First off, please excuse any errors i may have with English.
I would like to find a site on the net where i can e-mail a medical professional some questions and ACTUALLY recieve an answer.
I have tried several such as "ask the nurse" at herpesalliance.org ,, '"ask the doctor" at herpes.com, but I never recieved an answer.

I do not have herpes but my new girlfriend does, however the blister is not on or near her genitals but rather on her rear end. I read that this exists, but aside from its existance I have found almost no articles on herpes dealing with genital herpes not on or near the genitals.

I have about ten questions, for example she claims that if she covers the blister on her rear with a big thick bandage then we can safely have missionary style sex. Is this true ?
My ten questions are of this nature and about "shedding"

So can anybody here direct me to a site with a medical professional where I will actually recieve a repy to my questions ??

I am a tad (or more than a tad) concerned with your girlfriend's claim that covering her blister with a bandage would mean you could "safely have missionary style sex." Although it sounds like her lesion is on her back side/buttock, the viral shedding is not restricted to that area. It is definitely recommended that you avoid skin-to-skin contact with herpes lesions while your girlfriend is having an outbreak. I recommend to my patients to abstain from sex altogether if genital herpes symptoms are present since having sex while symptoms are present puts an uninfected partner (you) at risk.

Herpes lesions (whether they are sores, blisters, bumps, etc) do not always occur specifically in the genital area. Very commonly, lesions often occur in nearby locations such as the buttocks and upper thigh, or around the anus.

What other questions do you have? This really is a great forum... the moderator is incredibly knowledgeable. Your questions are always sure to get a response.

hello and thank you for your reply,

My girlfriend gets the lesion always in the same place, the upper right buttock, and she claims that if its covered with a bandage then we can safely have missionary stlye sex since she would be on her back and even if i should accidentaly touch her buttock ( which would be difficult since she would be on her back) it would be safe since the lesion would be covered with the bandage.

hello and thank you for your reply,

My girlfriend gets the lesion always in the same place, the upper right buttock, and she claims that if its covered with a bandage then we can safely have missionary stlye sex since she would be on her back and even if i should accidentaly touch her buttock ( which would be difficult since she would be on her back) it would be safe since the lesion would be covered with the bandage.

When your girlfriend has a herpes lesion present or feels like she is possibly going to get one - you should absolutely NOT be having any sexual contact that involves genital to genital contact. Covering up the lesion isn't enough because not only is she shedding the virus actively from the site of the lesion - she is also shedding the virus from the entire anogenital tract ( her anus and also her vagina ).

How does your gf treat her herpes? Is she on daily suppressive therapy where she takes medication every single day whether she has lesions or not? If not it's something she should talk to her doctor about so that she can further reduce your chances of contracting the virus as well as that way she'll have less lesions too.

If you and your gf don't speak english - have you by chance read any of the booklets in other languages from http://www.ihmf.org/general/patient_info.asp ? They have herpes info in several different languages.

If you don't think you are getting all your questions answered you can pay to ask them for Dr Hunter Handsfield over on medhelp.org in the std board but I'm pretty sure we can help you out here just fine

betsy

I thought, that when the viruis is active that i could only contract the viruis from the area lesion, i did not know that i could also contract the viruis from the anogenital tract.
i you sure this is true ?? Its very frightening.
Dont get me wrong, i love her very much ( she is something very special ) but if what you say is true, it is a little scary.

Mygroups ~

It is only scary with the absence of knowledge!
And unfortunately most people are completely ignorant of the facts and risks regarding this infection.

... but it is also very managable and certainly not reason enough to throw away a perfectly good relationship, that is otherwise solid. She was honest with you about her infection, which speaks well of her character, even if her facts regarding transmission weren't completely accurate.

Does your girlfriend know if she has HSV type 1 or type 2? Knowing the type makes a difference in how best to protect yourself and how likely the chances are that you would become infected. Also, have you ever been tested?

I was only recently diagnosed with HSV type 1 (genitally) and this is all still new to me. And the most shocking facts were the statistics regarding this virus.

One in 5 american adults and teens are positive for Herpes type 2, and over half of them do not know it; as their symptoms were so mild that they were easily confused as being something else - like a bug bite or an infected hair follicle - and once their immune system kicked in, they may never have an outbreak that is noticable enough to cause concern, or maybe no symptoms at all...and may not find out that they are infected until they have unknowingly infected someone else.

By the age of 50, 90% of americans will be positive for Herpes type 1, most of which will contract it in adolesence - and will have a few fever blisters come and go over the course of a few years, and then their immune system will kick in and they may never have a noticable outbreak again for the rest of their lives. But the virus will still shed a few days a year, making them contagious to infect someone orally or genitally. (Which is how I became infected...)

The above stats may not be exact, as I said, I'm still new to this. But you have definitely came to the right place...this board is a wealth of information.

I would say first, learn as much as you can about Herpes.

Second, find out which type your girlfriend has and have yourself tested. If she isn't sure of her type, then the two of you can go together and have the full spectrum of std testing done...then you both will know that you are healthy and safe.

Third, once you are armed with all of this knowledge, the two of you can make the decision together of how best to protect yourselves.

Best of luck to you,
Sweethalo

hi
sweethalo, you need not worry im certainly not going to leave my girlfriend. Even with knowlege, genital herpes is frightening, but you are correct that knowlege does indeed help, hence my presence on this forum.
As for your question, i did have blood tests done for an unrelated illness about a year ago, and had no STD's except for the "kissing illness", i think in english its called Mano (???).

my current question deals with betsyb1967's post.
but first let me recap the story: My girlfriend has genital herpes, but not on or near her genitals, but rather the lesion is on her buttock, close to her hip.
I was under the impression that if the lesion is covered with a bandage and she is on her back, missionary stlyle (buttocks down against the bed) that we could safely have intercourse.
Betsyb1967 stated that this is incorrect as i can contract the viris, when the viris is active, from my girlfriends "anogenital tract", even though the lesion is on her buttock near her hip.
so i was asking for confirmation of betsyb's statement.

P.S. betsyb, pleade, no harm intented that i ask for confirmation of your statement.

I know you don't know me but if you've read thru back posts you'll see that I appear to be very knowledgeable. I try very hard to keep up on the latest herpes info so my replies can be up to date and as accurate as possible. I don't make this stuff up I assure you - I would never try to scare folks when it comes to herpes. Here is a link to the abstract on an easy to read article about this :




http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre ... d_RVDocSum


CONCLUSION: Viral shedding of herpes simplex virus from the genital area is a relatively common occurrence during a buttock recurrence of genital herpes, even without concurrent genital lesions, reflecting perhaps reactivation from concomitant regions of the sacral neural ganglia. Patients with buttock herpes recurrences should be instructed about the risk of genital shedding during such recurrences.


betsy

thank you betsy, the article was most helpful.
On the internet as in real life, many people people say things and sound convincing, when in fact they have no idea of what they're talking about,
But i shall doubt you no more !!!