Monday, 8 April 2013
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes: The spread of genital herpes can be reduced or prevented. Practicing the concept of safer sex, like using condoms, is important. During a ...
GENITAL HERPES: Detecting and Dealing with Symptoms of Genital Her...
GENITAL HERPES: Detecting and Dealing with Symptoms of Genital Her...: Genital herpes is a common Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) that can be detected, diagnosed and treated effectively by possessing the ...
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes: The spread of genital herpes can be reduced or prevented. Practicing the concept of safer sex, like using condoms, is important. During a ...
GENITAL HERPES: Detecting and Dealing with Symptoms of Genital Her...
GENITAL HERPES: Detecting and Dealing with Symptoms of Genital Her...: Genital herpes is a common Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) that can be detected, diagnosed and treated effectively by possessing the ...
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes
GENITAL HERPES: Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes: The spread of genital herpes can be reduced or prevented. Practicing the concept of safer sex, like using condoms, is important. During a ...
Detecting and Dealing with Symptoms of Genital Herpes
Genital herpes is a common Sexually Transmitted Infection
(STI) that can be detected, diagnosed and treated effectively by possessing the
necessary information about it. Having the proper knowledge for genital herpes
prevents you from acquiring it, therefore, living a healthy and safe proactive
life.
Sexually active individuals with multiple partners are
threatened with different kinds of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). One
of which is genital herpes. Most people are unaware of such diseases that
easily spread among them due to lack of knowledge or not bothering to know more
of the disease at all.
Detecting and treating genital herpes can be made simple if
you give it enough thought.
You can get genital herpes by having sexual contact
(vaginal, oral or anal) with someone shedding the herpes virus during an
outbreak or an asymptomatic (no symptoms) period.
Since this disease is caused by a type 2 Herpes Simplex
Virus (HSV), it remains in certain nerve cells of your body and is incurable.
Once you become infected with the virus, the symptoms called outbreaks come
back from time to time.
The first outbreak appears within 2 weeks after you become
infected and can last for several days. These outbreaks develop near the area
where the virus has entered your body. They start as small, reddish bumps that
become blisters and eventually turn to itchy, painful sores that occasionally
evolve into a crust and more often than not heal without leaving a scar.
These sores can also appear on body parts where the virus
has entered through broken skin. They can also appear inside the vagina and on
the cervix (opening to the womb) in women, or in the urinary passages of men
and women.
When the virus is triggered and becomes active again, termed
as Recurrence, it travels along the nerves of the skin and makes more virus and
new sores near the site of the first outbreak, although milder.
Genital herpes infections usually do not cause serious
health problems in healthy adults. In some people whose immune systems do not
work properly, however, genital herpes outbreaks can be unusually severe and
long lasting.
Health Care Providers can directly diagnose genital herpes
by looking at the sores. Tests conducted also help in further specifying the
type and gravity of the infection. Examples of these tests are a laboratory
test called a Culture and a blood test called type-specific test.
The test result from the type-specific test, including the
position of the sores in the body, will help your physician in diagnosing
whether or not you have genital infection.
As genital herpes is incurable, treatments given by your
doctor will only help in preventing future outbreaks and in decreasing the risk
of passing herpes to sexual partners.
Genital herpes may be a common infection but it can be
easily prevented once you possess the proper information to equip and prepare
yourself. When you are knowledgeable, you can then have a proactive life that
you can control and that you know is safe.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Preventing the Spread of Genital Herpes
The spread of genital herpes can be reduced or prevented.
Practicing the concept of safer sex, like using condoms, is important. During a
genital herpes outbreak, it is also necessary to avoid any kind of sexual
activity with your partner.
If you know or suspect that you have genital herpes, tell
your doctor and your partner about it. It may be difficult for you to talk
about genital herpes in the open but you must do it. There is no need to feel
ashamed or embarrassed for having genital herpes.
Being honest with your partner is best for the relationship.
If you want to protect your partner from being infected with genital herpes,
telling the truth is a really important thing to do.
Even if you are not feeling any symptoms of genital herpes,
there is still a possibility that genital herpes can be transferred to your
partner. There are cases that a person acquired a genital herpes infection from
a partner that has an active genital herpes infection that has no symptoms. Safer
sex is always important to practice when you know or suspect you have genital
herpes.
During a genital herpes outbreak, there should not be any
sexual activity with an uninfected partner. There should be no oral, vaginal,
and anal sex when you are having active genital herpes symptoms. Wait for the
blisters and sores to heal completely.
When you are not experiencing any genital herpes outbreaks,
do not forget to use condoms during sex. There is no perfect method for safer
sex, but doing these things will help prevent the spread of genital herpes to
your partner.
If you are suspecting that you are infected with genital
herpes, it is very important to consult your doctor about it for medication and
treatment.
Genital herpes outbreaks are repetitive. The recurrences of
genital herpes may occur weekly or yearly. These are painful but there are
treatments available to alleviate the pain.
Genital herpes can be spread easily to your partners if you
are not practicing the concept of safer sex (like using condoms).
A pregnant woman with a genital herpes can possibly infect
her baby during a vaginal delivery. The baby may get neonatal herpes and this
will have a very devastating effect on the baby. The baby may suffer infections
in the mouth, eyes, brain, whole body, or even death.
The fear of genital herpes outbreaks, passing it on to your
baby, or infecting your partner may cause depression, anxiety, and stress.
Symptoms and Treatment of Genital Herpes
Genital herpes is not curable but there are medications
available to treat its symptoms during an outbreak. A genital herpes outbreak
begins with itching until blisters will appear. A visit to the doctor is
recommended for proper treatment of the symptoms of genital herpes.
Genital herpes can be transmitted easily from one person to
another through any kind of sexual activity. The first three to seven days is
called the incubation period after a person is exposed to the herpes simplex
virus. After that period, a lesion will usually develop.
When a genital herpes outbreak begins, one can feel a
tingling sensation or itching. Skin redness usually follows then a blister will
be form. These blisters, and the ulcers that are formed as the blisters break,
are very painful when touched. This painful period will last from one to two
weeks. From the start of the itchy feeling up to the complete healing of the
ulcers, the herpes simplex virus will become very contagious.
When a person is having multiple painful blisters in the
sexually exposed area, that person is suspected of having contracted genital
herpes. It is recommended that a genital herpes test must be done. To have a
reliable test result for genital herpes, a sample from a fluid-filled blister
must be taken before the blister dries up. If the sample has a positive result
for herpes, it is concluded that that person acquired genital herpes infection.
This also determines that the herpes simplex virus is active in that person's
body.
There is no known cure for genital herpes, but there are
treatments available when a genital herpes outbreak occurs. Acyclovir,
famciclovir, and valacyclovir are oral medications used in the treatment of
genital herpes outbreak. These medications are used to prevent the herpes
simplex virus from multiplying. These medications can also shorten the period
of the eruption of the blisters.
There are medications that are topical agents meaning the
medicine is applied directly on the lesions and blisters but these medications
are less effective. Oral medications are more effective as well as the
intravenous type of the said medications. These medications are not used to
cure genital herpes. They are used only to reduce to pain, severity, and
duration of genital herpes outbreaks.
For people who experience more than six genital herpes
outbreaks in a year, a suppressive therapy must done. This is to prevent the
frequent recurrences of genital herpes outbreaks.
During a genital herpes outbreak, the herpes can be spread
from one part of your body to another. After touching the blisters or ulcers,
it is very important to always wash your hands to prevent the spread of herpes.
Sharing of clothes must be avoided. If a partner is infected with genital
herpes, using condoms will minimize the risk of transmission.
During a genital herpes outbreak, sexual activities like
kissing should be avoided. When a woman is pregnant, it is important to visit
her doctor if she is suspected of having a genital herpes.
Ways to Prevent Genital Herpes from Spreading
Even if genital herpes is contagious, there some ways that
can help prevent the quick spread of genital herpes to another person. These
preventive ways for genital herpes are similar to those of other sexually
transmitted diseases. The main way is to really avoid being contacted with
genital herpes because the herpes simplex virus is pretty active and contagious
when skin lesions are still present.
The excellent way to prevent one from being infected with
genital herpes is to refrain from any sexual activity. Another best way is to
only have one sexual partner who is free from genital herpes.
Other ways to prevent the spread of genital herpes are:
· Practice the consistent use of latex condoms for
each sexual contact with your partner.
·
Put some limit to the number of sex partners you
already have.
·
Do not have any sexual intercourse with your
partner if one of you is having the genital herpes outbreak around the genital
area or in other areas of the body.
Open two-way communication between your partner and you is
very important in dealing with genital herpes.
In case that you are pregnant and you already have
experienced the genital herpes outbreak in the prior years or months, be sure
that your doctor knows everything about it. If you are not sure that you have
genital herpes, then you can request for a test to be made for you just to be
certain of the situation. You also need to watch out for outbreak symptoms of
genital herpes during your pregnancy months.
Your doctor may give you some antiviral medications
commencing at the later months of pregnancy in order to prevent the genital
herpes outbreak to happen during the time of delivery for your baby. In case
that you undergo the genital herpes outbreak while you are laboring, then the
doctors will usually recommend for a Caesarean section. Doing this will lessen
the danger of transmitting the genital herpes virus from you to your newborn
baby.
Here are some self-care treatments in times of an active
infection of genital herpes:
·
Refrain from any sexual activity with your
partner.
·
Always keep the skin sores or lesions clean and
dry.
·
Refrain from touching the skin sores. You also
need to wash your hands right after touching the sores with your hands.
It is very important that you should always remember that
genital herpes could still be contagious even if there are no visible symptoms
around. You need to be patient and wait for a few more days until all the sores
or lesions are fully healed before carrying on with your sexual activity. And
never forget to always use the latex condoms to lessen the possibility of
infecting your partner with genital herpes.
Important Facts About Genital Herpes
Laboratory tests are usually done to diagnose genital herpes
in a person. Common complications of genital herpes are newborn infection and
higher risk of acquiring other sexually transmitted diseases.
In the moment that you have suspected yourself of being
infected with genital herpes, immediately seek the advice and care of your
doctor. Your doctor will normally diagnose your with genital herpes after
seeing the sores and reading the laboratory test results. Laboratory tests will
be done by scraping a tissue from the sores and culture of the ulcers or
blisters during a genital herpes infection.
It is very common that people with genital herpes also have
other kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. Examples are AIDS, gonorrhea, and
chlamydia which your doctor will make some tests with you with regards to these
other sexually transmitted diseases. If you already have suspicions about
having a genital herpes outbreak in previous times, then taking a blood test
will confirm your suspicions about being exposed to genital herpes infections.
For adults with healthy immune systems and body, outbreaks
of genital herpes will not be that bothersome and there are fewer complications
also except for the sores on the skin. Some common complications of genital
herpes are contraction of other kinds of sexually transmitted diseases and
newborn infection.
A person with genital herpes has the higher risk of
contracting other kinds of sexually transmitted diseases from other people or
transmitting to these diseases to them especially the virus that causes AIDS.
The spread of genital herpes from a mother to a newborn
child is possible if the mother has open sores during the delivery of the
child. The transmission of the virus is done as the child will pass through the
mother's birth canal. Genital herpes in newborn children is very dangerous
because it can cause blindness, brain damage, or even death for the child. Most
likely, those mothers who are having their initial genital herpes outbreak
during the time of the delivery of the child will usually transmit the virus
infection to the newborn child.
It is already a common knowledge that genital herpes is a
disease that has no available cure. But there are some medical treatments that
genital herpes infected persons can undergo to help them ease the pain and make
the sores heal faster. With these medical treatments, the frequency of
recurrences of genital herpes outbreaks will also be prevented.
The usual medical treatment of genital herpes includes an
oral prescription of antiviral medicines and it typically includes the oral
medicines like valacyclovir or Valtrex, famciclovir or Famvir, and acyclovir or
Zovirax. When these oral medications are taken in a daily basis, the medical
treatment is pretty effective in reducing the risk of infecting your partner
with the bothersome genital herpes virus.
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