I would advise you to keep doing massage therapy exactly as you have been doing! When we talk about viral shedding, that is shedding from the genitals. People don’t shed from their hands or arms or legs or thighs. They shed from their genitals, and assuming your genitals are not involved in your massage therapy, then your clients are at zero risk! First of all we know that the vast majority of people who are HSV 2 positive shed virus – the numbers are higher than the study that you quote here. I would say the number is over 95% when you use the most sensitive test to look for virus and you look over a four month period. The virus lives in the area innervated by the sacral ganglia, which covers the area from approximately waist to mid-thigh and down the back of the leg. It is not in the arms or hands or face or chest unless a person has herpetic whitlow, which I really think you would already know because you would have blistery lesions on your hands. You tested and got a positive value but you’ve never had symptoms of genital herpes that you recognize. My guess is that you will recognize symptoms soon. Remember that outbreaks can occur on the buttocks, around the anus, the lower belly. But only the genital shed virus because the skin there is very thin and thus the virus can get out easily.
I repeat that you are NOT a risk to your clients. I actually have several patients who are massage therapists, ironically, and for none of them is their herpes a concern, professionally. Zero concern.
You’ve got two more questions to ask me – feel free!
Terri