Hi I was phones by my doctor the other day who confirmed I had herpes after I asked them to take a swab of an itchy lump I had near my anus. I'm thinking I may have had this for a while and only just had a break out now because I've been really stressed and sick. I have told my ex girlfriend who is freaking out she now has it though because she doesn't go near my anus I told her not to stress until she gets tested. I'm curious to know if it would just be this one little spot near my anus which would be contagious and whether i could still have someone go down on me and finger me without needing to use gloves or use one of those dental dams. The breakout was only one little lump next to my anus that the doctor didn't think looked like herpes at all, I'm grateful it is only very small but not sure of the contagious area and can't find much on the Internet relating to lesbians with herpes around anus. Any helP would be great. Thanks heaps
isn't herpes contagious irrespective of area of sexual contact? Just asking coz i don't know and would like to learn from this thread.
I am sure that herpes can break out in different areas and only the effected area is contagious at that time. I would get your ex tested though as herpes would deffinitely show in a test wether or not it is visible at that time. Herpes is a virus that lays dorment in the blood until triggered, like colsores. Hope that helps.
I would get the test done, it's a lot better to be safe than sorry. Btw herpes never goes, so if you think you are positive you will have a nother outbreak at some point.
Once you have herpes, you have it for life. An individual infection is a localized, thing, though. It spreads primarily via contact with sores, though you are contagious generally for a few days before the sore is visible. So, if the infection is only around your anus, it is possible your vulva isn't infected, though given how close those areas are, it is just as possible that it is infected. Luckily, herpes in itself is mostly just a nuisance infection, although when the sores occur, you are more succeptable to other STIs. This infection actually lives in the nerve cells in the skin (not the blood as a previous poster mentioned, if it were in the blood, it would be all over in a person's system). An infection can be anywhere on the body, though the most common places are near the mouth, genitals, and anus. Note that there are 2 different kinds of herpes, type 1 is most common around the mouth, and type 2 is more common around the genitals. Treatment for these generally involves drugs to prevent/expedite healing from an outbreak, and manage the pain of an outbreak.
Thanks confuzzled, another friend of mine who also has it told me you only break out in the same spot that was previously infected, hence me not sure whether it would be contagious still from the vagina? And to the other posters some people can only have one breakout in a lifetime as well as a vast amount of people who have the virus never knowing as they never show symptoms which can then be passed onto their partner via shedding
As far as being contagious there, it depends on if that area is infected. Do you know who the infection came from? If so, you might be able to recall your activities with that person sufficiently to know. Another clue might be to find out which type you have. A person that only has type 1 can't infect someone with type 2, and vice versa (they are similar but different viruses), and either can be present anywhere on the body, however if you have type 1 down there, and someone performed oral sex on you, that could explain it. It is a highly contagious virus, though, so it could come from objects that were in contact with an infected person. (I've had pimples that started to look like herpes sores form around my mouth when I was a kid. Thought I got it from sharing a pop with my mom. My mom has had it since she was a kid, and thinks she got it from sharing a scarf with her brother in the winter.)
More than half of the population has herpes type 1, if I recall correctly. Many people get it as children, often by kissing their parents. Once you are infected with a herpes virus, you develop antibodies against the same strain, so you will only be infected at the one site. It does not spread throughout the body. But the vagina may be close enough to the anus as to have the virus present during viral shedding, I don't know. Barriers only reduce transmission of herpes by 30%. There is no way to completely protect from transmission of herpes. Mostly, just avoid lesions. Luckily, it is non-fatal, and the symptoms are merely annoying.
