Herpes – causes, prevention and treatment. What can be confused with herpes?

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What about cold sores? This question is asked by anyone who develops this infectious disease, which takes the form of small bubbles visible on the surface of the skin.

Herpes – what is it?

Herpes is the generic name for herpetic infections. It is a skin eruption that occurs most often in the area of ​​the labia. This change is caused by HSV1 and HSV2 viruses from the Herpes simplex virus group. This infection is quite common and occurs most often in childhood (HSV1) or during sexual contact with an infected partner (HSV2). It is people who are the only source of infection with the herpes virus. Every person with this unpleasant ailment at least once is its carrier until the end of life. Some people experience this condition completely asymptomatically. Cold sores usually appear on the lips.

Herpes infection can take the following forms:

1. herpetic encephalitis,
2. herpetic meningitis,
3. herpetic eczema,
4. herpetic eye disease,
5. herpetic vesicular dermatitis,
6. herpetic pharyngitis and tonsillitis,
7. herpetic vesicular dermatitis,
8. other forms of herpes infection.

Relatives and friends of herpes

As for the herpes virus, we never know the day or time when it will attack us. According to some estimates, it is carried by up to 90% of the population. It has not yet been investigated why only a small fraction of these 90% suffer from cold sores, but it is known that the first episode of painful eruptions around the lip or nose can occur at any time. If we are happy that we have not had herpes all our lives, unfortunately, there is no certainty that it will stay that way.

When the virus is not engaged in disfiguring our mouths, it lives in a latent or latent form at the nerve endings, e.g. in the sensory ganglia around the spine.

Another interesting fact is that herpes is a very close relative of chicken pox and shingles. It is really hard to imagine a family whose visit would be more unpleasant to us. Worse still, if you are unlucky, you can experience all of these illnesses in your life, with herpes so many times over.

Because it is different with herpes. It may never manifest itself, although the virus lies dormant in our ganglia, it may reveal itself once and remain silent forever, and it may recur even every two weeks. And there is still no cure.

1. Try herpes patches

Herpes – symptoms

As the HSV 1 virus can manifest itself under the influence of changes in the hormonal balance, some women, as an additional attraction, in addition to their period, have a painful and unsightly lesion on their lips every month.

This is the meaning of herpes life: every now and then, when properly stimulated, it crawls from the depths of the nerves to the surface of the skin, most often it is the border of the lip, where it first makes itself felt by burning and aching, then explodes with tiny, itchy and painful blisters swollen with liquid, and then turns into into a scab that disappears after the next few days. How well it goes without leaving a scar. Bubbles formed on the lip are filled with serous content and then with purulent discharge, which, as previously mentioned, turns into a scab. Before the painful blisters appear, you may experience tingling, burning, itching and a slight pain. The symptoms of the skin and mucous membranes are very similar to each other. It is not uncommon in the course of herpes in the infected person to enlarge the lymph nodes.

Genital herpes is slightly less common (the infection may be primary or recurrent). Primary infection is usually severe. The most common infection occurs after sexual contact with an asymptomatic host. After the incubation period of the infection (3-7 days), women and men develop general symptoms, such as: headache, high temperature and muscle pain. In men, blister-like skin eruptions are located on the penis or (rarely) on the inside of the thighs or the scrotum. In women, on the other hand, follicles develop on the labia, the vagina, the perineum, and even the cervix. Occasionally, there are other symptoms, such as mucus from the urethra or vagina, and enlargement of the inguinal lymph nodes. In a primary infection, urination disorders may occur.

Symptoms of herpes infection appear from 1 to even 26 days after contact with the source of the infection. However, this period is usually around seven days.

Herpes is most often contagious in the active phase, i.e. when eruptions appear around the lip in the form of bubbles filled with fluid. This is where viruses are found. When the morning dries up, the scab loses its greatest firepower.

It is worth remembering that herpes symptoms may reappear as a result of external factors, in the form of:

1. menstruation
2. chills the body,
3. stress
4. weakening of the body,
5. tooth removal,
6. fatigue,
7. malnutrition,
8. exposure to strong solar radiation.

Complications after herpes

An episode of herpes lasts four to ten days. It seems that worse things happen than a few pimples on the lip for a week, and of course they are, but despite the low health harm (a little worse with the social because the virus spreads very easily), the HSV 1 virus cannot be underestimated.

First of all, be careful not to transport it from the lip to the eye, because this can cause keratitis or even ulceration, which may result in blindness. So while a woman does not have to throw away lipsticks, which she used during herpes eruption, because she is infected with the virus anyway, the eye of the infected person is “clean” and it should be ensured that it remains so. Therefore, it is best to wash your hands thoroughly after each contact of your fingers with the herpes eruption.

To speed up the healing of cold sores, use Cannadent Regenerating Serum. It contains cloves, hemp oil and Siberian fir extract accelerate healing and have an analgesic and antibacterial effect.

Very rarely, but it does happen that on its way to the lips, a virus that starts out from the ganglia wanders towards the head. May cause meningitis or encephalitis; very difficult to heal. And even when cured, it has unpleasant neurological consequences. The symptoms may resemble a hatching flu, so you must remember that God is guarding the guarded.

Not only because of complications, but also frequent relapses, it is worth performing mail-order tests for herpes infection available on Medonet Market. The swab is taken from the cheek, and the waiting time for the results is 7 working days.

Herpes in children

Children and people with reduced immunity and a weakened immune system are particularly vulnerable to more complicated forms of herpes. In children, and it is important to know, whose infection with the virus usually occurs before the age of 5, herpes can manifest as stomatitis. Newborns are also at risk, whose mothers have not suffered from herpes and therefore have failed to pass on antibodies to them. Such babies need to be especially protected against those suffering from herpes. In turn, in people with low immunity, the virus can attack internal organs and manifest itself in the form of extensive ulcers on the body.

When encephalitis is on the horizon, the pimples above the lip do appear in a slightly brighter light than before. Maybe this is a method to tame the hated herpes?

However effective it is not to tame it, you need to know what to do to heal it. Often, patients do not come to the doctor with herpes, asking themselves what is the case of herpes and relying on over-the-counter preparations available in pharmacies.

1. Herpes – the course, treatment of infections. Home remedies for cold sores

Diagnosis of herpes

In general, the diagnosis of herpes is based on the patient’s overall clinical picture (present symptoms) or after gynecological and urological incidence (genital herpes). It happens, however, that a specialist has diagnostic doubts, which is why in such situations he uses the following tests:

1. detection of HSV DNA virus using the PCR method – this method is very sensitive; a negative test result does NOT exclude infection;
2. isolation of HSV virus in cell culture – this test is mainly used in the diagnosis of genital herpes; here likewise, a negative result does not rule out infection;
3. serological test – antibodies to HSV appear in human blood a few weeks after infection. Detection of anti-HSV2 antibodies most often indicates genital herpes, while detecting only HSV1 will be more difficult to assess as cold sores are very common.

You should also remember about differential diagnosis. Oropharyngeal herpes is differentiated from:

1. candidiasis,
2. Coxsackie infection,
3. erythema multiforme (Stevens-Johnson disease)
4. aphthous inflammation,
5. enteroviral inflammation.

In contrast, genital herpes should be differentiated from:

1. shingles,
2. syphilis,
3. venereal ulcer.

What about cold sores? Treatment and prevention

What about cold sores? A lot can be done with the help of various preparations available at the pharmacy. But in the case of frequently recurring herpes eruptions, it is worth considering not only an emergency treatment, i.e. focused on drying and eliminating vesicles and scabs as quickly as possible, but a longer therapy with a prescribed antiviral drug. If it goes well, the frequency of episodes will decrease after such an intensive treatment, and maybe even for a longer time we will be able to forget about herpes.

In the case of herpes, time is of the essence: the faster we react, i.e. catch the earliest symptoms, the more likely they will be milder.

For quick and effective treatment of cold sores, use COMPEED Herpes Patches, which soothe, speed up healing and are invisible. Also try Herpes Help – a herpes gel available on Medonet Market.

In addition, it is good to learn to recognize the factors that trigger cold sores from the forest, that is, from the sensory ganglia of the nervous system. Belong to them:

1. sunlight,
2. low temperature,
3. stress,
4. weakness,
5. cold,
6. menstruation.

It is also worth taking care of the immune system; its strengthening will certainly thwart herpes in her evil plans. It may be a consolation to know that scientists are working on a vaccine against this thug stalking our face.

If you have problems with recurring cold sores, reach for a dietary supplement with lysine, which strengthens the body and supports the formation of antibodies, minimizing the risk of recurrent herpes. We also recommend Cannaderm regenerative serum for thrush and herpes, available on Medonet Market.

Check it out:

1. Acne – the bane of youth
2. The deadly herpes virus
3. Herpes medicine – causes of herpes, treatment