Single sore heals and returns

[smaine]

I have had genital herpes for 20 years. I recently started taking a course of valtrex as I wanted to avoid an outbreak at a stressful time. A single sore has developed in my perineum area. It is a small sore that starts and heals in a couple of days but the lump/swelling remains and a couple of days later the sore begins again. I am very worried about this and find it difficult to stop checking and can’t leave the skin alone which I know will cause irritation.
Very early on when I had herpes, i was taking aciclovir. I had a similiar sore that occurred in the same way for 12 months. It would heal but form a new sore almost immediately. It spontaneously resolved after 12 months and I have never had the same type of occurrence again until now. I am healthy, no immune disorder but worry that it is resistant. I was only taking Valtex for a week when this lesion occurred. Is there anything I can do to break the cycle and stop it recurring like this. I do find it hard to not focus on it and to leave the skin alone. Could it be me irritating the skin that is causing this. Have you ever heard of this type of outbreak before

[Terri Warren]

How were you diagnosed with herpes?
Have you seen a clinician to have this particular sore swabbed?
Herpes lesions do NOT last this long, I suspect that something entirely different is going on here..
I would strongly recommend that you see someone about this lesion -not everything in the genital of people with herpes ARE herpes.

Terri

[smaine]

Can you suggest what else it might be? I have not had any other sexual partners? In my experience of herpes it seems very much like herpes. It occurred at the site of a hair follicule. The skin is swollen like a small pea sized lump and about every 4 or 5 days, i can see a very small amount of fluid coming from a pin-pricked size hole. This then heals over but the lump remains and a few days later, it opens slightly again.

Is there any chance it could be resistant to aciclovir? As I said , my immune system is normal. Would the constant checking contribute to it continuing? I’m sorry for all my questions. I am not in a location at the moment where I could get it swabbed.

Thank you

[Terri Warren]

This just does not sound like herpes to me. It could be a small cyst under the skin – I think a dermatologist would be an excellent option to try to figure this out – they might just biopsy it off.
I seriously doubt that even if you were resistant to acyclovir (which is really really rare) that you would have an outbreak tht would last for this long Even without any treatment it would likely have gone away by now.

Terri

[smaine]

When herpes heals is it possible for the virus to remain in the skin and then recur from that point rather than nerves in the back?

I really feel this is herpes and it is similiar to a sore I had many years ago. There is a small , almost pin prick size hole where I can see a little fluid. It then heals over but the swellling remains and then it opens again. Could the constant abrasion of the skin through checking be causing this?

[Terri Warren]

No, not with herpes. Herpes heals. Again, I seriously doubt that this is herpes, but the way to find out is to have it swab tested. If it has been going on this long then perhaps in the near future you will be near a location where you can have it swab tested.

You have my opinion about this. Lab testing will be the next step to finding out what is going on here. I have never in 33 years of practice seen herpes present in exactly this way.

Terri

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