How To Not Get Herpes Outbreaks

What Are The Symptoms Of Herpes Simplex

Many people with the infection never experience any herpes symptoms. If you do notice symptoms, youll experience them differently depending on whether youre having your first herpes outbreak or a repeat outbreak. Recurring symptoms are usually milder than the first outbreak. Symptoms dont last as long with later outbreaks. Some people may only have one or two outbreaks during their lifetime. Others may have as many as four or five outbreaks a year.

People who do have herpes symptoms may experience:

• Cold sores around their lips, mouth or tongue. They may look crusty or like fluid-filled blisters.
• Tingling, itching or burning.
• Pain while urinating.

My Partner Has Herpes How Can I Avoid Getting It And And Still Have A Fulfilling Sex Life

I just found out the guy Ive been seeing for a couple weeks has herpes. Im full of questions, but one question I keep dwelling on is, how can people get pregnant without passing on herpes to their partner? How can I avoid getting herpes and still have a fulfilling sex life with him?

Its normal to have complicated feelings after you find out that your partner has herpes. Millions of people are living with herpes, and sharing your concerns with your partner and educating yourself on how its spread are good ways to protect yourself.

Genital herpes is spread from skin-to-skin contact with someone who has it including . Herpes can live on areas of your body that arent protected by condoms , so condoms wont always protect you from herpes. But they do lower your chances of getting herpes.

Here are other ways to avoid getting herpes from your partner:

• Talk with your partner about taking herpes medicine every day, which can lower their chances of spreading herpes.

• Dont have sex during a herpes outbreak, even with a condom. There may be sores on places the condom doesnt cover. Wait until the sores are totally gone, and the scabs heal and fall off.

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How Big Is The Risk Of Infection

The likelihood of being infected with genital herpes during sex depends on many factors, including how often you have sex, whether and how frequently you use condoms, and how long your partner has already been infected. Someone who has had the virus for a long time is less contagious than someone who has just been infected. In general, women have a higher risk of becoming infected than men. Having other sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV also increases the risk of transmission.

In studies with couples where one partner had genital herpes, the other partner became infected within one year in 5 to 10% of the couples. The people in these studies only rarely used condoms, though and if they did, it was mostly during an outbreak. One of these studies showed that infection occurred in an estimated 1 out of 1,000 sexual acts.

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What Happens During An Outbreak

During a herpes outbreak you may feel the following symptoms:

• flu-like symptoms like fatigue, fever, headache
• difficulty in peeing or finding it painful to pee
• vaginal discharge

Your first outbreak of herpes will last around 2 to 4 weeks. Recurrent outbreaks after this are usually much shorter with less severe symptoms.

The blisters that form may break and cause ulcers. These ulcers can be painful and will take a few weeks to heal completely.

If you are pregnant and have herpes, you should speak to your doctor or midwife immediately. The infection can potentially spread to your newborn baby during childbirth. Babies do not have a well developed immune system like adults, so neonatal herpes can be very serious for a baby. Depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy, your doctor might consider starting you on antiviral medication.

If youre pregnant, avoid having sexual contact with partners you know to have genital herpes or any other STI.

Herbal Remedies May Also Offer Relief

Research supports the use of certain botanical remedies. You may want to try one or more of these:

Long dan xie gan tan This Chinese herbal formula has been used to quell symptoms and reduce herpes outbreaks. Its English name is clear liver fire pills. In at least one study, the formulawas shown to inhibit the activity of HSV-1 and HSV-2.

Chinese herbal medicine is always individualized, and there are other formulas that help too, so it is helpful to consult a licensed acupuncturist or herbalist before starting this formula, says Mindich.

Mushrooms Mushrooms boost the immune system, Mindich says, and thus can help prevent recurrent herpes outbreaks. She recommends mushroom products from the Immune & Protection collection of Host Defense and from Myko San. Eating shiitake mushrooms daily has also been found to have a positive effect on the immune system in a study published in April 2015 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Lemon balm This herb, which is related to mint, has traditionally been used to improve brain function and also has antiviral properties. Records concerning the medicinal use of lemon balm date back more than 2,000 years.

Lemon balm can be prepared and drunk as a tea. It can also be applied to the skin to both prevent herpes to prevent outbreaks and reduce symptoms. Research has shown that lemon balm oil directly counteracts herpes viruses.

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Get Plenty Of Sleep For Better Physical And Mental Health

Americans are notoriously sleep deprived, but if you have genital herpes, buck this unhealthy trend. Getting plenty of quality sleep affects every aspect of your life your physical and mental health, performance at school or work, and appearance.

To improve your sleep hygiene, follow some quick tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Preventing The Spread Of Herpes

Even when you do not have sores, you can pass the virus to someone during sexual or other close contact. To protect others:

• Let any sexual partner know that you have herpes before having sex. Allow them to decide what to do.
• Use latex or polyurethane condoms, and avoid sex during symptomatic outbreaks.
• Do not kiss or have oral sex when you have a sore on the lips or inside the mouth.
• Do not share your towels, toothbrush, or lipstick. Make sure dishes and utensils you use are washed well with detergent before others use them.
• Wash your hands well with soap and water after touching a sore.
• Consider using daily antiviral medicine to limit viral shedding and reduce the risk of passing the virus to your partner.
• You may also want to consider getting your partner tested even if they have never had an outbreak. If you both have the herpes virus, there is no risk for transmission.

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Recurrent Episodes Of Genital Herpes

Recurrences are usually less painful and shorter in duration than the first episode of genital herpes. Over time, episodes usually become less frequent and may eventually stop altogether. Infections caused by HSV1 are less likely to recur in the genital area than infections caused by HSV2.

Recurrences may be triggered by:

How Can I Prevent Giving Genital Herpes To My Partner

You can reduce the risk of passing the herpes virus to your sexual partners by taking the following steps:

• Tell current sexual partners that you have genital herpes. You also should tell future partners before having sexual contact.

• Be alert to the symptoms that signal an outbreak is coming. Avoid sexual contact from the time you feel symptoms until a few days after the sores have gone away.

• Wash your hands with soap and water after any possible contact with sores.

• Take antiviral medication on a daily basis .

• Use male latex condoms.

Its also important to know that you can pass HSV to someone else even when you do not have sores . The virus can be present on skin that looks normal, including right before and after an outbreak.

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Herpes Myths To Stop Freaking Out About

A surprising number of people you know probably have herpes.

Shocked? You shouldnt be, since the virus is very common. According to the World Health Organization, 3.7 billion people under age 50 have herpes simplex virus type 1 thats 67 percent of the global population in that age bracket. Another 417 million people between ages 15 and 49 worldwide have herpes simplex virus type 2 .

Many people consider HSV-1 more benign, but it turns out theres not much difference between the two types of virus. While its true that HSV-2 is a sexually transmitted disease and can cause genital sores or blisters, type 1 can do the same thing.

One big misconception is that cold sores are caused by HSV-1 and genital herpes are always type 2, but thats not always the case, says Sarah Vensel, a physician assistant in San Francisco. Cold sores are so common theyve been normalized at this point. But genital herpes is sometimes the exact same virus just in a different location.

Not only is herpes incredibly common its also totally manageable. Allow us to set your mind at ease and debunk three widespread herpes myths:

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How To Get Rid Of Herpes Naturally

Not every person with a herpes infection actually experiences breakouts of cold sores throughout his or her lifetime or even after initially becoming infected. How often someone has a herpes cold sore outbreak, how severe the outbreaks are, how contagious someone is after infection and how long the sores take to heal all depend on someones individual immune response.

1. Boost Nutrient Intake

If youre going to keep the herpes virus from frequently causing outbreaks, the first step in how to get rid of herpes is to improve immune function by boosting nutrient intake. Include these healing foods in your diet to keep the virus dormant as much as possible:

2. Avoid Inflammatory Foods

Certain foods can raise inflammation, weaken immune defenses and make skin irritation even worse. Avoid the following foods as much as possible to limit outbreak severity and duration.

3. Consider Supplements

• Antiviral herbs: These include elderberry, calendula, echinacea, garlic, astragalus and licorice root.
• L-lysine : Can help treat and prevent outbreaks.
• Lemon balm extract: Apply as a topical cream for healing.
• Vitamin C : Vitamin C boosts immune function improving herpes.
• Zinc : Zinc benefits include supporting immune function, keeping viruses dormant and rebuilding skin tissue to speed up healing.
• B-complex : B vitamins help your body deal with stress and can prevent outbreaks.

4. Try Essential Oils

5. Ease Cold Sore Pain Naturally

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What Are The Symptoms Of Genital Herpes

Most women with genital herpes do not know they have it. But, if you get symptoms with the first outbreak of genital herpes, they can be severe. Genital herpes also can be severe and long-lasting in people whose immune systems do not work properly, such as women with HIV.

The first signs of genital herpes usually show up two to 12 days after having sexual contact with someone who has herpes. Symptoms can last from two to four weeks. There are other early symptoms of genital herpes:

• Feeling of pressure in the abdomen
• Flu-like symptoms, including fever

If you have any symptoms of genital herpes, see a doctor or nurse.

How Can I Manage The Symptoms

• Keep the area clean to avoid infection. You can use an ice pack wrapped in a towel to reduce pain and soothe your skin.
• Some people find topical anaesthetic creams such as Emla help
• Drink plenty of fluids this will dilute your urine and make passing urine less painful.
• Avoid tight clothing as it may irritate the blisters and sores further.

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How To Get Rid Of Herpes Symptoms Naturally

By Joe Boland

• Facts and Statistics About Herpes

Herpes is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases , prompting many to wonder how to get rid of herpes naturally.

The herpes virus can live dormant inside a persons immune system for a lifetime, periodically causing blisters that burst and turn into open cold sores or ulcers before healing. When left alone, herpes cold sores usually last about 1014 days and are uncomfortable for a variety of reasons causing redness, pain, burning and often embarrassment.

Many people wonder if there is a natural cure for herpes or are looking for ways on how to get rid of herpes for good. While technically the virus that causes herpes is not curable, there are many natural herpes remedies that can put herpes into remission. In fact, many people with herpes dont experience any symptoms at all, especially long term, once they learn to manage triggers of outbreaks. So while theres no guide for how to get rid of herpes naturally, there is a method for how to get rid of herpes symptoms the natural way and keep breakouts at bay.

What Are The Different Types Of Herpes

There are two types of herpes simplex virus: HSV I and HSV II. HSV I commonly causes oral herpes, or cold sores. This virus can show up as an upper respiratory tract infection during early childhood. HSV II is the cause of most cases of genital herpes. However, it is possible for HSV I to cause genital herpes and HSV II to cause oral herpes.

Clinicians cannot tell the difference between the two types by physical examination alone, but there are differences between the two viruses. For example, genital herpes caused by HSV II is much more likely to recur. This diagnosis can be helpful in establishing a health care plan.

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How To Check If You Have Asymptomatic Herpes

If you have no herpes symptoms but believe you might have been exposed to the virus, you can take a herpes test to verify whether or not youre infected.

The most accurate herpes testing method for asymptomatic people is an IgG test, which checks for the presence of IgG antibodies in your blood. These antibodies can signal a herpes infection using certain testing methods, they can also be used to differentiate between HSV-1 and HSV-2.

IgG antibodies can take several months to form after a herpes infection, meaning youll typically need to wait for 12 to 16 weeks before taking an IgG test to make sure you receive an accurate result.

If youre concerned that you might have asymptomatic herpes, the best approach is to speak to your doctor about testing options. Your doctor will be able to schedule a test based on the date of your potential exposure to the virus and provide you with an accurate diagnosis. If you discover you do have HSV-1 or HSV-2, the most important thing is to not panic. These viruses are extremely common, and there are a variety of anti-viral medications out there to help minimize the severity and requency of outbreaks. Most notably, vacyclovir.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of any treatment.

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Is Genital Herpes Related To Shingles

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is caused by the varicella zoster virus , which causes chickenpox earlier in life. The natural history of varicella zoster infection is similar to genital herpes infection in that VZV also becomes latent in the sensory nerve roots. Later in life the virus may exit, causing shingles.

Recurrences in shingles cause blister lesions in a single area of skin called a dermatome. Shingles is not a sexually transmitted infection and is independent from genital herpes.

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Can Genital Herpes Be Treated

Your physician can prescribe different medications to help reduce your symptoms and speed up the healing of an outbreak. These medicines work best when you start them soon after an outbreak occurs.

To reduce pain during an outbreak:

• Sit in warm water in a portable bath or bathtub for about 20 minutes. Avoid bubble baths.
• Keep your genital area clean and dry, and avoid tight clothes.
• Take over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Avoid aspirin.

Let your physician know if you are worried about your genital herpes. He or she can recommend a support group to help you cope with the virus.

Treatment If The Blisters Come Back

Go to a GP or sexual health clinic if you have been diagnosed with genital herpes and need treatment for an outbreak.

Antiviral medicine may help shorten an outbreak by 1 or 2 days if you start taking it as soon as symptoms appear.

But outbreaks usually settle by themselves, so you may not need treatment.

Recurrent outbreaks are usually milder than the first episode of genital herpes.

Over time, outbreaks tend to happen less often and be less severe. Some people never have outbreaks.

Some people who have more than 6 outbreaks in a year may benefit from taking antiviral medicine for 6 to 12 months.

If you still have outbreaks of genital herpes during this time, you may be referred to a specialist.

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