Questions about auto inoculation

[anonymous220]

Hello Terri,

I get cold sores on my lip about 2-4 times a year, and have never had these medically swabbed, but my doctor has explained what they are. (I imagine this is HSV1) I have had these for as far as I can remember and would guess that I have had them for at least 7-10 years. I am pretty confident I got them from kissing a girl who had a cold sore at the time. Because cold sores are so common and I get them so infrequently they are never usually a problem or something I think about in my daily life and I have never sought treatment other than using over the counter anti-viral cream. I almost always get them in the same spot on my lip but recently had two cold sores about 3 weeks apart, one of them which was in a different spot on my lip which got me a little worried and I began to overthink (I know these can appear anywhere on the mouth area and likely appeared due to stress messing with my immune system). These got me researching the internet and of course stressing myself out a little bit more. (Dang internet!) I had never even thought auto inoculation was possible until researching the internet. My questions for you are as follows:

1. I am worried about auto inoculation specifically when it comes to shaving. Is it safe to shave the genital area when I have a cold sore on my lip? For clarification, I am worried about micro cuts in the genital region and accidentally touching my cold sore and then spreading it to the genitals.

2. I am interested in a profession where shaving is required frequently. Is it safe to shave my face when I have a cold sore? Concerns are for the same reason in my first question. I am worried about nicking the cold sore and then spreading it to other parts of my face?

3. How likely is it that this could spread to the eyes?

Thanks in advance Terri!

[Terri Warren]

1. I am worried about auto inoculation specifically when it comes to shaving. Is it safe to shave the genital area when I have a cold sore on my lip? For clarification, I am worried about micro cuts in the genital region and accidentally touching my cold sore and then spreading it to the genitals.

This is not a concern. Once you have a well established infection in one location (which you do), it is highly unlikely you would get it in a new location on your body

2. I am interested in a profession where shaving is required frequently. Is it safe to shave my face when I have a cold sore? Concerns are for the same reason in my first question. I am worried about nicking the cold sore and then spreading it to other parts of my face?

It is safe to shave, yes, most definitely.

3. How likely is it that this could spread to the eyes?

I don’t have concerns about you spreading this to your eye but sometimes the virus travels on the top branch of the trigeminal nerve, where the cold sore virus lives, and infects the eye. But without any ocular symptoms, I wouldn’t worry about this at all. It is not common.

The main take away here is that once you have this virus well established (and you do), it is extremely unlikely that you would spread it to a new location on your body

Terri

[anonymous220]

Hello! I accidentally created a new thread but meant to follow up here. My final question is this:

My question is, is it safe to have oral to genital sex with my girlfriend when a cold sore is not present? I know there are not stats on transmission for oral cold sores, but what is the likelihood I would transmit this to her generals when I don’t have a cold sore?

[Terri Warren]

I believe that I just answered this under another post. Please let me know if you have further questions.

Terri

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