Wondering about transmission of HSV 1

[Anna908]

Here's my story: had a papercut like tear on vulva 2 weeks after sex with a new partner. I got it swabbed and it was neg for hsv2 and I also got the blood test 8 weeks later which was also neg. I've convinced myself I have herpes because i had 2 of these little tears on my vaginal area and one my perineum. The clinician at planned parenthood thinks the tearing was from an external yeast infection from the use of antibiotics. But...thinking back, I'm getting nervous again. Back in April of this year, my exbf had a cold sore on his lip (which he never told me he was hsv1 positive because he didn't even know it was herpes, that's how misinformed people are). I would not kiss or let him perform oral sex on me until his cold sore was completely healed and gone, but we did have sex and I believe he did rub my vagina with his fingers. If he momentarily touched his lip and then touched me down there a few minute or an hour later, could the virus spread that way? I had no tears or cuts after this and didn't get one until September which I know is out of the usual incubation period. However a month after he got the cold sore, I got really sick with an 104 degree in mid may. Wondering now if tht was the virus even though I had no sores or little tears. I'm thinking of getting the hsv1 blood test just to be sure. Any thoughts? Is transmission This way possible? As a side note: I've never had a cold sore in my life and tested negative for hsv1 in May of 2013 before I came into a realtoonshi

[Anna908]

I received my hsv1 and hsv2 blood test results today. They were both negative. I guess sometimes weird, unexplained things happen down there but it's not always herpes related

[Anna908]

I know this is from a week or so ago but from internet surfing, it says the herpes virus can be transmitted from a finger (if he touched his cold sore) to another person. I've also found sites that say the virus would die when the air hits it after 10 seconds. Is this true? I'm so confused with the internet. I'm always wondering is a cold sore contagious in the scabbing stage? Thanks in advance. Just still worried.

[HowardH]

I wish herpes websites would more clearly address context. When some people are first diagnosed with definite herpes, they may say things like "I thought it was a yeast infection" or "I had a paper-cut sort of sore, that must have been herpes".  And they may have had tingling before an outbreak started. Hence, websites say herpes and yeast, "paper cuts", or tingling can be confused with one another.

But that's an entirely different situation than someone who has had a yeast infection (especially if professionally diagnosed) or has other nonspecific genital symptoms and asks "Could this be herpes?" The answer generally is no, but websites don't make the distinction. The large majority of unexplained genital symptoms are not herpes, even though the identical symptoms may be listed as common in people with HSV.

[Anna908]

That makes sense. A lot of websites caused extra anxiety with the abundance of symptoms they have listed especially since what I have -papercuts- are asymptomatic of genital herpes but then every little tingle, pain in my buttcheeks, leg, etc. I assumed was the herpes virus. Then i got the negative blood test and feel like I'm back at square 1. I'm happy it's negative, but I still wonder what really caused my cuts in the first place. They have not reoccurred and there's just one on my perineum that has been there for a month that wont go away. Maybe this is an issue completely unrelated to herpes. Do you see patients with "papercut" tears as a symptom generally? Thanks for the quick reply.

[HowardH]

Although many websites list symptoms like leg pain, tingling and so on, in fact these rarely indicate herpes except when lesions also are present. By themselves, almost always there are other causes.

[Anna908]

I see. This is all still very new to me and any little that happens to me such as leg pain, I'm thinking could be herpes but then again I could be overthinking it myself. Thanks for the answers!

[HowardH]

I'm sorry to see you continue to worry so much about this.

For sure you don't have HSV2. And if you have genital HSV1, you can expect few or no recurrent outbreaks, and little or no risk of sexual transmission to partners. (That's the very important difference between genital herpes due to HSV2 versus HSV1.)

Feel free to be tested for HSV1 if you wish, but if you do, be prepared for a lot of uncertainty if it is positive. In that case, it probably will not explain your genital symptoms -- most postive HSV1 results are due to oral infection, usually in childhood.

If you get tested for HSV1, I or other forum regulars will be happy to comment on the result. But until then, there's really no further advice we can give you.

[Life360_Dave]

Hi and welcome. Having a blood test for hsv type specific, and it came back negative at 8 weeks is not likely to change at 3 months. 8 weeks is a good indicator.
On a side note, him touching his lip then touching your vagina is not how hsv is transmitted esp in adults as needs direct rubbing contact.