Postherpetic nueralgia and genital herpes (hsv2)?

[Alias_Grace]

Has anyone had any experience with postherpetic nueralgia? I'm not having a herpes outbreak, but the skin around the right hand side of my groin (the side I usually have an outbreak on) is extremely sensitive to touch, particularly if my hands are cold. It extends up and around my hip, and also on the inside of my knee. It's painful, but certainly not unbearable. The symptoms seem exactly the same as what I've read about postherpetic nueralgia.

 

A lot of medical sites say phn is only associated with shingles, but I've read some forums that suggest otherwise. I'm curious to know if anyone else has experienced this?

[mr_hopp]

I haven't had direct experience with Post-Herpetic Neuralgia, but from everything I've read it seems to point to it being only associated with shingles (same virus as chicken pox ... herpes zoster), but there have been quite a few posts on this forum that describe very similar sensations to what you're describing. Since herpes follows the nerve fibers from the spine to the surface of the skin, some feel a burning, stinging, tingling, etc. in their nerves as the virus is coming to the surface before a herpes outbreak and as it retreats after an outbreak. This is also known as prodrome symptoms. Here's an article on those:

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-prodrome-symptoms

 

These sensations you're describing, do they occur close to when you have an outbreak or have they been pretty permanent?