How can You Get Genital Herpes?

The clear and resounding answer to all of these is simply NO. You can get herpes only from skin-to-skin contact. You can get herpes even when there are no visible signs of herpes on the skin.

If you abstain from sex during herpes outbreaks, the risk of passing it during herpes dormancy is 3-8% — the risk is greater when passing herpes from male to female (Warren, Terri J. ”Counseling Patients With Genital Herpes“ Medscape June 22, 2002.) This risk is inherent in all sexual activity, even with condoms since the site of the outbreak/shedding isn’t always covered. Are you worried that you might have contracted herpes?

Go to your doctor to find out for sure if you’re having a herpes outbreak. It’s helpful to know whether it’s HSV-1 or HSV-2. Soon after contracting herpes you will develop the antibodies to be able to find out which type you have via a herpes blood test.

This is a convenient way to find out without having to rush to the doctor during a herpes outbreak. Worried about spreading it to other parts of your body? Based on my experience and everything I’ve heard from the medical community and people in the support group, it’s difficult to spread herpes manually from one part of the body to another.

It is possible, but it’s hard to do. Keep in mind that for some people, the virus shows up in the exact same spot for every herpes outbreak, while for other people, their outbreaks move around a bit (the virus might use a different nerve system/”herpes highway” to get to the surface of the skin). For those where it moves around a bit, this is most likely not because of anything you’ve done.

In order for you to manually move the virus to other parts of your body, you’ll have to transfer the fluid from within a herpes sore to another part of your body that has an opening (a cut, a mucous membrane). And because of the rapid breakdown of the herpes virus in open air, this would have to be done with ninja-like swiftness. But if you have any sort of paranoia, simply wash your hands after touching any herpes sore and you’re definitely home-free.

If you already have herpes … you may feel all alone with this new virus. The truth is, you are not alone. You’re only as alone as you want to be.

Another big component to getting herpes is asking if you will ever find someone who will accept you. The answer is a huge yes!