is this a cold sore

I recently began getting cuts on my lower lip.  They seems to come from nowhere, this has happened three times in the past two weeks. In addition two small red rashes appeared under my lower lip after receiving a wound to the head.  No blistering or pain came with the rashes.  I was in a relationship with a girl who a got cold sore about four months ago.  I never noticed cold sores on her while we were intimate and never noticed anything on me until about three months ago.  I just wanted to know if it was possible for HSV-1 to react without the typical cold sore symptoms and just cause cuts on my lips and red rashes.  The cuts usually heal in a day or two and are some times red.  I am also in the sun working most of the day so could this be the cause.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Solar dermatitis can be one of the causes but the other causes can be vit B deficiency r herpes sores. Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection. When signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters. The blisters break, leaving tender ulcers (sores) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. Typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak.

The only way of ruling it out is by getting yourself tested for genital herpes. Laboratory tests include: culture of the virus, direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) studies to detect virus, skin biopsy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to test for presence of viral DNA. I sincerely advise you to consult a dermatologist and get it ruled out.

I hope that helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or in case you have additional queries. Kind regards.

[newtothis99]

.....so the only way of ruling oral hsv1 out is for him to get tested for genital herpes?  i think someone has been copying and pasting up in here.  *tsk tsk tsk*