Cold Sore Paranoia

A-Rod

Tonight, out at a club, random girl comes up to me, tries to get my attention, I eventually cave and dance with her....move onto grinding, and then we are making out. I cant say I make out with many random girls, but the only reason this bothered me was that my friend pulled me aside and said he thinks he saw her with 'bumps' on her lips. I never did see her again, and I didnt notice anything wrong with her lips, but then again it was a dark place.

Basically Im worried that I got something bad like herpies or something. So how long before I see any signs of anything. Im paranoid.

exoplasm

Well unless the alleged bumps were oozing out their delicious cream filling, you should be in the clear.

I would think it would be pretty easy to tell if a) the person you're kissing has mysterious bumps on their lips, and b) if anything is coming out of them and entering your mouth or something.

If you're really worried, go see a doctor or call a medical clinic for information about it.

Captain Cthulhu

Herpes of all sorts can still be spread if there isn't an alleged "outbreak" happening at that moment. Your friend might have been totally wrong, but if he thought he saw something, its worth getting checked out. My stance on such things is that you can't get tested too often, especially since there are free clinics all over the place. If you don't get tested and there is something there, it might be months before you see any signs, and you could, in theory, be spreading it all over the place during that time.

Docken

Ok just so you know;

1) If she had herpes, you needed direct contact with the sore while it was in its contagious stage. This is harder than you think- I went out for a girl for 8 months with cold sores and never got them... my mother has been with my father for 35 years and never gotten them (he has them).

And yeah, if you do have it, there is nothing you can do about spreading it... because herpes causes a state called 'viral shedding' which means that even if you DON'T show ANY signs of an outbreak, you can still be contagious.

Trust me, if you have it, you have it. Don't worry too much about it other than don't be a douche- if you have a clear outbreak try not to pash anyone...

2) If you contracted it, you will know in about 2 weeks- thats when you will get a breakout, and it will be obvious.

3) Cold sores/herpes, whilst very annoying and embarrassing, are considered almost not worth thinking about by Doctors. In fact you need to specifically ask for a herpes screen as standard STD screens don't include them.

In fact the current law in the US doesn't even require someone to give disclosure if they have herpes or not (test case over damages)- it is considered such a minor infection that nobody cares...

itylus

Also, while HSV-1 and HSV-2 are not unrelated to each other, they're not quite the same thing, either. So, yeah, cold sores aren't great, but it's not like they're going to automatically migrate southward...

LondonBridge

You're in a club where its dark so maybe it could have been mistaken for acne?

Gabriel_Pitt

I'm wondering how you're friend got such a good look at her lips, and you missed them, if they were so obvious.

Phixius

I'd go with the acne theory. Facial herpes usually (but obviously not always) limits to one or two relatively large sores; not many little bumps. It seems to me that the acne outbreak around her mouth could be attributed to her knack for making out with stangers. You never know how clean someone else's neck, face, etc. are. When my sister was in high school, you could always tell when she'd been making out with her boyfriend, as she'd break out right around her mouth the next day.

I'd be more curious as to whose saliva you were actually tasting...

A-Rod

Well from the looks of things she really didnt seem to have anything which is why i was ok with kissing her, but my buddy tells me hes pretty sure he saw some bumps...God i hope hes wrong. But ya im pretty sure she started the night off with me, but lord knows where that mouth has been. Fucking bit me like a damn vampire....

Andorien

A-Rod wrote:

Fucking bit me like a damn vampire....

:winky:

Anyway, it's always better safe than sorry, so you may want to get yourself checked regardless.

Fireflash

Or maybe your friend only said that to mess with your head. To make you paranoid. And it has succeded!

A-Rod

Yes he probably did say that to mess with my head, and I hate him for doing that, but he wasnt saying it too jokingly. But seeing that Im not used to tongue wrestling women after meeting them for 3mins, rat bastard got me paranoid.

Meritt

The strain of herpes that causes cold sores is extremely common and not something to stress out about. Some L-Lysine supplements (one pill few times a week) will control any breakouts.

If you do happen to get a cold sore, use Abreva to get rid of it

Thujone

itylus wrote:

Also, while HSV-1 and HSV-2 are not unrelated to each other, they're not quite the same thing, either. So, yeah, cold sores aren't great, but it's not like they're going to automatically migrate southward...

Actually you can get both HSV-1 and HSV-2 type herpes on your face and genitals. One virus manifests more frequently in softer tissue, but it's a sexual myth that the different types of herpes mean that they are confined to one area. Unfortunately you can get both types, both places.

blincoln

Thujone wrote:

Actually you can get both HSV-1 and HSV-2 type herpes on your face and genitals. One virus manifests more frequently in softer tissue, but it's a sexual myth that the different types of herpes mean that they are confined to one area. Unfortunately you can get both types, both places.

That is true, but the one people commonly have on their face is so common that it's not worth worrying about. Something like 90+% of the population has it, whether they know it or not.

Obviously regular STD checks are a very good idea, but some doctors don't even bother putting type 1 on the list for a blood screening. I know mine doesn't, and he's a nice family doctor in a good neighborhood.