cold sores and herpes?

anita · Newbie Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 16

I get sores in the corner of my mouth very often, sometimes even several of them at the same time. They occasionally cover quite a big surface, or are even found around my nose. They can be really painful, not to mention the aesthetic downside of them. Are those blisters actually herpes? I always think of herpes as of something that can hurt my penis, not my mouth.

schuur · Silver Member Joined: 19 Mar 2002 Posts: 280

Herpes is an infection caused by a virus called the herpes simplex virus (HSV) and there are two types of it. The first is called HSV 1 and the second HSV 2 and any of them can hurt both your penis and your mouth. HSV 1 usually causes the problems you have - fever blisters or cold sores on your mouth area while HSV 2 mainly attacks the genital area. I can conclude, from the symptoms you described, that you suffer from HSV 1. However, this does not mean that the other parts of your body are safe. Touching any area (including genital) immediately after touching your sores can result in infecting that area as well. In order to prevent this, always wash your hands with hot water and soap since the virus itself is not capable of surviving long time when out of the body. You have to be aware of the fact that you will have these problems for the rest of your life since the virus remains in your nerve cells. You can just hope that the outbreaks will not be that frequent in the future. Also try to use a medicine called acyclovir - you can use it orally every day for up to one year. It should lessen the frequency of the reoccurring.

cold sores and herpes?

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