Cold Sores

Hi, A question about Herpes:
1. I have cold sores all over my lips. Is Herpes the only possible cause?
2. I read that there are two types of Herpes - Oral and Genital. I'm fairly certain that I don't have genital herpes, but I have oral. Is oral herpes also an STI?
3. If I have oral herpes, how can I avoid passing it on to my wife?
Thanks!

[auntiejessi]

If you are having them that badly, where you are getting multiple sores at once, you should see your doctor to make sure they are cold sores.  You could have some kind of bacterial thing going on.

If it is hsv1, then you could pass that to your wife if she doesn't already have it.  She should get a type specific IgG blood test to find out.

You can get hsv1 genitally, so if you have a cold sore, avoid performing oral sex on her.

Aj