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Dear Dr. Hunter Handsfield, Herpes or Irritation?
Please Dr. Handsfield, if you can answer, as I've been reading your forums for a year now. I had affair w someone, started with oral, then protected sex, and then had sex a few times unprotected. These encounters are when I started having genital issues. To start, he gave me oral only, and week after I went to OBGYN who said vagina looked a little red/irritated inside, but absolutely No lesions or anything suspicious of herpes, nothing they would even have feeling about swabbing. I then went to have protected sex, felt irritated few days to wk later, returned to Dr. saying no lesions there. I heard her outside talking to assistant saying, you would know a herpes when you see one or something.Had sex in future and felt it again, like burning when I pee or irritated there. One area is at the edge of the bottom of the vagina where the dr says is an area that gets easily irritated. Sometimes my anus has the same feeling. I point to an area and she says, those r glands, that's normal vaginal tissue, that's where hymen broke. I notice when I think about issue, I start to have feelings in genitals sometimes. Now, separated from husband and having sex w a new boyfriend, who has been tested.We have unprotected sex even when it feels 'weird' down there and I tell him that and about my anxiety, and he has not had any symptoms whatsoever. I have never had blisters/lesions that crust up, it can feel raw at times. When I feel irritated it's in the inside of vagina, inside inner labia that I feel like it gets a little red all around the entire place. Sometimes I think it looks like little pulls in skin when I flatten skin out looking very closely. I always think it looks weird, but when I show Dr. she says it's all normal. One time I called Dr. and I don't think she wanted to look anymore she saw 3 separate times, so she said, you can get blood test if you want. Not every single encounter did I get this feeling. I have anxiety surrounding this. Thank you in advance.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I agree with your doctor that this sort of irritation can last for a while following sex and may result form a lack of lubrication. this is not an uncommon problem in persons who have not had sex in a while and may even occur in those who have. Nothing here suggests infection. I might suggest using a lubricating gel to see if it helps. EWH
Even if it burned when I peed and these symptoms lasted for over a week? It felt raw and irritated. Sorry last question!
Yes. And my dr said it can feel this way not directly following sex, like a week later, and last for a week and that is still normal and to use rephresh gel. It happened mostly w a previous partner and not much anymore...
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
My sense in reading your follow-up is that for some reason you have a great fear and anxiety about something that it is most unlikely that you have. As i said in my earlier comments, nothing you have described raises concerns for me that you have herpes. Does that mean that you can be positive that you don't have genital herpes- no, just as you cannot be sure that you won't be hit by a truck today. On the other hand, nothing in your complaints raises concerns about herpes to me or your doctor. You also seem to think that if you have herpes, somehow that would prevent you from having healthy children or that herpes would be a profound health problem for you- that is not the case or experience of millions of people who do happen to have it.
The clinical presentations of herpes are typically lesions of some sort, not just redness of apparent irritation.
I am not sure where your anxiety is coming from. My advice however is that rather than continuing to obsess over the possibility of herpes, you might do well to work through why you are so concerned and how to manage what sounds to me like undue concern. If need be, that might involve professional counseling. EWH
The clinical presentations of herpes are typically lesions of some sort, not just redness of apparent irritation.
I am not sure where your anxiety is coming from. My advice however is that rather than continuing to obsess over the possibility of herpes, you might do well to work through why you are so concerned and how to manage what sounds to me like undue concern. If need be, that might involve professional counseling. EWH
And my insurance has changed so I will need a new obgyn, so this causes me more anxiety...I want to have more children in the future and I'm always scared of things not being diagnosed and possibly infecting the baby or something... I know i should drop it, as I'm sure herpes isn't hard to diagnose upon examination, but i just worry because I heard people don't know they have it as it can be minor. If they are symptomatic, but still don't know, is it that they are unaware of their bodies or look over the blister? Sorry that's all! Thank you
Thank you very much for the prompt response. When you mean variable, does that mean that redness and no obvious lesions could be some sort of atypical outbreak? I read that HHH said that even w atypical there will be the same blister that scabs over? I'm sure I've felt irritation without being a time around sex, too. Will herpes look obvious? I examine very closely down there, I try not to anymore as I don't want any more medical bills surrounding this issue. I'm sorry, and I so have a hard time accepting a diagnosis even w the examinations I had. She said to use rephresh cream or A&D if it gets that way. And with the previous partner it wasn't prolonged sex, and the irritation wouldn't start right away. I so feel it, but I'm not sure if it is psychosomatic and that comes into play.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the Forum. Dr. Handsfield and I share the forum and answer questions based on our availability. As it happens, I will be answering your question. For better or worse, clients are not able to request a response from one or the other of us and once someone receives a response from one of us, the other will not chime in. This approach allows us to assist more MedHelp clients. FYI, part of the basis for our partnership is that while our verbal styles may differ, Dr. Handsfield and I have worked together for more than 30 years and have never come to different conclusions in our advice to MedHelp clients.
From what you say, there is little chance that the irritation that you have experienced is due to genital herpes. Although HSV can appear quite variably, you have been repeatedly examined by a trained clinician who saw no lesions of concern. Also your irritation has been temporally closely related to sexual activity- this would be uncharacteristic of herpes which can recur at pretty much any time and outbreaks are usually not precipitated by sexual activity. Finally, your irritation is not always in the same location (you mentioned you have had both vaginal and anal irritation.
Sex is all about friction, Sometimes if there is limited lubrication or if sex is prolonged or for other unknown reasons (person to person variation?) sex can lead to local irritation. This is particularly true if sex is infrequent (the definition of which varies from person to person).
From what you have said, I would try not to worry about herpes,. I also would not recommend a blood test. False positive tests are not uncommon and that is the last thing you need.
I hope my comments have been helpful. EWH
From what you say, there is little chance that the irritation that you have experienced is due to genital herpes. Although HSV can appear quite variably, you have been repeatedly examined by a trained clinician who saw no lesions of concern. Also your irritation has been temporally closely related to sexual activity- this would be uncharacteristic of herpes which can recur at pretty much any time and outbreaks are usually not precipitated by sexual activity. Finally, your irritation is not always in the same location (you mentioned you have had both vaginal and anal irritation.
Sex is all about friction, Sometimes if there is limited lubrication or if sex is prolonged or for other unknown reasons (person to person variation?) sex can lead to local irritation. This is particularly true if sex is infrequent (the definition of which varies from person to person).
From what you have said, I would try not to worry about herpes,. I also would not recommend a blood test. False positive tests are not uncommon and that is the last thing you need.
I hope my comments have been helpful. EWH
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
