Concerned about vunerability to HSV

Hello there,

I found your FAQ's very informative. I just wondered whether you would be able to expand on one point, which I haven't seen covered in detail anywhere to date.

I was whilst awaiting an unrelated medical appointment that I happened to read the fact that HSV can also enter through a cut or break in the ordinary skin on any part of the body.

My personal concern is that I suffer from a skin condition involving (white-headed) red spots mainly on the thighs and increased itching which may cause me to scratch in other areas including that around the penis.

I am not in a relationship. Should I be particularly concerned about engaging in sexual activity, (without feeling able to establish a person's sexual health history)? I feel concerned, even about kissing someone new, as I also seem predisposed to burn my tongue regularly/catch my lips/gums with my teeth other objects, sometimes causing black ulcers.

What I would like to see clarified is what constitutes a vunerable break in the skin and when could one consider this safely healed. I have heard timescales such as four hours for gums and ten days for the tongue; although I seem to catch the skin in my mouth so often that if I was to allow ten days for each occurance, each one would run into the next and this would rule out kissing anybody at any time.

I would be grateful for any further information personally and also hope that making this available will be of use to others.

Many thanks for your time,


Stefan.

[gracefromHHP]

statistically 1 out of every 2-3 people you know has hsv1 orally. It's incredibly common.   have you ever been tested for herpes to know your own status?

it's always in your best interest to only have protected sex/oral sex with someone who's sexual history you are not aware of. Even though condoms are not 100% protection for genital herpes, they still help and will help protect you from other std's too if you use them properly - the condom goes on when the clothing goes off, not just wait for actual penetration to apply it.

once the skin on your tongue/mouth returns to normal, it's no longer an increased risk.

grace

[mr_right_now]

Hello Grace,

Many thanks for your quick and very helpful reply,

I appreciate that any of use could unknowingly have hsv1.  However, I feel it is more likely that I don't - I would have had minimal exposure to it as a child, not coming from a family which exchanged a lot of kisses.

Practitioners I know seem reluctant to test for HSV, especially oral occurrences; I don't know how I would justify it, having nothing resembling a cold sore; and, in the case of my village GP, without an awkward discussion involving my sexual history.

I also appreciate the sense in protecting both intercourse and oral sex, given the likely nature of my liasons.  However, I did not feel M-F transmission was a concern prior to each of these acts, so I would be grateful if you are able to elaborate on that.

You suggest I wait for my tongue, gums, etc to heal which I have felt compelled to do. As I say, the difficulty I have found is that I seem to catch the skin in my mouth so often that if I was to allow ten days for each occurrence, each one would run into the next and this would rule out kissing anybody at any time.

If you are able to comment on what constitutes a vulnerable break in the skin, when could one consider this safely healed, or timescales such as four hours for gums and ten days for the tongue, that would be fantastic.

Thanks again,


Stefan.

[gracefromHHP]

iif you are in the US, you can order up your own herpes igg blood testing through places like healthcheckusa or tstd.org. otherwise you can approach your provider with you were educating yourself about std's so you could best protect yourself and want to get tested for herpes since you read that hsv1 is the cause of 70% of all genital herpes infections in the under 30 age range as well as  most folks who have it, have no idea that they are infected since they don't get obvious cold sores. of course knowing your hsv2 status is also part of being sexually responsible too so why wouldn't you want to get tested for herpes ?

a break in the skin is just that - any break in the skin be it an obvious cut, redness, rash or even open wound.  once skin has scabbed it's less vulnerable in general. there's no way to say hours or days even since it differs depending on the nature of the break in the skin as well as differs from person to person.