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Herpes unsureness..
Hey doctor, I have been struggling with extremely subtle signs of herpes for about 5 years now, I live in Canada so blood tests are not offered. I have begged for one and they keep refusing me.. anyways, doctors can't seem to give me any answers to ease my mind .. they just say they cant swab without an outbreak and even then the swabs are not accurate..for about 5 years I have had a tiny raw cut on my perineum.. it doesn't heal ever.. maybe one or two days at most but is almost always there, if i have sex it irritates it more, I have had steroid creams, stopped wearing thongs, used yeast infection meds, used hydrocortisone cream, diaper rash cream, baby powder, and tried just keeping it dry .. NOTHING works! im so frustrated.. then this morning i noticed i have a super tiny ( about 1mmx1mm) cut near my clitoris.. i have never had any blisters or anything.. i just ALWAYS seem to be itchy or have a cut or something down there.. I also have achey feelings and some sharp twinges as well.. and i had a rash, had it swabbed and it came back negative.. my boyfriend had a pimple like lesion on his penis in the same spot twice but it didn't follow the classic herpes characteristics.. does it sound like it's pointing to herpes for me?
I have slept with ten people( about 5 unprotected) so i feel like there is no way that i could have avoided genital herpes since 25 % of people have it.. what do you think? im going INSANE!! Everything on google tells you that something that looks like a paper cut or pimple can be herpes so of course my mind wanders and thinks of the worst possible thing.. like why would a cut all of a sudden show up when i have had nothing rubbing there?
Thanks for your insight ( sorry if i sound stupid)
I have slept with ten people( about 5 unprotected) so i feel like there is no way that i could have avoided genital herpes since 25 % of people have it.. what do you think? im going INSANE!! Everything on google tells you that something that looks like a paper cut or pimple can be herpes so of course my mind wanders and thinks of the worst possible thing.. like why would a cut all of a sudden show up when i have had nothing rubbing there?
Thanks for your insight ( sorry if i sound stupid)
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. I'll try to help.
On one hand, I agree with your doctors: based on your symptoms, it is very unlikely you have genital herpes. Even without a blood test, and with no outbreak that could be tested for the virus, I think you can safely assume you do not have genital herpes. Your symptoms really are not suggestive of it; most people with "extremely subtle" symptoms do not have herpes.
OTOH, I also agree that it is unfortunate your doctors (so far) have refused to test you for it. I have written before about the inappropriate (indeed, insenstive and nonsensical) official Canadian public health guidelines about HSV blood testing. Although it is controversial when and whether asymptomatic persons should be tested, in the world of herpes, STD, and infectious diseases experts (outside Canada), there is no debate about the value of diagnostic testing -- i.e. testing people with symptoms that might be due to genital herpes.
And it is untrue that HSV blood tests are unavailable in your country. A doctor simply has to order the test from any laboratory and it would be done. Many clinicians have simply taken the public health guidelines to an irrational extreme. I hope you will show this to your doctor and tell him or her that you clearly should be tested. You are in the ONLY country in the entire world that has this cocakamamie attitude about it. A negative test would confirm herpes is not the cause of your symptoms. (If positive, especially for HSV-2, it will not necessarily mean your symptoms are due to herpes -- but that's a bridge that can be crossed if that's the result.)
I am confident that if and when you are finally tested, the result will be negative for HSv-2. If you cannot convince your doctor to follow a common sense clinical approach, then I would suggest you find another doctor; or go online and find a lab service that will do is. Alternatively, if you are among the 90% of Canadians who live within 100 miles of the US border, take a weekend and travel south to any US city, where you will easily find clinics or doctors to test you.
I'm not going to get into the details of your symptoms. As noted above, they are not likely due to herpes. But blood testing is the only reasonable approach to sorting this out. If and when you finally are tested, please return with a comment to let me know the results. But in the meantime, I really don't think you should be seriously worried about it.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
On one hand, I agree with your doctors: based on your symptoms, it is very unlikely you have genital herpes. Even without a blood test, and with no outbreak that could be tested for the virus, I think you can safely assume you do not have genital herpes. Your symptoms really are not suggestive of it; most people with "extremely subtle" symptoms do not have herpes.
OTOH, I also agree that it is unfortunate your doctors (so far) have refused to test you for it. I have written before about the inappropriate (indeed, insenstive and nonsensical) official Canadian public health guidelines about HSV blood testing. Although it is controversial when and whether asymptomatic persons should be tested, in the world of herpes, STD, and infectious diseases experts (outside Canada), there is no debate about the value of diagnostic testing -- i.e. testing people with symptoms that might be due to genital herpes.
And it is untrue that HSV blood tests are unavailable in your country. A doctor simply has to order the test from any laboratory and it would be done. Many clinicians have simply taken the public health guidelines to an irrational extreme. I hope you will show this to your doctor and tell him or her that you clearly should be tested. You are in the ONLY country in the entire world that has this cocakamamie attitude about it. A negative test would confirm herpes is not the cause of your symptoms. (If positive, especially for HSV-2, it will not necessarily mean your symptoms are due to herpes -- but that's a bridge that can be crossed if that's the result.)
I am confident that if and when you are finally tested, the result will be negative for HSv-2. If you cannot convince your doctor to follow a common sense clinical approach, then I would suggest you find another doctor; or go online and find a lab service that will do is. Alternatively, if you are among the 90% of Canadians who live within 100 miles of the US border, take a weekend and travel south to any US city, where you will easily find clinics or doctors to test you.
I'm not going to get into the details of your symptoms. As noted above, they are not likely due to herpes. But blood testing is the only reasonable approach to sorting this out. If and when you finally are tested, please return with a comment to let me know the results. But in the meantime, I really don't think you should be seriously worried about it.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Persistent, non-healing sores are common in moist, warm areas like the genitals, groin, in skin folds of obese persons, etc. A localized bacterial or fungal infection sometimes is responsible, but there are many potential explanations. Herpes is defintely NOT a likely cause of such a problem. All I can do is recommend you continue to work with your personal physician about it.
thankyou doctor, i will show this to my doctor, is there any advice as to why this strange cut wont ever heal? its just so frustrating and no doctor has been able to tell me anything.. any theories??
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.
