either genital herpes or genital warts. But, different medicines can help manage the symptoms of herpes and treat the complications of HPV infections that can cause genital warts.

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Who Might Get Herpes Simplex

People of any age can contract herpes simplex. You are more likely to get the virus if you:

Were assigned female at birth.
Have had multiple sex partners.
Started having sex at a young age.
Have a history of any sexually transmitted infection .
Have a weakened immune system.
Dont use condoms for intercourse and dental dams for oral sex.

Who gets HSV-1, commonly known as oral herpes?

Anyone can get HSV-1. Most people contract HSV-1 during childhood. It spreads when an adult who has the virus has close contact with a child, such as when a family member kisses a child.

Who gets HSV-2, commonly known as genital herpes?

Genital herpes affects sexually active teens and adults of all genders and races. It can spread if you have multiple sexual partners and dont use condoms or dental dams.

People assigned female at birth are more at risk. Delicate vaginal tissue can tear, making it easier for the infection to get in. Black people who were AFAB are especially vulnerable, with an estimated 1 in 2 people AFAB between the ages of 14 and 49 infected with HSV-2.

Why You Should Go To A Sexual Health Clinic

You can see a GP, but they’ll probably refer you to a sexual health clinic if they think you might have genital herpes.

Sexual health clinics treat problems with the genitals and urine system.

Many sexual health clinics offer a walk-in service, where you do not need an appointment.

They’ll often get test results quicker than GP practices and you do not have to pay a prescription fee for treatment.