Can I get it somewhere else?

[johndoe880]

Hi, I have a few questions...

a)  If a person gets a herpes outbreak on their chin, and touches the outbreak and then touches another part of their body, can they begin to have cold sores in that new area, or does the immune system prevent that?

b)  Do eating healthy, exercising, and lowering alcohol consumption really have a strong positive effect on outbreaks?

c)  How frequent is herpes in the eye, and when it does happen, is it very serious?  Do people with facial outbreaks change their pillow case every night?

d)  It seems like every time my cold sores blister and heal, by the time my skin is almost back to normal, they begin to come right back in the same spot.  Is there anything I can do?

Thanks a lot,
John

[gracefromHHP]

yes acyclovir is safe.  the 3 most common side effects are headache, nausea and abdominal pain.

confirm what is going on and go from there.  shaving habits have little to do with things if you are getting bacterial infections.

[johndoe880]

I'll have to go to another doctor here, hopefully I'll have better luck.  I am a male, but there is no correlation between this and shaving that I can see.  This never happened to me before this girl gave it to me, and I haven't changed my shaving habits.  I've always had sensitive skin, and now I can't even use hydrocortizone cream on the dry areas of my face, because I'm afraid that it will make my chin herpes worse.  I guess I'm just one of the unlucky few that gets frequent outbreaks.  Chances are they will get better with time though, right?  What are the chances that it will get to the point where I don't even have outbreaks anymore?

Is acyclovir safe?  I'd rather be a little self-conscious about an outbreak on my chin than start taking a medication that could have bad side effects.

I'd appreciate it if you would address these concerns, and I promise I'll go see a doctor about my chin.

[gracefromHHP]

if you haven't already, be seen for a proper work up on your chin. I"m assuming you are male and it might be a folliculitis from shaving even going on if you are having frequent recurrences on the chin area. all the herpes medications in the world isn't going to help if it's not a herpes problem. make sense?   Just because you might have oral herpes, doesn't mean that everything on the facial area is herpes.  

you can get acyclovir all over the world to use for herpes.  

grace

[johndoe880]

Thanks so much for responding.  So...

a)  It is very rare for an outbreak to spread new cold sores to other areas of my body.

b)  Taking better care of oneself USUALLY will help limit outbreaks.

c)  Chances of ocular herpes are so rare that I shouldn't even worry about it.

d)  Prescribed medications SHOULD be able to help with my frequent outbreaks.

Is this information correct?

I currently live in South Korea, and I've talked to doctors about this before.  I've had a handful of partners over the past year, plus everyone here shares food from the same plate, sometimes they even share chopsticks, spoons, etc.., I had a primary herpes outbreak over six months ago and the first two doctors I went to said that I had tonsillitis and a fever.  They didn't even seem to care about the huge sore that had erupted on my tongue.  Everything I read on the internet indicated a primary herpes simplex outbreak.  I've talked to some Koreans about this and I'm not even sure that "herpes" translates the way that it should, they just seem to treat it like a rash without concern.  I even had a girl that tried to kiss me with these sores on my chin a couple of weeks ago, AFTER she put some cream on my chin when she first saw me that day!  I later looked that cream up, it's a Korean brand, and it's used to treat many skin irritations, one of which was facial herpes.  Anyway, after that primary outbreak I was okay for a few weeks, but now I get cold sores left and right, very small ones, and only on my chin so far.  They are in a spot that a girl was sucking on during intercourse a few days before I noticed that first sore developing inside my mouth at the start of the primary infection.  I am sure that she was the one who gave it to me, it all seems to add up perfectly.  I worry that I'll just have to suck it up until I go back to America.  Do the prescriptions in America work well for getting rid of facial herpes?  Also, I've read that with most people, reoccurring episodes are less and less severe.  Is it possible that in a couple of years I won't even have outbreaks anymore?  Based on what I've told you, not only is it possible, but is it likely?  I know I'm not giving you much to work with here, but I'd really appreciate any information and/or advice that you could give.

Thanks so much,
John

[CJC2011]

From what I understand, you're only even partially likely to transmit herpes to another part of your body during the initial infection.  Once your body produces antibodies, it's pretty rare although it can technically still happen.  Think about it though, something like 50% of us have HSV-1 and how many people have you ever heard of with occular herpes?  

[kdaily]

once infected in a general area it is less likely to spread it any where else in the body. you can still get infected with other strains of Herpes.

strengthing your immune system by doing the stated above can assist with your occurances but every body is different.

Not sure on this, Grace can help you out when she gets on

there are medications that can help with the outbreaks and the length it take for them to heal, you should see your health care provider about getting a prescription for it.