How Do I Know If I Need Genital Herpes Treatment
There are a few ways you can be diagnosed with genital herpes. If you are experiencing symptoms you should go see your GP or visit a sexual health clinic so a professional can view the sores.
You could send a sample of your urine to get tested using one of the free kits provided by the NHS or your nearest sexual health clinic.
You could also get a blood test done by a GP or sexual health nurse to determine if you have the virus. They will then be able to start you on a course of genital heroes treatment.
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Just like your local GP, were here to support you with expert, confidential advice and treatment but without the travel and waiting time. You can reach us whether youre relaxing at home or hard at work. With pick up in store or free standard delivery, youll get fast access to the genital herpes treatment you need, if suitable for you.
What Are The Treatments For Genital Herpes
If you have been diagnosed with Genital Herpes, the Pharmacy2U Online Doctor service could supply the treatment you need following a simple online consultation with our UK registered GP.
Aciclovir can be provided to treat an outbreak of herpes to shorten the duration and severity. The normal treatment provided is aciclovir 200mg tablets, take one tablet five times a day for five days. In addition a local anaesthetic ointment, lidocaine 5% ointment, can be prescribed to ease the pain and irritation of an outbreak. Lidocaine will not shorten the outbreak or affect its severity.
Aciclovir can also be provided on a longer term basis to suppress herpes outbreaks. The normal treatment provided is aciclovir 400mg tablets, take one tablet twice a day for three months.
To have a convenient and confidential genital herpes consultation with our UK registered GP that could lead to prescription treatments, please click the Start questionnaire button below
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How Do You Treat Your First Outbreak
With the first genital herpes outbreak, your sores and blisters may last from about 10 days up to 28 days. You will usually start with a five-day course treatment of antiviral medication , which should improve your symptoms, but if you are still getting new symptoms you can continue the tablets for 10 days. The earlier you start treatment, the quicker your symptoms will improve.
Online Treatment For Genital Herpes
In between outbreaks, or experiencing symptoms for the first time? Save a trip to the doctors office. Get treatment for Genital Herpes discretely with a few simple clicks. Treating your herpes symptoms can help reduce future outbreaks and reduce the chance of passing the virus to your partner. Dont wait, complete your consultation today with one of certified medical providers. This low-cost service, saves you time and money.
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Symptoms Of Genital Herpes
The symptoms of genital herpes may take a few days to appear after you are exposed to the virus. Some of the common symptoms of genital herpes are:
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Itching or pain
- People also get small white blisters or red bumps after they have been infected.
- If your blisters or bumps have ruptured, they might ooze, bleed or might turn into ulcers. Ulcers often cause a lot of pain and discomfort and make it difficult for a person to urinate.
- In many cases, when your ulcers are healing, the skin might crust over and cause scabs.
- A few other symptoms that may appear during primary infection are headache, fever, and malaise. They occur in 39 percent of men and 68 percent of females.
Some studies have shown that from one-half to two-thirds of people infected with the virus will have no symptoms. But, if they appear, local symptoms may be seen two to twelve days after exposure.
What Are Genital Herpes Symptoms
Outbreaks got you feeling like you won the STI lottery? Cheer up, herpes is as common in dating as the awkward first kiss. Unfortunately, many people dont know they have it. 1 in 8 US adults has HSV-2, the virus that primarily causes genital herpes . Individuals with HSV-2 will experience genital outbreaks for the rest of their lives, although many individuals mistake them simply as “genital pimples” or “fever blisters” – but painful genital ulcers, call ’em what you want, are usually a sign you have genital herpes.
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Swollen or tender lymphs in the legs & groin
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Headache & pain in your joints
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Flu-like symptoms
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How Do You Treat A Repeat Herpes Outbreak
You can treat a repeat herpes outbreak using the same antiviral medications for the first outbreak. Repeat outbreak treatment can be prescribed as a shorter course, such as 2 to 3 days. This all depends on your symptoms. Your doctor will explain the treatment schedule best for you.
If you get frequent outbreaks of herpes , you may be prescribed suppressive therapy. This is using antiviral medicines that you take everyday.
Treating Genital Herpes: Medications And Creams For Genital Herpes
The symptoms of genital herpes usually disappear on their own. On average, this takes about 3 weeks. Treatment is possible if you suffer from genital herpes symptoms. Medication will not make the herpes virus disappear, but the symptoms will diminish quickly.
There are several medications for genital herpes treatment:
- Virus-inhibiting medication, such as aciclovir or valacyclovir. These medicines ensure that the virus eases faster, so that symptoms disappear sooner. Virus inhibitors are mainly used for an acute first infection with many symptoms
- Pain-relieving medicines, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. These drugs reduce genital herpes symptoms such as pain and itching
- Local treatment, such as genital herpes creams. Zinc ointment is usually used for this. The active ingredient ensures that the blisters and sores dry up sooner.
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How Is Genital Herpes Passed On
As mentioned above, genital herpes is extremely contagious and is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact with a person who has the virus. The risk of spreading HPV infection to another person is greatest when symptoms are present . However, those who carry the virus but do not have any symptoms can spread HPV, as the shedding skin will carry the virus and infect another person. In fact, the majority of infections are spread by those with no symptoms .
You can spread HSV from one place on your body to another. If you touch lesions around your mouth , you can carry the virus on your fingers and spread it to your genitals, for example. The virus can be spread to your partner in this way, or during intimate sexual contact, regardless of where the active lesions are located. It is true that cold sore lesions can lead to genital herpes!
Should I Tell My Sexual Partner
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Yes, you need to let your sexual partners know so they get tested. If you do not feel comfortable contacting them yourself, your sexual health clinic can contact them for you. They can send them a contact slip suggesting that they might have been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection and recommending that they go for a check-up. Your name will not be on the slip, although sometimes it states which infection they might have picked up.
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How Can We Treat Genital Herpes
Whilst there is currently no cure for herpes, there are treatments for genital herpes available. So, what are herpes medications and how are they used? Antiviral medication can help ease the severity of symptoms and reduce the duration of outbreaks by 1-2 days. This is most effective if taken as soon as possible after the symptoms start, but can be taken up to 5 days after symptom onset. Pain-relieving creams can also help ease discomfort.
Here at Webdoctor.ie, we currently offer prescriptions for two different antiviral genital herpes treatments, Aciclovir and Valaciclovir. We can also provide prescriptions for Instillagel, an anaesthetic gel.
How Our Service Works
- Start an order by selecting the Start order button above.
- Fill in a short questionnaire about your health and lifestyle.
- A Superdrug doctor will check your answers and approve the treatment if its right for you.
- Well then post your order directly to you or you can pick it up the same day at a Superdrug store near you.
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How Do I Know If I Have Genital Herpes
You cannot truly know just from looking at your symptoms, especially if its your first outbreak. Its also difficult to know if you have the virus or not because it is often symptomless or can look like other STIs and infections. Therefore, its very important you get tested.
The best way is to visit a sexual health clinic if you have any symptoms or think you may have been in contact with an STI. Whilst it may feel uncomfortable to open up about your sexual health, youre a step closer to getting rid of genital herpes symptoms as well as preventing the spread. If you do feel nervous, there are also remote testing options available for genital herpes both at the NHS and through private healthcare providers online.
For genital herpes, testing usually involves a swab test. This is where the nurse will use a cotton bud to gently take a swab of one of the sores. At some providers, you can often do this yourself. If you have no visible symptoms or it has been some time since you had them, you can still get tested. In these cases, you will do a blood test which may either be through a syringe or a finger prick test if you have to do it yourself.
Can I Treat Herpes Simplex At Home
Avoiding known triggers, such as illness or stress, can help reduce how often you have herpes outbreaks.
How can I ease my symptoms during an outbreak of HSV-1 ?
- Over-the-counter creams such as L-lysine, benzocaine or docosanol .
- Applying ice to blisters or sores.
How can I ease my symptoms during an outbreak of HSV-2 ?
- Apply an ice pack to your genitals. Wrap the ice pack in a washcloth or apply it over your underwear.
- Keep your genitals dry. Wear cotton or other nonsynthetic underpants and avoid tight-fitting clothes. Moist sores take longer to heal.
- Soak in a warm bath.
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Order Antiviral Treatments For Herpes
If you have genital herpes, you can get an online prescription for antiviral herpes medication discreetly and easily. Our doctor’s prescribe aciclovir, valaciclovir or famciclovir via our online service.
Order for a herpes outbreak: if you have a flare-up of symptoms, you can get a short course of medication to help control the outbreak.
Order to prevent outbreaks: if you get outbreaks more than 6 times a year or find your symptoms are hard to deal with, you can have suppressive treatment. This is where you take a low dose of antiviral medication every day to help prevent outbreaks.
Order a herpes test: if you need to check if youre a carrier of herpes, you can order a herpes test online now.
| 1st outbreak – up to 10 days | £25.00 |
| Repeat outbreaks – 5 days each, 1/2/3 courses | from £25.00 |
| Suppression treatment – 3 months | £49.00 |
| 1st outbreak – up to 10 days | £70.00 |
| Repeat outbreaks – 3 to 5 days each, 1/2/3 courses | from £40.00 |
| Suppression treatment – 3 months | £220.00 |
| Outbreak – 1 day each, 1/2/3 courses | from £95.00 |
Click & Collect: free Next Day Delivery: £3.99Dispensing and standard delivery included.
How Do You Treat Repeat Herpes Outbreaks
Repeat outbreaks of genital herpes are usually milder and last for about 7 to 10 days. Usually, with mild outbreaks, you can use over-the-counter medications like pain killers and ointments to improve the symptoms.
But when the symptoms are more serious, and you get them less than six times a year, you can use antiviral medication to treat the outbreak. There are 2 different ways to treat repeat outbreaks:
- You could take a higher dosage of treatment for one or two days to help improve your symptoms. This has a higher chance of causing side effects. The number of days you take the course for depends on which medication you choose.
- You could also take lower-dosage treatment for across a longer period to help improve the symptoms. This has a lower risk of side effects
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How Is Genital Herpes Diagnosed
Wherever possible, it is better to get any symptoms of genital herpes checked at a genitourinary medicine clinic/sexual health clinic. If you cannot get to a GUM clinic, then see your GP.
It is easier for your GUM specialists to diagnose genital herpes, while you have got the blisters or sores. They will do a swab test .
While it is easier to test for herpes when the infection is active, sometimes the test can still be negative, even though you have all the symptoms. For this reason, the GUM specialist will also examine you and make a diagnosis based on what they see. If they are unsure and if the test is also negative, then you may have to wait to see if you have a recurrent outbreak to confirm whether the diagnosis should be herpes.
At the GUM clinic, you will probably be asked:
- if you have had sexually transmitted infections in the past
- about your history of sexual partners
- whether you get cold sores
- whether or not this is the first time you have had these symptoms
Using Instillagel For Genital Herpes
Instillagel is an anaesthetic gel that can be used to ease pain and discomfort. It contains 5% lidocaine and comes in a 6ml syringe. Once applied to the affected area, it works quickly to numb the area. It is worth noting that it will not have any effect on the duration or severity of the symptoms, it simply helps ease the pain.
You should apply a small amount of this gel to the affected area as needed. We recommend applying the gel using a cotton bud or whilst wearing gloves to reduce direct contact with the lesions and avoid numbing your fingers. You should not use more than one-third of the syringe in 24 hours.
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Is Genital Herpes Painful
While many people with the HSV virus experience no symptoms, when sores do develop, they can be painful.
Blisters around the area of infection can itch and tingle, and then turn into open sores when they are ulcerated. Some people also experience flu-like symptoms during their first outbreak, such as fever, muscle aches, headache and swollen lymph nodes in the groin.
Prescribed medication for genital herpes, such as aciclovir, valaciclovir and Valtrex, can help to manage the condition and ease symptoms. You may also use over the counter pain medication such as aspirin and ibuprofen.
How Herpes Is Spread
You are most likely to spread herpes when you have a herpes sore or blister. But many people have time periods when they can still spread the virus even though they dont have symptoms.
And some people spread the infection because they dont realize that they have a herpes sore. Or they may have different symptoms, such as painful urination, that they dont realize are part of an outbreak.
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How Effective Is Genital Herpes Treatment
There is no cure to herpes, however it is possible to decrease the discomfort of a herpes outbreak by using herpes treatment in the form of tablets or cream. If you suffer from repeated herpes outbreaks you should consider suppression therapy for chronic genital herpes. This is a lower dose of antiviral drugs taken every day for six to 12 months.
Is There A Cure Or Treatment For Genital Herpes
There is no cure for genital herpes. However, daily use of antiviral medicines can prevent or shorten outbreaks. Antiviral medicines also can reduce the chance of spreading it to others.
Though several clinical trials have tested vaccines against genital herpes, there is no vaccine currently available to prevent infection. One vaccine trial showed efficacy among women whose partners had HSV-2, but only among women not infected with HSV-1. Efficacy was not observed among men whose partners had HSV-2. Another trial testing the same vaccine showed some protection from genital HSV-1 infection, but none from HSV-2.
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What Causes Genital Herpes
You are most at risk of catching genital herpes if you have unprotected sexual contact with a partner who has an outbreak. You do not need to have penetrative sex to catch herpes, it can be passed on with any skin to skin contact. You are more likely to catch genital herpes if you have a higher number of sexual partners. Genital herpes can be spread from the genitals, or from cold sores on the mouth.
The main symptoms of genital herpes are:
- tingling, burning, or itching around the genitals
- pain when peeing
- vaginal discharge in women
You can pass on genital herpes even if you do not have any symptoms, especially if you have recently had an outbreak, or if you get outbreaks frequently.
Diagnosis Of Genital Herpes
The diagnosis of genital herpes can be done by a healthcare professional by looking at visible sores. In many cases, the healthcare professional will use a cotton swab to take a fluid sample from a visible sore in order to get it tested in a lab. If the diagnosis cannot be done by visual examination, it is highly likely that the doctor will opt for a blood test.
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