What is the possibility of eye herpes?

[LLL]

Hi, maybe a silly question but my one genuine fear seems to be passing herpes into my eyes..

Has that ever actually happened to anyone? Would it come up straight away if you had passed it on?

[mr_hopp]

The eyes are probably the next easiest mucous membrane to pass herpes to, but don't let this get you paranoid because then every lil itch in your eye is gonna feel like herpes. You know the deal. ;)

 

No worries about it spreading there all by itself. And it's hard to auto-inoculate if there's not an outbreak. (The amount of shedding virus tends to be so small that it's hard to spread during asymptomatic shedding.) So to make the transfer, you would have to touch an active herpes sore and then wipe your eye to transfer it. So just be smart about washing your hands with soap and water if you touch a herpes outbreak. Soap/water kills it immediately.

 

There have also been previous discussions about ocular herpes here, so if you use the search box and put in "eye" or "ocular" you should find some other people discussing it.

[LLL]

Thank you for answering, What if you didn't know that the sore was there and you were washing yourself and then washed your face? Is that possible?

I know i''m just being paranoid about nothing but its a scary thought!

[mr_hopp]

If you were washing with soap, then it's unlikely that any of the live virus got in your eye. And just to be clear, I'm not minimizing you asking the question as "just being paranoid" ... It's great that you're asking it to get clarification! Just don't let it get to you and make you worry about it nonstop. From here on out, just be careful about touching outbreaks. Careful, not paranoid is what I always say. :)

[LLL]

I think i'm just having a panic as I think i've found my third outbreak and have thought back to all the ways I could have spread it around because I didn't know it was there!

I'm also worried now as this is the third outbreak (HSV-1 btw, 1st in june 15, 2nd jan 16 now third april 16!) but the symptoms seem to have become less and less with every outbreak, the first was horrendous and the second was liveable but I was still aware of its presence but this time I genuinely didn't know until today when I woke up and the sore must have burst as it hurt a little. It's a good thing obviously that the symptoms aren't severe but I thought I knew myself quite well and would always be aware when it came up..

[Irene]

Considering you were watching with soap and water, probably not that much of a risk to your eyes. I think paranoia can be devastating to your health too sometimes. :)

[LLL]

@Irene I think so far the paranoia might be the worst thing about it!

[hippyherpy]

Is it possible to get it in your ear?

 

 

[LLL]

@hippyherpy Apparently so.. "Herpes Zoster Oticus" hurray

[WCSDancer2010]

Just to add, the vast majority of Ocular Herpes cases are in CHILDREN who get an oral OB, pick it, then poke their eyes. Kids are walking Petri dishes so they are far more likely to auto-innoculate themselves than adults because they don't wash hands after handling things that may have virus or bacteria on them :)

 

As for "Ear Herpes" - the name is just to describe the location. You *CAN* get Herpes *ANYWHERE* - Wrestlers get "Herpes Gladitorium" on their bodies during a wrestling match from someone who has H1 on the mouth that is shedding. They are meant to declare if they have an oral H OB before a match (they are not obvious early in the OB) but they won't always tell because they won't be allowed to wrestle) and they pass it because the other person gets a scrape on the mats then comes in contact with the lip during a pin or whatever.

 

All these are VERY rare though and with simple measures (washing with soap after handling an OB and being HONEST if you are potentially having an OB so you don't pass it on) 99.9% of people won't get H in an area that isn't the "typical" area for it.

[hippyherpy]

Is this only the case at the time of your first outbreak, or do I have to worry about getting herpes in my mouth eyes and ears everytime I have a breakout in the future?

[WCSDancer2010]

You generally can only autoinnoculate in the first few months that you have the virus... after that you shouldn't have to worry about it...

[LLL]

I feel like I'm quite a rare case.. I already had HSV-1 for years before I managed to get it genitally, so I get quite paranoid that I could transfer it somewhere else seeing as having it before didn't help me last time.

[marju116]

When antibodies show up that you are HSV 1+, does that mean that the chances to autoinnoculate are slim? I'm HSV 1+ genitally and worry about my eyes all the time cuz they seem to be dry and itchy so much since I contracted herpes.