herpies

I took my 15 yr old daughter to the dr. yesterday because she had a few sores in the vaginal area. The dr. said it looked like herpies (herpes), he took a swave and said he would have the results back in a couple days. She swears up and down she has NEVER had sex, oral or otherwise. I believe her 100%, we are very open about this subject. She even showed it to me. She even wanted her dad to know so I dont think she is lieing. Also she hasnt ever been any where alone with a boy. She is confused, upset and very scared as I am also. How is this possible? Could the dr. be wrong? Are there any other tests she could do? She had shingles at a young age, could this be connected? Could it be mistaken for a yeast infection?

[Mistakeguy789]

VIsual diagnosis even by the best Herpes experts is wrong 1/3 of the time.  So visually it may have looked like it but the culture will come back with a more accurate response if it was done within 24-48 hours after they appeared.  Might want to get with your daughter on it.

Yeast infections with bumps can sometimes also be misdiagnoised as Herpes and vice versa.  Did they test your daughter for bacertial infections/yeast infection?  

If shes never had any sexual contact in that area either oral, anal, or vaginal the chances she has HSV there is none.  You have to have Skin-to-Skin contact in order to catch Herpes.  She hasn't had any (chances are given the fear she is in she would most likely say something) to begin with so I would be extremely surprised if she came back positive on the culture.

You can request a Type Specific IgG blood test as well.  This will check for the Herpes Anitbodies.  If they are present then you will now she has Herpes.  You won't however, know the site of infection (oral or genital).  The lesion culture will tell you that.  This test would be most accurate if the person taking it waits 3-4 months after the last sexual exposure.  Given that your daughter stated she hasn't had any I don't think there is a need for getting this blood test.

My advice is let us know if they checked for yeast infection as a part of her checkup or only if they did a herpes culture.  If they didn't you might want to ask them why and have her checked for it. Otherwise lets wait for the culture to come back.

[dumbfounded14]

My daughters symptoms appeared this last friday and i took her to the docter on mon.(yesterday). so it has been only 3 days. The dr. didnt state if he was testing for anything else except herpies (herpes), he seemed pretty sure that thats what it was, although he mis diagnosed my older daughter last yr saying she had merca and the test results came back neg. I will for sure ask him if he tested for yeast or bacteria infections. She is extreamy sore down there, she can hardly walk and track is out of the question this week, as a matter of fact she is home from school today because she says it hurts to go to the bathroom. When she showed it to me they looked white  and round. there was no raised bumps that I could see.

[gracefromHHP]

There are several things that this could be. right now your doctor is assuming your daughter is lying and testing for herpes which actually is the recommended way to handle this even though it's incredibly stressful for her and you both.  

You don't get herpes without sexual contact. you don't often get vaginitis either without but you can.  you also can get all sorts of bacterial skin infections that can cause symptoms similar to herpes as well as there are dermatological issues too that can be going on.  

Ask your daughter if it hurts because she has to urinate ( like an uti going on if you've had one of those to describe that feeling to her ) or if it hurts because the urine is running over the sores she has. if it's the uti like pain, you can pick up urinary pain relief tablets at the drugstore. just a word of caution, they will turn her urine bright orange and it does stain clothing.  if it's the urine running over the open sores, she has a few options. you can buy a sitz bath set up for her, fill itwith warm water ( it fits in the toilet ) and she can urinate while sitting in warm water to dilute the urine so it is less painful. if she can physically cover the sores while urinating, she can stick her hand in a plastic baggie ( no need to buy plastic gloves ) and cover the sores while she urinates.  

no matter what the cause of her symptoms, she can soak in the tubby with epsom salts thrown in for comfort too.    when she gets out, a blow dryer on cool to dry her genital area is also usually comforting too. She can run around the house in a robe or extra long sleep shirt without any panties on to get fresh, drying air to her genital area as well as decrease pain from the friction of wearing clothing.  

grace