Oral Herpes
Oral Herpes: An Easy To Read Overview
We understand that there is a lot of confusion with the herpes virus. One reason is because there are two different types of herpes that are caused by two viruses that is alike. One of them is herpes simplex virus 1 and the other type if herpes simplex virus 2. It is important to remember that both types of these are extremely contagious. You may think that you are invisible to this virus, but if you have sex, then you are at risk. You are even more at risk of it if you have sex with multiple people that have had sex with multiple people. In this particular article, we are not going to be talking about genital herpes. We are, however, going to be telling you about oral herpes, so pay attention to what we have to say:
Most oral herpes comes from HSV-1, while most of the genital herpes comes from HSV-2. You will be getting oral sores that look similar to the sores that appear on the genitals when you have genital herpes. This is a virus that is pretty common. It has been estimated that around two hundred and fifty four million Americans have gotten this virus through oral contact. About forty five million Americans have contacted this form of herpes through genital contact.
This virus can cause you to have fever blisters or cold sores on the lips. It can also cause you to have them inside the mouth. Fever blisters and cold sores are common in younger children. This is because the parents pass it to them by giving them a goodnight kiss. They can easily pick this virus up by sharing drinks with other children they are playing with at school.
Herpes is not always going to come with symptoms. Isn't this scary? However, when an individual is dealing with the symptoms, they will have sores. These sores could last for up to two weeks before they go away.
Kissing, touching and sexual contact with the area that has been infected can cause oral herpes to spread. This is more contagious if the individual you come in contact with is currently dealing with an outbreak. It is possible, but not as likely, for one to get the virus even if no lesions are there. It will be even more contagious until the sores have completely gone away and there are currently no scabs showing up.
There are some precautions that you should take in order to make sure the virus does not spread further. One of the precautions includes washing your hands frequently. You should also avoid touching the lesion. This is important, because the lesions that come about from oral herpes are associated with ocular herpes, which is a herpes infection that occurs in the eyes. If you have this problem, then you need to take special precautions when you are around babies and very young children. Those that are suffering from oral herpes will need to avoid kissing babies and wait until the symptoms have went away completely before they do so.
When you do not take the correct action to minimize the outbreak, they are going to be very painful. There are a number of treatments that you can turn to that will take away from the pain and help heal the area.
Flare-ups of this form of herpes can be triggered by certain foods, getting sunburn on the lips, having a cold, having a fever or anxiety. There are some dental procedures that could cause one to have a flare up as well. If you currently have lesions from oral herpes, then it is important that you postpone your dental visits until it heals.
This may be just a painful frustration for many individuals, but did you know that these flare ups can be life threatening? For those individuals that have an immune system that is impaired, these breakouts can be life threatening. Diseases such as aids, radiation therapy, chemotherapy or having a bone marrow transplant can cause the immune system to have impairments. In these individuals, having lesions on the mouth will interfere with eating. The virus can quickly spread to the brain and yes, this can be fatal.
This does not have to be frightening and it can be treated and controlled easily. Common sense will help one prevent further spread of this virus, which is going to make life less stressful. Yes, having those lesions on your lips can be embarrassing and they have a tendency to pop up at the worst times ever, but it is important that you take your time and find some treatment that will work. You will also need to give the treatment some time to work. Getting too anxious for these lesions to heal is only going to increase the levels of stress. In turns, when you have more stress, it is going to cause the blisters to stay.
Painful sores can show up on your tongue, gums, lips and even on the inside of your cheeks. Muscle aches and a fever may show up at the time. It is only found in humans and not animals. Mouth sores will most commonly come about in children that are one and two years old. However, they can affect people at any age and the time of the year has nothing to do with it.
People will get herpes by touch infected saliva, skin or mucous membranes. This is a highly contagious virus. Nearly all individuals are going to be infected by at least one subtype of herpes before they reach adulthood.
There can be three stages of oral herpes. This includes the primary infection, Latency and Recurrence. For oral herpes, the incubation period is anywhere from two to twelve days. Most individuals start to show symptoms after four days of being in contact with the virus. If you believe you are dealing with this, then it is important to find some treatment. As we stated, there are many treatment options available. You should also do some meditation in order to relieve your stress.