Herpes
Treatment
There are two types of
herpes – genital
herpes and oral herpes (cold sores) –
and both types of herpes come from the Herpes
Simplex Virus. The two main types of the virus
are Simplex 1 which infects the mouth (oral herpes
or cold sores) and Simplex 2 which infects the
genital tract (genital herpes). The herpes virus
comes in many variations which includes Herpes
Zoster - responsible for both shingles
outbreaks and for post
herpetic neuralgia.
Oral Herpes
Oral herpes or cold sores
are normally preceded by a tingling sensation
and redness in the area where the cold sore will
appear. The cold
sore will start to form as very small blisters
or groups of blisters. The cold sore then becomes
a noticeable red sore followed by painful blisters
which are very contagious. As the cold sore starts
to heal, a brown scab may form. If this scab cracks
open it may bleed. In the final stages, the cold
sores turn from brown to yellow. The whole cycle
takes about 10 days.
Genital Herpes
Genital
herpes or genital sores often appear first
as a rash followed by painful and itchy blisters
on the affected areas such as the anus, buttocks,
penis, scrotum, vulva, vagina or buttocks. These
blisters can then turn into painful ulcers. The
herpes virus, which is sexually transmitted, can
lie dormant in your system for many years without
any outbreaks, or occasional outbreaks or you
can have frequent outbreaks. Sometimes before
an outbreak, you may have some warning signs such
as a tingling, burning or itching feeling in the
same areas where the sores will later appear.
Herpes will always have the same symptoms for
each outbreak but the first outbreak will be the
worst so although the symptoms seem to stay the
same, the actual pain and number of sores should
lessen each time an outbreak occurs.
Herpes Treatment
Herpes is a virus that
infects the nervous system and the infection is
permanent. Most people who suffer from genital
herpes can expect a recurrence about 4 times per
year. One of the big problems is that infected
people can keep re-infecting themselves either
on the skin area itself or from nerve cell to
nerve cell and this is why it is so important
to take medication to treat the symptoms of the
herpes. There are several herpes
treatments for genital herpes and oral herpes.
Anti viral medication can be used to help reduce
the symptoms and the duration of the infection.
To be effective, these treatments must be started
immediately after the symptoms appear. Herpes
treatments include:
Natural healing products
made from essential oils and other natural products
have in recent times come on the market. These
have anti viral properties and if they are taken
in a combination format where one product treats
the outbreak of the herpes while the other provides
a daily maintenance preventative program, the
results can be very successful. There are also
similar products for the safe and gentle use on
oral herpes, otherwise known as cold
sores. All natural products are popular with
people who are concerned about being prescribed
too many chemicals.
FAMVIR is a prescription
medication for suppressing outbreaks of genital
herpes while Single-Day FAMVIR can be used to
help minimize oral herpes pain and tenderness
and heal blister.
VALTREX is another prescription
medication which is taken daily to reduce the
number of genital
herpes outbreaks. This medication can also
be used for oral herpes.
There are many
over the counter medications which can be used
for oral herpes.
When deciding on the herpes
treatment to use for your outbreaks of genital
herpes or oral herpes, try to ensure that you
understand what (if any) side effects are likely
so that you can make an informed decision on the
right treatment for you.
It is important to
remember that at the moment there is no cure for
genital herpes and it is easily spread to other
sexual partners. Practising safer sex helps to
reduce the risk of infection being passed on.
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