Dear Doctor,
I have had cold sores since a young age in grade school; also in my late 20’s, I also experienced a type 1 lesion on my lower front leg near the kneecap; it looked like a small line of blisters, and according to my dermatology doctor, he brushed it off; as something acquired from when I was a kid. It came back once and that was over 17 to 20 years ago (this 2ed occurrence happeded when I was taking Cypro for a severe sinus infection), Again, this only happened twice many years ago, however since I was curious about the herpes virus, and concerned how this got on my knee; I also took a Western Blot test for herpes a few years later, it showed positive for type1 (somewhat expected due to my cold sores) and negative for type 2. I am in my fifties now and would not want to pass my type 1 infection on to my future wife. She does get cold sores as well but, I really do not know what to tell her or what precautions we should take. I have never had an outbreak in my genital region that I know of, and have had herpes on my lips, nose, and this atypical leg location although this has been many years ago. I became concerned since I heard herpes can move through out the body and was afraid that herpes would move to my genitals, despite when I had this on my knee, I had no symptoms of genital herpes. I would not want to give her my lip, nose or leg herpes through what I’ve heard as “shedding”, What precautions should we take; I am very confused. Thank you for your help.