#herpes simplex

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Monthly sores on lips are painful, annoying, and severely damaging to body image. This month marks the first time in 7 years that my lips aren't sore and bleeding or oozing. I am so relieved I could cry.

Cold sores are a common condition. They can be irritating and sometimes painful, but most of the time, they pass in a few weeks. Cold sores occur as a result of the herpes simplex virus. Many of us think of Herpes as an infection that causes genital sores, and it can be a surprise to learn that a similar - and in some cases the same - virus causes cold sores. Herpes on the Lip can be a mild, passing complaint that causes discomfort, or it can be a more severe condition that causes pain and unpleasant sores. Let’s look at some of the most important facts about this type of Herpes and how to manage an outbreak of the herpes viral infection.

What Causes Herpes on the Lip? 

There are two variants of this virus; the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2). Herpes on the Lip is primarily a result of infection with HSV-1, but HSV-2 can rarely cause it. This viral infection is transmitted from person to person through close contact - for example, kissing, sharing a glass or eating utensils, or even sharing a towel.

What is a Cold Sore?

Cold sores are small blisters filled with fluid. They can occur on the Lip, or around the lips, even sometimes further up on the face or in the nose. The most commonly occur on the edges of the lips. They begin with a tingling or a dull pain and then form a small hard lump or spot, which then turns into a blister. There may be a single blister or a patch consisting of multiple blisters. When the blisters burst or break, they form crusty scabs. Cold sores can take weeks to clear up completely. A first infection can be accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, aches and pains, and sore throat.

Herpes on the Lip - Is it Contagious.

Cold sores are highly contagious and can easily be spread even when there are no actual sores present. It can be caught from close contact with someone who has the infection either on the Lip or through oral sex with someone who has genital Herpes. Many people carry the herpes virus without even realizing it, and it can be passed on without causing any symptoms for a while, so it is often challenging to know where the virus was caught and where it might have been passed on to. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to control the spread of the virus.

Treatment for Cold Sores

Cold Sores cannot be cured, but they can be treated. If it is a particularly severe case, a doctor may prescribe antiviral medication in the form of pills or cream. These can help reduce the length of time that the cold sore lasts, and some may reduce the severity of the symptoms, so the cold sore is less painful. These treatments may also help the skin to heal when the cold sore goes away.

Does Herpes on the Lip Come Back?

Both variations of the herpes virus - HSV-1 and HSV-2 - can cause future outbreaks without becoming re-infected. This is because the herpes family of viruses lives on in the body even after all the epidemic symptoms or initial infection have cleared away. They reside in the roots of the nerves and can flare up into an active disease at any time. This may happen when a person is unwell, fighting another infection, or under stress. A flare-up can also occur for no apparent reason. The good news is that a subsequent flare-up of Herpes on the Lip is likely to be less severe than the initial infection. It may be less painful and last for a shorter amount of time. The first infection may also be accompanied by other symptoms such as high temperature, swollen glands in the neck, headache, throat pain, or just general body aches. Sometimes these symptoms are so mild that they are barely noticeable. In future flare-ups of the infection, these symptoms are not usually present.

Can you Prevent Herpes on the Lip?

Suppose you have persistent flare ups of cold sores or are at higher risk of developing complications (your immune system is not functioning well, or you have underlying health conditions that make Herpes more severe). In that case, your health care professional might give you medication to use regularly.

Can you Avoid Spreading Herpes on the Lip?

You can do things to make it less likely that you will spread the herpes infection to other people. To avoid exposing the people around you to the virus that causes cold sores, you should follow the following tips;

As with all infection control, washing the hands is so important. Wash your hands regularly with warm soapy water when you have cold sores.

Never have skin contact with a baby while you have a cold sore, as the condition may be mild for an adult, but it can become severe very quickly for an infant, and it can even be deadly. It is recommended that you never kiss someone else’s young child as this can be dangerous.

The virus spreads most efficiently when the blisters are visible, so avoid having skin contact or kissing anyone when you have any signs (even the initial tingling sensation before a cold sore or sensitivity soon after the sore has gone). 

The virus can also be spread on shared items. So keep anything you use and have contact with separate; things such as towels, drinking and eating utensils, lip products, makeup, creams and cosmetics, face masks, and anything else you touch with your face.

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I've just come back from an STI check up (stay safe kids), and am shocked at what i was told.

So here are some of the facts I told the nurse:

1. I had a 1 night stand and it was unprotected (I was very drunk and it's my first 1 night stand).

2. I have HSV.

3. I told the man I had HSV.

I was told:

"Well let's hope that if that man has a girlfriend that he gives her herpes and then thats karma!"

I am... horrified. Who in their right mind would want to infect an innocent person, in probably the exact same way that I myself was infected?

"At least you don't live in America; they look at herpes like a horrible disgusting disease over there. They send you to prison and all sorts"

... what the actual fuck? Not only is this bullshit, it could be extremely detrimental to someone's mental health hearing that. I'm lucky that I'm confident enough in my diagnosis around health care professionals, but a huge amount of people are newly diagnosed, young, or haven't come to terms with their diagnosis yet. We should feel safe around these professionals, and although she didn't seem to be judging me, her tact was absolutely outrageous.

"You know you don't have to tell them you have herpes? If you're not having an outbreak, there's no need"

At this point I couldn't bite my tongue. Herpes can transmit from asymptomatic shedding and there's no way to know if you're shedding at any one time. I assured her that I'm honest, and wouldn't want anyone to catch HSV the way I had; unknowingly. I told her about asymptomatic shedding. She acted like she knew. So why is she telling her patients to hide their diagnosis, and promote the spreading of HSV? This woman is educating the younger generation, and telling them to keep quiet. This goes against anything I've ever written on this blog and it makes my blood boil.

She isnt judging me, but she is promoting the stigma surrounding genital herpes.

Please make sure you answer back to these sorts of comments, especially when you can be open with a doctor/nurse/health care worker. I'm still not in a place where I discuss my diagnosis with my friends, but i can definitely fight back in a circumstance such as this.

Tracking Troublesome Viruses

Herpes viruses are troublesome microbes, causing diseases ranging from cold sores (in the case of herpes simplex virus, HSV) to cancer (Epstein-Barr virus, EBV) while being little more than a strand of DNA packaged inside a protein coat. Viruses can’t replicate themselves, so they need to hijack their host cell’s molecular machinery in order to assemble new viral particles to continue the infection. Once a virus infects a cell – usually a nerve or skin cell – it has to sneak its DNA inside the host cell’s nucleus so it can be copied. Yet little is known about how viruses move around inside cells and take the controls. These red tree-like structures are fluorescently stained nerve cells that have been grown in the lab and infected with HSV (yellow blobs), so that researchers can watch them in action, tracking these molecular troublemakers as they move along nerve fibres to get to the nucleus.

Written by Kat Arney

Image by Anna Buch and Beate Sodeik, Institute of Virology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Institute of Virology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)

Research published in PLOS Pathogens, January 2018