IDK what to think...please provide incite

Hello...I got a brazilan wax for the first time on 10/11.  I got a few small bumps the next day and the salon said that it was normal for the first time.  four days later i was in soo much pain i couldn't walk.  i went to my family doctor the follow day and he told me I had herpes.  I've been with my husband exclusively for 6 years and I've never had any problems or oddness with my vagina.  My husband was tested for stds at the same time I was and he was tested negative for everything including herpes 1&2 and I tested positive for herpes 2.  To me the only way I obtained herpes is from the wax.  I'm trying to find documentation that can help me out.  What do you think?  Is it possible? do you know of any documentation?  My mom whats me to sue the salon because now I have to live with this burden for the rest of my life....please help me!!!!!

[starsong4]

Hello-I am so sorry for all you are going thru, but I would like to offer you so information that may help.

I too tested positive for HSV type 1 & 2 (the Herpes virus) last year. However I have never had any symtoms (symptoms). I was told to get tested from an ex lover. I freaked out and went to my urgent care dept where an exam showed no "outbreak" but they took blood test and thats where I tested positive. I knew I had type 1 (cold sores). My husband of 9 years also tested negative for both types. After much research, here is what I have learned:

You can have HSV for many MANY years and NEVER know it! Most STD screenings DO NOT automatically test for this virus unless you show symptoms (sores) or you ask for it SPECIFICALLY. You could have contracted it from your very 1st sexual partner-and have been an asymptomatic carrier like me. Once done tests positive there is NO WAY anyone can tell where or when you obtained the virus.

As a woman, it can be even harder to detect an outbreak-it is possible it can be very mild, or deep inside the vaginal canal, its symptoms can be misread as a yeast infection, bladder infection, or even razor bumps. HSV 2 (genital herpes) hides in the body at the base of your spine-so SOMETIMES-you can feel an outbreak coming on by an achy lower back which may be accompanied by a low grade fever &/or other flu like symptoms.

You may be saying to yourself that you have never seen anything wrong with a sexual partner's genitals-well - they may not have had a visible outbreak-but they could have been "shedding" herpes cells. This is why a condom is not 100% effective in preventing the transmittal of the herpes virus-shedding occurs all around the genital area-not just the penis or vagina.

An outbreak is usually brought about when your immunity  is compromised: having the flu, or being otherwise ill, or being under stress. The waxing you received could have irritated your skin-aggravating a break-out. So your attempts to sue the salon will probably not go very far. Since there is no way to tell when you contracted the virus, and it is highly unlikely you got it from a bikini wax. A court will have very little to do but dismiss your case. (I am also a paralegal). Herpes is spread SKIN-TO-SKIN-not Fluid-to-fluid. And like most viruses, it cannot survive outside the body more than a minute.

There are wonderful support groups out here on the net. One is mpwh dot net. (meet people with hsv or hpv) - not just a dating site, but also an info site and friendship site. Yes-you will have herpes for the rest of your life-but just make sure you have a renewable perscription for anti-viral meds, stay calm, its ok=you are so not alone! It is estimated that 100 million americans have the virus & some 45 million dont know it and may never know it. It is a stigma-but shouldn't be since cold sores and genital sores are practically identical. And please remind yourself that it isnt fatal. If you are of chilbearing age and you get pregnant just talk to your doctor-you will prob have to have a c-section for delivery, though.

Oh-& one more thing-you didn't mention it-but I have to tell you to have your doctor run a blood test if he hasnt already-just to be sure that it really is herpes-& to rule out any other possible infections.

Hope that helps!!

Star

[petal130]

How were you diagnosed as having HSV2, by a blood test?  Had you ever been tested in the past? (most STD screenings do not include herpes if you assume you were)...

Almost certainly you weren't infected from the waxing, for a couple reasons. First, herpes symptoms take at least 2 days to appear. Secondly, if you were tested by blood test and it came back positive that soon, you were already infected prior to this event. Herpes antibodies take at least a couple of weeks - if not a couple months - to form and be detected in a blood test. When exactly were you tested after the waxing?

That being said, having something traumatic like a waxing can trigger an outbreak, which is what this sounds like - dependent of course upon your answers above as well.

[vryconfused]

I remember reading an article in the paper where a woman did get herpes from a salon, she was having her eyebrows waxed and days later had an outbreak on her eyebrows. Have you noticed that a lot of waxing places don't get a new stick before they put it back in the wax? I sat and watched as my cousin get her eyebrows waxed in Bloomingdales in Beverly Hills and not once did the waxer ever grab a new stick before she placed it back in the wax. i wouldn't be suprised if it did come from the salon.