Help! Is this herpes? Blister outbreak

you can only bloodtest if you have an outbreak. otherwise, its pointless. also, dont need to worry about herpes as its have no health complications and only occasional breakouts

I got the HSV IgG blood test right when the crop of blisters appeared, but it came back negative. I'm thinking if I was having an outbreak for a couple days and then an immune reaction (lymph node swell for two days), I should have started making antibodies to make the test at least borderline or equivocal, but it was negative. My best hope is it is shaving rash as they didn't become oozy sores??

IGG immune usually takes about a month - 2 to be produced

Thanks for the response.

How are you sure it is almost certainly herpes?

I had a negative hsv 2 blood test at the time of this breakout and in a monogamous relationship for 9 months.

I found my blisters resolved without sores, and in fact the wound in the middle seemed to have a "honey coloured crust" typical of strep/staph infection. Can these sorts of blisters form in other skin infections? I did a dry shave a couple days before with a new razor then rubbing from sex afterwards.

Of course eager for any hope this is not herpes, appreciate any views!

Hi there. To start, never accept a visual diagnoses, especially from someone online 😉

That said, your picture looks like textbook herpes. Clusters of blisters on the surface of the skin, that open and produce a clear to honey color liquid, that dries and creates a crust prior to the sores resolving, is exactly how herpes "typically" appears and resolves.

The fact that there is no pus further moves things away from a bacterial infection being the answer. Again, that doesn't mean it is not, don't settle until you have a diagnosis via blood or culture.

If this is your first outbreak, your blood work SHOULD be negative. Blood tests for herpes cannot test for the active virus, but rather for antibodies to the virus, which can take up to 4 months to develop. The fact that your blood is negative at this point can't tell you anything.

As for monogamy, nothing here suggests otherwise. Many discordant (one positive, one negative) couples can go years, even decades, without passing the virus. Some NEVER pass it. A long standing monogamous relationship does not remove a newly acquired herpes infection from the list of possibilities. Also, the fact that you shaved before sex and then had this appear, makes sense. Your first outbreak will typically be where the virus entered your body. If you had just shaved, that left your body with microscopic (or maybe plainly visible) cuts that make it easier for the virus to enter the body.

Have you ever had a cold sore? What about your partner? Has your partner been tested for HSV? Keep in mind that genital infections are split these days between HSV1 and 2, so make sure that you're testing for both at the appropriate time. If you already get oral cold sores, that leaves a negligible chance of also acquiring it genitally.

It may very well not be herpes, but again it is quite textbook.

One other thing I forgot to add. Have your partner get tested now. Oftentimes people who have been tested assume they've been tested for "everything", but herpes is often not included.

Since you have been with him monogamously for 9 months, if he tests negative, in combination with your negative test, then that's conclusive (that would mean your body had a minimum of 9+ months to develop antibodies from any previous partner(s) so you could feel assured of the results). If he tests positive, that still doesn't give you 100% certainty, but it certainly makes it more likely than not that what you experienced was herpes. Lastly, if you have symptoms, get into the doctor the same day if you can, and request a swab of the fluid in one of the blisters. Swabs look for the virus itself, and can therefore give you a quicker answer. The only issue with swabs is that while positives are definitive, a negative can also mean there simply wasn't enough of the active virus to be picked up.

Thank you, you have been so helpful in your suggestions and generous with your time in replying. The lesions have almost completely disappeared, there's no more fluid to swab so I missed that window, but I will be on the lookout for another one if any. It's just strange that I have never had a breakout like that, and before this point was monogamous for 9+ months. I'm hoping if my hsv 2 test was negative a few weeks ago, that it's hsv 1 or another kind of harmless skin infection because a positive hsv 2 test would suggest "recent infection" and my mind would be boggled as to where it could have come from. I'm positive my partner has been faithful to me. He was a virgin before me.

Is there any telltale signs of differences between genital hsv 1 and 2? Is hsv 1 milder and not oozy like hsv 2 tends to be?

Good news, you can pretty much rule out HSV-2. Oral HSV-2 Is extremely rare. If he was a virgin, and your test came out negative, since you would only have been exposed by any prior partners 9+ months ago, that tells you with high confidence that you don’t have HSV-2. That said, and this is more for any future readers than your own situation, blood testing negative shortly after an outbreak means nothing. Absolutely nothing. Blood tests are looking for antibodies. You cannot conclude your negative results to mean that you are truly negative until 12-16 weeks from infection.

Back to you 😃 So there is actually nothing at all "strange" about your situation. This happens alllll of the time. My guess is that you acquired HSV-1 genitally. Oral HSV-1 is more common than not. Most people in the world have it, and most people get it as children. What this means is that you can contract it genitally, even if you were BOTH virgins, because a childhood oral infection can be spread to a partner genitally (but only if you don't already have HSV-1 orally yourself, hence why it's important to know if you've ever had a cold sore).

HSV-1 and 2 are not visually distinguishable, but the good news is that genital HSV-1 is less "active" than oral HSV-1 or genital HSV-2. Many people have their initial outbreak, and then never have one again.

An important question though, have you ever had a cold sore? What about your partner? The most common herpes symptom is no symptom at all, so lack of a cold sore doesn't mean someone doesn't have HSV-1, but if either of you has had one, that may give you some more answers.

I'm happy to help! And again, nothing substitutes diagnostic testing, so while it looks just like herpes, it could be something else. Do you recall if you received oral sex in the days before the blisters appeared? Lastly, check out reddit/herpes, there is a wealth of information, and you can find many, many answers there, and you will find that your situation truly isn't uncommon!

Sorry, one correction. I meant to say 12-16 weeks from potential exposure.

You can't upload pictures from your phone, you have to be on a computer.