Herpes On Lips

Herpes On Lips

Dealing With Lip Herpes

Having blisters or ulcers on the lips, mouth or gums indicates you may have oral herpes. A condition caused by the HSV or the herpes simplex virus. Lip herpes can spread to the nerve cells and stay in the body for a lifetime. The blisters and ulcers may flare up from time to time, due to illness, stress, fever, a weakened immune system, medications or sunlight. You may be one of the lucky few who have only one occurrence in their lives or one who experiences recurrences frequently.

Herpes on lips usually disappears in seven to ten days. If you have AIDS or another condition that weakens the immune system, the period of suffering may last longer. However, there is relief that can be gained from HSV-1 or cold sores. Drugs that reduce the frequency recurrence of blister and ulcers are oral acyclovir, valacyclovir and topical creams containing acyclovir or penciclovir to shorten the time spent suffering with painful blisters and lesions.

Herpes is a recurrent problem that may be transferred to other areas of the body by touching the cold sores and then touching the eyes or the genitalia. HSV is highly contagious and spreads easily. After touching the sores , you must wash your hands before touching others and other parts of your body. Babies can acquire it from their mothers, if she handles them while infected. Other people can acquire it through kissing, casual touching as well as sexual contact. To avoid the spread of herpes, do not touch the lesions around the mouth and then touch others.

Vaginal births to a mother with genital herpes results in a 50% chance that of the baby will be born with herpes. Generally, a cesarean birth is preferred to prevent the transfer of HSV. Babies born with the HSV virus could have a severe infection, suffer from retardation or die.

While herpes on the lips seems harmless enough, it has probably spread to the nerve cells in the body and the HSV is now lying dormant until another outbreak. The person with the HSV virus will be subject to outbursts of infection their entire lives. It may lay dormant for years or it may repeatedly flare up when its least expected. There are no drugs to kill HSV only to reduce the discomfort of the eruptions or slow down the repetition of the occurrences. The only recourse an infected person has is to be careful not the spread the disease and to use the current drug therapies to get relief when herpes flares up repeatedly.