Cold sores

Thais

New member
Apr 29, 2006
246
1
0
Calgary
How do you know that you have a cold sore? How does it differ from an occasional pimple we all get, which can be inflamed and painful?

I have never seen something I could clearly identify as a cold sore, yet I know they are extremely frequent. So I am very confused as to what exactly I should be looking for...
 

Chantal

New member
Oct 3, 2004
372
0
0
Winnipeg,Manitoba
Colds Sores!!

Never had one.I have seen them take up a quarter of someones face,they are nasty:eek: .Some people say they are caused by stress.Fever Blisters:rolleyes: .It is either herpes simplex 1-2.
 

Thais

New member
Apr 29, 2006
246
1
0
Calgary
Thank you all for the feedback. I am quite aware of the general information on herpes, causes, minimizing exposure, etc...
The only thing I had no idea of was what a cold sore actually looks like. Now I do, from the posted link:

"The first readily visible sign of cold sore formation is the appearance of several fluid filled blisters. Usually these blisters are very small (smaller in diameter than the thickness of a dime) and they usually form in a cluster that is no larger than about the size of a nickel. In some cases individual blisters coalesce with others so to form a single larger blister.
Cold sore blisters usually rupture soon after they have formed, resulting in a shallow reddish ulceration whose surface becomes gray. This ulcerative phase of cold sore formation can be its most painful stage. This is also the stage during which a cold sore is most contagious. "
 

WalterMitty

Defender of Justice
Jun 14, 2003
233
0
0
Just south of here
also

the other thing to remember is that recurrent herpes blisters almost always appear on the vermilion border of your lip (the edge of your lip and your face), whereas pimples etc appear in other places.

Walter
 

Health Nurse

Supporting Member
Nov 24, 2004
894
4
0
Thais said:
How do you know that you have a cold sore? How does it differ from an occasional pimple we all get, which can be inflamed and painful?

I have never seen something I could clearly identify as a cold sore, yet I know they are extremely frequent. So I am very confused as to what exactly I should be looking for...

Generally cold sores follow this pattern:

• Begin with a tingling, burning or itchy feeling.
• You might notice 1 or more clear fluid blisters.
• The blister will become an open sore and then scab over.
• Healing time varies with each person.
• Cold sores generally come back in the same place.
• Cold sores do not usually occur inside the mouth.

If you have something that you are concerned about you are welcome to come into one of our clinics to get it looked at.

Feedback is welcome.

Have a look at the thread we did on herpes

https://perb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46542

HN
www.stdresource.com
 

missing

Member
Sep 21, 2003
61
5
8
I have symptom similar to cold sore. I went to CDC for check up but the Dr say they don't do swab test or blood test for cold sore to confirm the type.

I was recommended to go to clinic. When i go to walk in clinic, the dr just looked at my sore and prescribe me some ointment. Again, no test.

Couple of days later, feeling paranoid, I go for 2nd Dr. Again, I got this feeling that cold sore is no big deal and again test was not done.

I really would like to have this confirm if it's cold sore or not and what type it is. It's on the border between lip and skin. Size of pimple.

Can anyone help?
 

Health Nurse

Supporting Member
Nov 24, 2004
894
4
0
I have symptom similar to cold sore. I went to CDC for check up but the Dr say they don't do swab test or blood test for cold sore to confirm the type.

I was recommended to go to clinic. When i go to walk in clinic, the dr just looked at my sore and prescribe me some ointment. Again, no test.

Couple of days later, feeling paranoid, I go for 2nd Dr. Again, I got this feeling that cold sore is no big deal and again test was not done.

I really would like to have this confirm if it's cold sore or not and what type it is. It's on the border between lip and skin. Size of pimple.

Can anyone help?



Hi Missing

Sorry to hear about your experience. I know that many health care people will not do a swab test for cold sores. It might be that they feel it is common and there is no need to do a test.

I would just recommend coming to the Bute street clinic and we can swab it for you. I did a swab on someone’s cold sore yesterday because the person wanted to know what it was.

Given that we have had high numbers of syphilis lately I think it is good to know what a sore on the lip is. If it is negative for herpes simplex virus I would recommend getting a syphilis blood test in 6 weeks.

Good luck

HN
 

Yman

Lord Lickworthy
Jul 10, 2002
979
2
0
Vancouver
Dear Health Nurse,

I know a girl who recently told me she had Herpes Type 1 passed on to her lower regions through oral sex. My question to you Health Nurse is how easy is it now for her to pass on the Herpes Virus by oral sex on her ? What are the visible signs of a Type 1 outbreak in the genital area ?

She has taken some medication for her recent infection. Are the risks of her passing it on again mitigated by these medications ? Does she have to have another outbreak to be contagious or can she pass it on without showing any signs of an outbreak ?

Many Thanks
 

SFMIKE

New member
Jul 3, 2004
2,921
6
0
61
San Francisco Bay Area
I once suffered with what was believed to be cold sores on my lower lip for about 15 months. Then one day my dentist noticed, sent me immediately to an Oral Surgeon who took one look and sent me to an ENT specialist who did a biopsy: Skin cancer.

Two days later I had what was called a lip scrape, and man can your lip swell up after that. The good news is that all the cancer was removed and iIhealed.

Advice; Don't mess with it, get a true diagnosis.
 

Health Nurse

Supporting Member
Nov 24, 2004
894
4
0
Dear Health Nurse,

I know a girl who recently told me she had Herpes Type 1 passed on to her lower regions through oral sex. My question to you Health Nurse is how easy is it now for her to pass on the Herpes Virus by oral sex on her ? What are the visible signs of a Type 1 outbreak in the genital area ?

She has taken some medication for her recent infection. Are the risks of her passing it on again mitigated by these medications ? Does she have to have another outbreak to be contagious or can she pass it on without showing any signs of an outbreak ?

Many Thanks



Hi Yman

It is hard to determine how “easy” it would be to pass her genital herpes type 1 to your mouth during oral sex. The one thing we do know is that if she is having an outbreak it would be easy to pass this to your mouth, but if you already have herpes type 1 antibodies in your body it is unlikely that this will happen. Probably the same type of risk if she had cold sores and you were kissing.

Herpes outbreaks can look like small multiple clear filled blisters that burst and then scab over. I have also seen some herpes outbreaks that are mild and hard to notice.

The medication would help reduce the effects of her outbreak but I don’t think it would help with the chances of passing herpes on as there would probably be a lot of virus around given the outbreak. There is good evidence that if some one takes the medication on a daily basis that it will help prevent the transmission of genital herpes type 2 (it may also work for type 1 but we have no studies to prove this).

The easiest time to pass on herpes is when someone is having an outbreak. Asymptomatic shedding (this is when you have no symptoms of a herpes outbreak but the herpes virus is being shed on your skin) happens with the herpes virus so it is still possible to pass it on when the person is having no symptoms. The public health agency of Canada believes that asymptomatic shedding occurs on an average of 2% of days for an average duration of 1.5 days. They also state that Woman with genital type 1 shed less than if they have genital type 2.

Have a look at the thread we did on herpes

https://perb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46542


Let us know if you want us to expand on a topic. Remember if you would like to ask me a personal question just send me a PM.

HN
www.stdresource.com
 
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