oral herpes confusion

[curious2519]

due to a scab that appeared with no symptoms or lesions on my penis my curiosity has peaked about oral herpes...i have been kissing the same woman for about a year two or three times a week?  i have nor has she had any symptoms of mouth oral herpes...in this past year i had one unprotected oral sex enounter on with her...if i were going to contract oral herpes from her woulndt i have contracted it in the mouth along time ago as opposed to my penis during one encounter of oral sex..(i am not sure she is even HSV-1) she says she never has had any outbreaks...3 weeks after the oral sex i noticed the scab?

[gracefromHHP]

odds are it is oral. it's not likely you wouldn't notice a herpes ob until it got to the scab stage.

[curious2519]

thanks for taking time out to give your best advice grace. i truly appreciate it..If i may ask one last thing in your expert opinion if were to test positive for HSV-1 since i have had oral sex and have not had any concrete signs of herpes on my mouth or genitals except for perhaps these scabs..what would be my best way of knowing if they are genital HSV-1 or oral HSV-1? or if i never have any signs will i never know?

[gracefromHHP]

I always click on every new poster's name to see where else they were posting and what they were told. I don't often disagree with HHH/Hook but when it comes to routine screening for herpes, we look at things differently.  There are certainly limitations to herpes igg blood testing but it's a good start and accurate answers for the majority of people who utilize them.

once you guys know who has what, you'll know if you even have to worry at all about herpes in your relationship. Yes indeed the overall risk of contracting hsv1 from a partner is low but testing and knowing your statuses sure beats beating yourself up months/years from now when you find out you transmitted a herpes infection you didn't even have to someone.  If either of you had hsv2 and didn't know it, certainly worthwhile to know that now and then be able to take proper precautions. 1 out of every 2-3 people has hsv1 and 1 out of every 4-5 has hsv2 - it's incredibly common and odds are 1 of you has at least 1 type of herpes.

does this sound like a recently acquired genital herpes infection? not really but certainly it needs ruled out.

[curious2519]

thanks grace i was unaware you have read my post to dr. hook...i always like multiple opinions...since you disagree on the need to get tested for precautuionary reasons do you disagree with his assumption that my incidient with the scab is most likely not do to herpes? just curious as to yout thoughts?

[gracefromHHP]

I am going to disagree a little with what Dr Hook told you. I do think both you and your partner should go for type specific herpes igg blood testing to see who has what. You can't make educated decisions about what precautions to take for sex/oral sex unless you know who has what.

would you have contracted hsv1 by now from your partner? Well no. You could have it already, you could've contracted it the very first time you kissed her , you could contract it 15 years into a relationship with her or never!!  you aren't contagious 24/7/365 when you have oral or genital herpes.

grace