For pregnant women and newborn babies, contracting the herpes virus and having cold sores can definitely be a big deal. However, for most healthy adults, cold sores aren’t really too worrisome. Unless they cause complications, you can just leave your cold sores alone and they will heal naturally.
Most people who have oral herpes are embarrassed about it primarily because it’s considered an STD, as well as due to the unsightly appearance of cold sores. You don’t have to be ashamed of your cold sores, and you don’t need to worry too much about them either.
Overview
The herpes simplex virus (HSV) causes a lifelong sexually transmitted infection. This doesn’t mean, however, that if you don’t have sex then you’ll never contract herpes. The virus, whether it’s HSV type 1 or type 2, is highly contagious and it only takes direct skin contact to spread it.
When the herpes simplex virus causes blisters or sores in your genital area, then it’s classified as genital herpes. However, when the sores grow in or around your mouth, nose, cheek, or chin, then it’s classified as oral-facial herpes. The blisters, which usually grow on or near the lips, are typically called cold sores.
Symptoms
Cold sores are the primary symptoms of oral herpes. Typically, you’ll experience your first cold sore outbreak a week or so after you contract the disease. The initial outbreak can be quite severe, and you may experience a lot of pain and discomfort.
You may also suffer from a fever, muscle aches and pain, headaches, and even swollen lymph nodes. The pain may be acute and can prevent you from drinking or eating comfortably, which can lead to dehydration.
However, there are also many cases of herpes infections wherein the infected person doesn’t really experience any symptoms. If this is the case, it’s referred to as asymptomatic herpes, and you may not be aware that you’ve already contracted the disease since there weren’t any observable symptoms at all.
Mode of Transmission
The most typical mode of transmission of the herpes virus is skin contact. This is why if you have genital herpes, then you should refrain from engaging in sexual activities until after the blisters have completely healed. This also means that if you have oral herpes, then you should avoid kissing anyone, especially little kids and newborn babies.
A significant number of herpes infections are actually acquired during early childhood. Young kids can contract the disease if someone with cold sores kissed them and passed the virus on to them. A lot of adults also contract the disease through kissing and oral sex.
The herpes virus may also be transmitted through infected bodily fluids. This is usually how pregnant mothers who have herpes pass the virus on to their child. When the baby comes into contact with infected fluids inside the birth canal, then the baby may acquire the herpes virus during delivery.
Even when you don’t have any visible cold sores, you may still be contagious and you can still transmit the virus. Asymptomatic viral shedding is another common way by which the herpes virus is transmitted.
This can be a bit tricky because you and the people around you can’t even tell that you’re infected and that you’re transmitting the virus since there are no symptoms present. If you happened to kiss a loved one while you’re shedding the virus, then that person will surely contract the disease as well.
Treatment Options
Pain is the number one thing that people complain about when they’re going through a cold sore outbreak. It’s a good thing, however, that there are many cold sore creams that contain anesthetics to help relieve your pain.
However, cold sore creams that are primarily formulated to provide relief from pain may not necessarily contain antiviral ingredients. If you want your cold sores to heal quickly, you will need to use cold sore creams that do contain antiviral medicine.
Better yet, you can take oral antiviral medications as these can also help reduce the frequency of cold sore outbreaks. Antiviral medications that are usually prescribed for the treatment of cold sores include acyclovir and valacyclovir.
If you don’t have a doctor’s prescription for oral antiviral medication, you may want to consider homemade remedies instead. Various essential oils like tea tree oil, sandalwood oil, ginger oil, and lemon balm oil are known to be useful in treating cold sores.
In truth, your cold sores will heal just fine even if you just leave them alone and do nothing to treat them. However, if you’re experiencing pain, you can take ibuprofen and other over-the-counter pain relievers.
What About Sex When You Have Cold Sores?
If you’re worried about not being able to enjoy sex because of your cold sores, worry no more. Sex is fine, and you don’t have to force abstinence on yourself when you’re going through a cold sore flareup. Just take precautions. Otherwise, your partner may end up contracting HSV as well.
And even if your partner is really asking for it, you’ll have to decline her request for oral sex. If you do give your partner oral sex when your cold sores aren’t fully healed yet, your partner runs the risk of developing genital herpes, which can even be more uncomfortable than cold sores.
Even if both of you are already HSV-positive, try not to kiss each other or give each other oral sex when either of you has cold sores. You will just end up passing the virus back and forth, although it doesn’t mean that you will get infected again. But you may end up triggering another cold sore outbreak for either of you.
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