What does your herpes look like? (Partner said he didn't have herpes)

[putputgoal]

I am so confused as to why everyones herpes looks different. Due to this, I am unable to discover is I have it or not. I have an appointment set up tomorrow to see my doctor, but waiting to find out is killing me. I am still unsure what it is, but I am pretty sure I have genital herpes.

 

There has been no tingling, burning, or anything. In fact, all of the bumps literally popped up at once in a day. I had gone tanning earlier that day (I tan nude) and there was nothing. Then later that day I went to the bathroom and I had flat and raised bumps all over my vulva. It almost makes a perfect line on both sides, and they aren't really in clusters. None have white caps, and they don't look like blisters. But there has to be at least 15 bumps. I am frustrated, because the person I had intercourse with claimed he did not have anything.

 

Are we allowed to post pictures here of it? I would like to get a second opinion.

 

And with all that being said, how did you know you had it and what did it look like?

[mr_hopp]

Hi there and welcome!

 

Sorry, we don't allow posting pictures here. And we aren't doctors, so we can't technically be offering you medical advice based on pictures anyway. But at your appointment, the doctor seeing you should be able to help you out by taking a culture of the area. (Even doctors themselves can't really identify herpes 100% visually.) What you're referring to might actually be HPV (genital warts) and not HSV. Best thing to do is for the doctor to swab the bumps and get them cultured at the lab. They'll be able to give you a definitive result instead of their best guess. And if it is HSV, getting it cultured will tell you whether it's HSV-1 or HSV-2.

 

And as far as your partner saying he didn't have anything, a lot of people believe they don't for a whole host of reasons ... because they're in denial or they don't ask to be tested for herpes specifically. Even if you go in to get an STD test for "everything" they won't actually include herpes in that "everything" unless you ask for it. (I know, pretty misleading.) Also, even if your partner did get tested within a 3-month window of being exposed to herpes, even a blood test wouldn't have been able to pick up the antibodies. There are other reasons, all discussed in this blog post:

http://herpeslife.com/partner-said-they-didnt-have-herpes-how-did-i-get-it/

 

Here are some links from our blog to help you research deeper into this and get knowledgeable:

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-tests

http://herpeslife.com/pictures-of-genital-herpes/

 

... and here's a good overview video I made that tackle all of the initial questions:

[WCSDancer2010]

the person I had intercourse with claimed he did not have anything.

 

Given that 80% of the population that has Herpes (which is 80% of the population) doesn't know they have H, he may well believe his is H- for allt he reasons Adrial mentioned.

 

If you had oral sex, he may well have given you HSV1 from that ... many don't know that "cold sores" is actually Herpes AND that it can be passed to the genitals via oral sex (50% of all new Genital cases are H1 from oral sex). So you may want to ask him if he ever had a cold sore... and tell him there's a very good chance he was never tested for H in the first place :(

 

(((HUGS)))