Can Genital Herpes Be Treated
Your physician can prescribe different medications to help reduce your symptoms and speed up the healing of an outbreak. These medicines work best when you start them soon after an outbreak occurs.
To reduce pain during an outbreak:
- Sit in warm water in a portable bath or bathtub for about 20 minutes. Avoid bubble baths.
- Keep your genital area clean and dry, and avoid tight clothes.
- Take over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Avoid aspirin.
Let your physician know if you are worried about your genital herpes. He or she can recommend a support group to help you cope with the virus.
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Stages Of Herpes Outbreaks
Like any other infection, every case is different. The duration of a herpes outbreak will depend on factors such as:
- Your individual immune system
- How many outbreaks youâve had in the past
- Treatment history
Keep in mind that no matter your history or treatment, thereâs help.
The stages of a herpes outbreak can last between two and 14 days and can be broken down into stages:
How Long Starting Valtrex Are You No Longer Contagious
The herpes virus is very contagious and can easily spread via bodily fluids and skin contact. Once infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 or type 2, a person will be a carrier for life. There is no cure for herpes and no vaccinations exist right now.
When you have cold sores or blisters on and surrounding your genital area, you will be most contagious, although it is important to understand that carriers of HSV-1 and HSV-2 can always transmit the infection.
When you have cold sores or blisters you should take additional precautions as follows:
- Avoid kissing another person on the mouth or other areas of their body
- Do not share cutlery, toothbrushes or towels
Research has shown that Valtrex can reduce the risk of genital herpes transmission by up to 50% by decreasing viral shedding.
Taking Valtrex long-term is safe, and can decrease genital herpes outbreaks by up to 80%. However, you must tell your partner if you do have genital herpes, as they should be allowed to make up their own minds about the risks involved.
It is important to emphasize that even after taking Valtrex, HSV continues to be contagious. Whilst antiviral drugs can decrease viral shedding and reduce the severity of HSV-1 and HSV-2, patients can still transmit the disease.
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Management Of Sex Partners
The sex partners of persons who have symptomatic genital herpes can benefit from evaluation and counseling. Symptomatic sex partners should be evaluated and treated in the same manner as patients who have symptomatic genital herpes. Asymptomatic sex partners of patients who have symptomatic genital herpes should be asked about a history of genital symptoms and offered type-specific serologic testing for HSV-2. For partners without genital herpes, no data are available on which to base a recommendation for PEP or PrEP with antiviral medications or that they would prevent acquisition, and this should not be offered to patients as a prevention strategy.
Extemporaneous Preparation Of Oral Suspension
Ingredients and Preparation per USPNF
VALTREX tablets 500 mg, cherry flavor, and Suspension Structured Vehicle USP-NF . Valacyclovir oral suspension should be prepared in lots of 100 mL.
Instructions for Preparing Suspension at Time of Dispensing
- Transfer the suspension to an amber glass medicine bottle with a child-resistant closure.
- The prepared suspension should be labeled with the following information Shake well before using. Store suspension between 2°C to 8°C in a refrigerator. Discard after 28 days.
*The amount of cherry flavor added is as instructed by the suppliers of the cherry flavor.
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Dont Forget Your Mental Health
Living and dating with herpes can come with unique stressors. Arming yourself with the right tools and information can help both your physical and mental health â and help you feel better about your sex life.
Learning how to cope with your diagnosis can also mean seeking mental health support. The good news is, that support is available.
In Toronto and Vancouver, there are:
If youâre struggling with your mental health, itâs important that you talk to your healthcare provider. You can also speak to a counsellor about your herpes diagnosis at the Ontario Sexual Health Infoline at 1-800-668-2437.
If youâre ever in an emergency, call 911 right away.
Preventing The Spread Of Herpes
Even when you do not have sores, you can pass the virus to someone during sexual or other close contact. To protect others:
- Let any sexual partner know that you have herpes before having sex. Allow them to decide what to do.
- Use latex or polyurethane condoms, and avoid sex during symptomatic outbreaks.
- Do not kiss or have oral sex when you have a sore on the lips or inside the mouth.
- Do not share your towels, toothbrush, or lipstick. Make sure dishes and utensils you use are washed well with detergent before others use them.
- Wash your hands well with soap and water after touching a sore.
- Consider using daily antiviral medicine to limit viral shedding and reduce the risk of passing the virus to your partner.
- You may also want to consider getting your partner tested even if they have never had an outbreak. If you both have the herpes virus, there is no risk for transmission.
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How Is Herpes Simplex Treated
Some people have few to no herpes outbreaks and choose not to have treatment. But many people prefer to use medications that shorten outbreaks and reduce symptoms.
During an outbreak, you may use an antiviral ointment or cream to help lessen your symptoms and help them go away faster, but it only works if you start it soon after you start an outbreak. Many people with HSV-2 take daily oral medications to keep outbreaks at bay.
Your provider may prescribe a topical medication or oral medication such as:
Encouraging Healing Of Cold Sores
Wet or Dry?
Knowing when to keep your cold sore dry and when to keep it moist is an important part of getting rid of cold sores faster.
When you first notice a tingling or itching sensation that indicates a cold sore is on its way, try to keep the area dry. The area should remain dry until after the blister bursts and scabs over with a yellow or brown crust.
You can dry a cold sore out by pressing salt against it for about 30 seconds. You can also try applying a thin layer of white toothpaste to the sore before bed.
Once a scab forms on the sore, you can use petroleum jelly to keep the scab moist.
Supplements and Compresses
Taking lysine supplements and using a cold compress can also encourage cold sores to heal more quickly. You can try traditional natural compresses such as an ice pack, which can reduce pain and inflammation, but be sure that the ice usage doesn’t cause the sore to become wet. You can also try compresses of cornstarch paste.
Best Practices
One of the most important ways to combat cold sores and shorten their duration is to take action at the very first sign of an outbreak. Whether you use cold compresses, keep the area dry, or try to minimize swelling by using ice and/or ibuprofen, all of these tips will work best when used early.
Additionally, be sure to avoid touching or picking at the cold sore, which could lead to infection. It could also further injure your skin and prolong healing time.
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Is Herpes Simplex Related To Herpes Zoster
Herpes simplex and the varicella-zoster virus are related, but they arent the same. VZV causes chickenpox and shingles.
Like HSV-1 and HSV-2, shingles can cause a painful, blistering rash. The shingles rash usually shows up on the back, side, abdomen , neck and face. It is often only on half of your body, following the pattern of your nerves. See your healthcare provider if you have a new rash and suspect you may have shingles.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Herpes simplex is a virus. Once you have herpes, its a lifelong condition. A herpes infection can lead to outbreaks , but youll also have times when you have no symptoms. The main sign of herpes is sores that appear on the infected skin. Some people choose not to treat herpes, especially if symptoms are mild. Others take antiviral medications to reduce the severity and frequency of outbreaks.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 05/17/2022.
References
Can You Get Herpes On Your Tongue
While you may associate herpes type 1 with cold sores on your lips, it is possible to suffer from the symptoms of herpes on your tongue. This is referred to as oral herpes and usually affects more of your mouth than just your tongue. More than half of all adults in the United States are thought to have oral herpes.
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Is There A Cure For Herpes Simplex
There is no cure for herpes simplex. Once you have the virus, its a lifelong infection.
What is the outlook for people with herpes simplex?
For many people, the first herpes outbreak is the most severe. Many outbreaks are less frequent and milder after the first year of infection. Some people may have only one outbreak and never have another again.
Herpes infection doesnt usually pose a serious health risk. The risk of a health complication due to herpes is higher in infants and if you have HIV/AIDS, cancer or an organ transplant.
How Much Valacyclovir Should You Take For A Recurrent Genital Herpes Outbreak
After the primary outbreak, genital herpes enters a latent stage. During this period, the virus lays dormant in the body , with no clear symptoms or signs of an infection.
Over time, many people with genital herpes will experience recurrent outbreaks of the virus that cause herpes sores to develop. Outbreaks affect people with HSV-1 and HSV-2, although they tend to be more common in people with the HSV-2 type of the herpes virus.
Recurrent outbreaks are usually less intense than the initial outbreak. Most people only notice the development of herpes sores on the genitals, with few or none of the flu-like symptoms that can make a primary outbreak so unpleasant.
During a recurring outbreak, you normally wont need to take as much as you did for the primary outbreak. A standard valacyclovir dosage for recurrent genital herpes outbreaks is 500 mg twice per day for three days.
If you have particularly severe genital herpes outbreaks or the herpes sores you develop during an outbreak take longer than normal to recover, your doctor may adjust your dosage to provide extra relief from symptoms and faster healing. In any case, follow your doctors instructions.
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Can I Treat Herpes Simplex At Home
Avoiding known triggers, such as illness or stress, can help reduce how often you have herpes outbreaks.
How can I ease my symptoms during an outbreak of HSV-1 ?
- Over-the-counter creams such as L-lysine, benzocaine or docosanol .
- Applying ice to blisters or sores.
How can I ease my symptoms during an outbreak of HSV-2 ?
- Apply an ice pack to your genitals. Wrap the ice pack in a washcloth or apply it over your underwear.
- Keep your genitals dry. Wear cotton or other nonsynthetic underpants and avoid tight-fitting clothes. Moist sores take longer to heal.
- Soak in a warm bath.
- Take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve pain.
- Topical 1% or 2% lidocaine may be used as a topical analgesic.
What Are The Complications Of Genital Herpes
Genital herpes may cause painful genital ulcers that can be severe and persistent in persons with suppressed immune systems, such as HIV-infected persons. 5 Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 can also cause rare but serious complications such as aseptic meningitis . 5 Development of extragenital lesions may occur during the course of infection. 5
There are also potential complications for a pregnant woman and her newborn child. See How does herpes infection affect a pregnant woman and her baby? below for information about this.
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Do Natural Remedies Help
There are several options that can be tried to ease the pain. A73612 and Donnor52059 suggest dabbing cornstarch directly on the sores. I canât find any scientific studies that have researched this, but I canât see that it would do any harm.
A73612 also recommends squirting water from a bottle over the sores when you pee. This is a time-honoured method that will help to ease the pain.
Yolandayw mentioned taking a simple painkiller such as paracetamol during an outbreak. Feelbroken advised putting Vaseline on the sores. Lidocaine 5%, a local anaesthetic gel that numbs the area, is another option. Some people find it helpful to put on five minutes before passing urine. You need to get it on prescription and it doesnât suit everyone. Some people develop sensitivity to it which makes the symptoms worse.
Yolandayw also advised using ice as a home remedy. Simply wrap the ice in a tea towel and apply for 5-10 minutes. Never put ice directly on the skin as this can cause âice burnâ. Drinking plenty of water can also be helpful as it reduces the concentration of urine, making it less painful when you have to pee.
D91907 mentioned putting aloe vera gel on the sores. There is some scientific evidence that aloe vera is useful for both genital and oral herpes.
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How Does Herpes Simplex Spread
Herpes spreads through close contact with a person who has the infection. The virus can be found in skin and saliva. If you have herpes simplex, you are most likely to pass the virus to another person when you have sores. But you can infect someone else even if you have no symptoms. Healthcare providers call this asymptomatic viral shedding.
People may get HSV-1 through
- Touching a persons skin near the mouth.
- Sharing food utensils, lip balm or razors.
- If you receive oral sex from someone who has a cold sore, it may spread a herpes infection to your genitals.
People may get HSV-2 through
- Oral sex with someone whos infected.
- Touching open sores, including while breastfeeding.
- Childbirth by a mother or gestational parent who has an active infection.
You cant get genital herpes from objects like toilet seats. But you could pass genital herpes through shared sex toys.
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What Makes Valtrex Unique
In addition to Valtrex, there are 2 other antiviral medications that are used for cold sores: acyclovir and famciclovir . All 3 have been shown to be more effective at treating cold sores than OTC creams or ointments, says Beth Bryan, PharmD. Shes a pharmacist and the owner of Surgoinsville Pharmacy in Surgoinsville, Tennessee.
That said, Valtrex is often the first choice because it has better bioavailability, says Daniel Breisch, PharmD. Hes a pharmacist at Mountain View Pharmacy in Bountiful, Utah. That means you can take less of the drug and have superior outcomes, he says.
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Worried About Herpes Act Quickly For Faster Relief
From cold sores to genital herpes, acting quickly helps you treat and control a herpes outbreak in the shortest amount of time. For this reason, most doctors recommend using valacyclovir in the first 24-72 hours after noticing a cold sore or other herpes blister developing.
If youve noticed a cold sore or any of the other symptoms of a herpes outbreak, its best to talk to your doctor about treatment and relief options as soon as possible.
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Initial Outbreak Of Genital Herpes
A person’s first outbreak of HSV-2 tends to last longer than subsequent outbreaks. Some people develop an outbreak quickly after contracting the herpes virus, while others don’t have symptoms that appear for several months or even years. Some lucky people never develop symptoms at all.
The initial episode of genital herpes also tends to be more painful than future outbreaks. Many people develop flu-like symptoms during their initial outbreak. These can include headache, fever, body aches, swollen lymph nodes and tiredness.
The first outbreak of HSV-2 can last between two and four weeks.
Reactivation And Recurrent Outbreaks
- Extreme temperatures
- Menstrual periods
The virus then travels to the skin and can cause another, often milder, outbreak. However, reactivation may not cause any symptoms.
Before an outbreak, some people experience prodrome. This is characterized by tingling, itching, or pain in the affected areas before the lesions appear.
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Red Light Therapy Can Reduce Duration Of Outbreaks
Red light therapy is a type of treatment proven to help reduce the duration of herpes outbreaks. Clinical research has shown that treatment with red light can shorten the healing time of herpes outbreaks even more than traditional treatments.
The Luminance RED lip sore device and genital sore device are FDA-registered medical devices that use the same kind of high-powered light that achieved such results. To spend the least amount of time with your herpes sores, try one of the Luminance RED devices with its advanced red light therapy technology.
The Differences Between Hsv
We’ll discuss two main strains of the herpes virus that affect humans: herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 .
While both forms of the virus belong to the herpes family and have certain similarities, they also have a few key differences that are important to understand.
The biggest difference between the two herpes viruses is the location where they most often cause outbreaks. HSV-2 commonly causes genital sores, while HSV-1 more commonly causes cold sores around the mouth.
Both herpes viruses spread through close contact with an infected person, especially if they’re experiencing an active outbreak. HSV-1 spreads mostly through activities like kissing, sharing a cup or straw, or sharing lip balm or lipstick. HSV-2, on the other hand, is classified as a sexually transmitted infection and spreads primarily through sexual contact.
There is no cure for herpes, so both strains of the virus are lifelong diseases. Outbreaks of both types also share certain triggers, such as lack of sleep, stress, poor diet, hormonal changes, menstruation and illness.
Other triggers differ between the two types of herpes. For example, chewing on the lips, harsh sunlight, or injury around the mouth can irritate the mouth and cause an oral herpes outbreak.
Similarly, irritation to the genitals caused by frequent sexual activity, irritating products, or tight clothing can trigger a genital herpes outbreak.
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