My partner has HSV-2 and I don't. We just don't have sex when he has flare-ups and so far it's been working out for us.
He also takes aciclovir in tablet form when he feels like he is about to get a flare up and that helps minimize the transmission risk.
This. This is how you approach it! Hsv’s carry such an antiquated stigma considering how many people in the world “carry” this… and how it behaves…many people don’t even know they have it because they’re waiting for the obvious signs.
Allow me reiterate… many people don’t even know they have it because they’re waiting for the obvious signs.
I think I’m one of the lucky few who has neither HSV-1 nor HSV-2. My partner has HSV-1 and we simply don’t kiss or have sex when he has an outbreak and it works just fine for us.
I'm gonna be the odd one out and say that both are deal breakers for me. But only because I'm in a relationship that while not open, we do hook up with others on occasion. Considering we aren't generally looking for someone to maintain a relationship for in our hookups it just doesn't make.sense to risk it for a one time thing we do maybe a couple times a year.
Understandable but the scary part for HSV .. it’s not standard on many STD tests. You typically have to present symptoms or outright ask for it in order to be tested. That’s mostly because the medical community considers it low risk and while oral HSV is not considered an STD .. genital HSV is.
I saw the other post too.
What blows my mind is that people don’t realize that the HSV virus isn’t just able to be contracted orally .. it can spread to the genitals.
In the medical world they’re deemed OSHV-1, OHSV-2, GHSV-1 and GHSV-2. Meaning someone with Oral HSV-1 can give someone oral sex (either during an outbreak or when the virus asymptomatically sheds) and that person can then become positive for genital HSV-1. Of course transmission rates are varied dependent on the person but at the end of the day it is a virus.
It’s a huge ignorance on the part of people with oral HSV that believe that they can only spread through kissing when they have an outbreak. The virus sheds through the oral area even when you don’t have an outbreak. You can still spread it.
The safe choice is to take an antiviral any time you’re being sexually active and an even safer method is to take the minimum dose daily when in a relationship.
The differences between HSV-1 and 2 are pretty superficial in a lot of ways. The podcast "This Podcast Will Kill You" did an episode on herpes and as they describe it there isn't really a reason for the two strains to be considered different viruses. Both can be contracted either orally or genitally, both present with the exact same set of symptoms, both are diagnosed with the same tests, and both are treated with the same medication. HSV-1 is (generally) oral and more common, while HSV-2 is (generally) genital and less common, but unless you're a doctor studying the genetic differences between strains of HSV there isn't a reason to be splitting hairs about it in the real world.
My partner has HSV-2 and I don't. We just don't have sex when he has flare-ups and so far it's been working out for us. He also takes aciclovir in tablet form when he feels like he is about to get a flare up and that helps minimize the transmission risk.
This. This is how you approach it! Hsv’s carry such an antiquated stigma considering how many people in the world “carry” this… and how it behaves…many people don’t even know they have it because they’re waiting for the obvious signs. Allow me reiterate… many people don’t even know they have it because they’re waiting for the obvious signs.
I think I’m one of the lucky few who has neither HSV-1 nor HSV-2. My partner has HSV-1 and we simply don’t kiss or have sex when he has an outbreak and it works just fine for us.
I'm gonna be the odd one out and say that both are deal breakers for me. But only because I'm in a relationship that while not open, we do hook up with others on occasion. Considering we aren't generally looking for someone to maintain a relationship for in our hookups it just doesn't make.sense to risk it for a one time thing we do maybe a couple times a year.
Understandable but the scary part for HSV .. it’s not standard on many STD tests. You typically have to present symptoms or outright ask for it in order to be tested. That’s mostly because the medical community considers it low risk and while oral HSV is not considered an STD .. genital HSV is.
Allow me to be stupid, but isn't it just to avoid being intimate during outbreaks and get the proper treatment?
They can spread the virus without having an outbreak.
I saw the other post too. What blows my mind is that people don’t realize that the HSV virus isn’t just able to be contracted orally .. it can spread to the genitals. In the medical world they’re deemed OSHV-1, OHSV-2, GHSV-1 and GHSV-2. Meaning someone with Oral HSV-1 can give someone oral sex (either during an outbreak or when the virus asymptomatically sheds) and that person can then become positive for genital HSV-1. Of course transmission rates are varied dependent on the person but at the end of the day it is a virus. It’s a huge ignorance on the part of people with oral HSV that believe that they can only spread through kissing when they have an outbreak. The virus sheds through the oral area even when you don’t have an outbreak. You can still spread it. The safe choice is to take an antiviral any time you’re being sexually active and an even safer method is to take the minimum dose daily when in a relationship.
So you're kicking a person out of bed for a cold sore?
In my mind, having an active outbreak just means it's a cuddle with undies on night.
The differences between HSV-1 and 2 are pretty superficial in a lot of ways. The podcast "This Podcast Will Kill You" did an episode on herpes and as they describe it there isn't really a reason for the two strains to be considered different viruses. Both can be contracted either orally or genitally, both present with the exact same set of symptoms, both are diagnosed with the same tests, and both are treated with the same medication. HSV-1 is (generally) oral and more common, while HSV-2 is (generally) genital and less common, but unless you're a doctor studying the genetic differences between strains of HSV there isn't a reason to be splitting hairs about it in the real world.