I have a question...

[riverstyx]

OK, so for people who don't remember my story: I received a couple of false-positives for HSV-2. Long story short, I found out they were false-positives via the Western Blot and another immunoblot and I got my official negative result. But I decided from then on that I would get tested with new partners before becoming intimate. Met a girl at the gym. It probably won't work out for separate reasons, but let's say we both get tested, and we're all negative for all STDs, except like most people she comes back positive for HSV-1. Now, that can mean that she has HSV-1 orally or genitally. And how am I supposed to know or decide where she has it? I mean, this just comes down to trust, and risk? Now, most people have HSV-1 but half of all new genital herpes cases are genital HSV-1. So what am I supposed to do? Never sleep with anyone again, ever? Because there is a possibility that that HSV-1 they claim or think they have orally is really genital HSV-1? I just feel stuck here. It was a traumatic 5-6 months weeding through the false-positives and getting to the bottom of the truth and I'm just looking to do what I can to avoid putting myself in that situation again. But it doesn't seem like in the short or long run it will work out, as a practical matter...

[WCSDancer2010]

And how am I supposed to know or decide where she has it? I mean, this just comes down to trust, and risk?

 

Well, if she has never had OB's you won't know. The odds would point towards oral... but you wouldn't know for sure... but if she had it genitally it sheds less there so the risk is less.

 

In the end, it's all about whether you see the other person as someone you really feel could be a life partner, or someone worth the risk ... it's that simple.

 

To be honest odds are you have been exposed to plenty of women with HSV1 ... it's very common ... the thing would be to make sure she understands that she needs to really learn to listen to her body.... if she has sores of any type in either area, you don't play in that area.

 

Or you can become a monk so you don't have to worry about it ;)