Round two and three herpes outbreaks

[lt05]

Hey all.. I haven't been on here in a while and to make thing short I am in need of some support. I was diagnosed in November had a horrible initial outbreak and since then have been doing better but recently it has been tremendously hard and feeling down again. A couple of weeks ago I had a second outbreak which sucked but was rather tolerable. I am still seeing my boyfriend who is very supportive so that helped a lot. However I started having a swollen index finger and yup, it's spread there. I am very careful about not touching that area when I had my second outbreak and washed my hands even coming out of the shower. I've been very paranoid about it spreading so I'm really surprised that it has. I've had it wrapped up for a week and been on valtrex for first time. I'm so grateful to have a supportive man but I had a feeling this would destroy me if it spread and it has. I already feel self conscious in my own skin naturally, then to have been diagnosed , and now it spreading is not helping. I'm over the top paranoid about this spreading too and I refuse to let my finger touch ANYTHING other than water and even then I'm scared to let the same water touch my other fingers (insane I know) so basically I want to know if anyone has any advice or has had this on their finger. I don't want to live paranoid everyday and I'm not sure how easily contagious this is after an outbreak. Help :(

[WCSDancer2010]

@lt05

 

Hi again!

 

So - how do you know that it's Herpes on your finger? Did a Dr swab it?

 

I've lived with H for 35 yrs and never, EVER took any extra precautions beyond normal, regular hand washing/cleanliness habits. You've had H long enough that you shouldn't be able to autoinnoculate yourself.

 

The good news is recurrent herpetic whitlow is rare. IE, once it clears up, it shouldn't re-occur .... so just keep it covered, and try to not worry about it too much ... hopefully in a few weeks it should all be behind you and shouldn't come back ;)

 

(((HUGS)))

[lt05]

Yes I had a swab test done and it was confirmed a few days ago. I think I'm convinced that this finger will always be infectious even without an OB. Maybe eventually I will feel normal again. Doctor said I may get an OB on my finger sometimes but I really hope you're right, thanks for responding

[WCSDancer2010]

I think I'm convinced that this finger will always be infectious even without an OB.

 

I got the info from a Skin Information site

 

http://www.skinsight.com/adult/herpeticWhitlow.htm

 

If a person contracts herpetic whitlow from himself or herself (autoinoculation), then he or she is likely to have a primary herpes simplex virus infection of the mouth area or of the genital area.

 

Repeat (recurrent) herpes simplex virus infections are often milder than the primary infection, though they look alike. A recurrent infection typically lasts 7–10 days. Recurrent herpetic whitlow is rare.

 

So BREATHE - odds are it will heal and you won't ever see it again ... and H doesn't shed well from dry, "regular" skin .... (as opposed to the thinner skin of the mouth and genitals), and the fingers are not the preferred home for the HSV virus so it's far less likely to surface again :)

[lt05]

Thank you for this information!!