Oral Sex w/ a Cold Sore = Genital Herpes

So many people don't know that... consider this a P.S.A.

If you get cold sores, can you give your sexual partner genital herpes? - Health & Wellbeing

Funny thing is.. if you already get cold sores then you already have antibodies against HSV1 in your body, so if someone performs oral sex on you and they have a cold sore of their own then it's way, way, way less likely that you'll end up with a genital herpes infection than if you didn't previously get cold sores.

HSV2 is another deal. That doesn't tend to infect the lips. If you have cold sores (primarily HSV1) and someone with HSV2 (primarily genital) has sex with you then you still might get herpes.

The other thing about cold sores is that they're contagious during the "prodome" stage, which (cruelly enough) lasts for a few days before the sore actually erupts. The lips might seem slightly tingling or itchy. They also are infectious for a few days after.

Be safe! You don't want to catch herpes or be known for spreading herpes.

 

I don't know if you read the part that says getting cold sores means you have HSV1 antibodies, which can actually make it harder for you to get genital herpes. So you're a public danger.. you might spread them.. but you're not going to get them from someone providing you oral if they have their own cold sore*. You still might get herpes from someone with an HSV2 infection on their genitals though.

One theory about why genital herpes is on the rise is because people don't spread germs to children as much. In previous decades, many more children would get HSV1 (cold sore/oral) infections that would then make them immune to HSV1 genital infections before they were old enough to have sex. That in combination with people having more oral sex.

Also, cold sore outbreaks will happen less and less frequently throughout your life. The infection never goes away, but after a few years you might not get them any more.

*Except in the rare event that the other person's cold sores are caused by HSV2... which apparently happens very rarely but does happen. In that case, your HSV1 antibodies won't help you. Better safe than sorry.

Although something like 70% of people with HSV1 infections never have cold sores or outbreaks of any kind.

 

People play ignorant with this shit. They shouldn't be able to. So many people out there clearly get cold sores but refuse to admit it/acknowledge it/take responsibility for it because they're afraid it means they have herpes.

I was just talking to a guy who seems to have a cold sore almost as often as not and he spoke as though those weren't cold sores. Just mysterious sores next to his lip? Or like he had never noticed? Shit is weird. If he doesn't acknowledge it's a cold sore then he's probably not avoiding oral sex while he has them.

An attitude which leads to spreading herpes.

 

Yea, most likely. But his embarrassment isn't good justification for him to risk other people getting genital herpes.

I wasn't even talking about his cold sores with him. I was just talking about them with him generally and he didn't know shit about them, didn't sound like he realized he gets them... clearly he does. I think a lot of people are wilfully ignorant because they don't want to identify with having any amount of herpes.