aroraborealis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aroraborealis) wrote2011-02-16 03:31 pm
aroraborealis) wrote2011-02-16 03:31 pm
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Dude, before I kissed you, I read the manual on how to date you, which as I recall explained your HSV history and policies in some detail. It was awesome. (Not even in the same ballpark as how awesome it was to actually kiss you, but that's a different matter.)
You're kind of my poster boy on this. I've often quoted you as saying all reasonable barriers are required with you, except that you make an exception for kissing, because that would just be too much to give up.
You're kind of my poster boy on this. I've often quoted you as saying all reasonable barriers are required with you, except that you make an exception for kissing, because that would just be too much to give up.
Any theories about the difference between the 24% HSV-1+ above and the 50-90% I hear quoted by medical professionals for adult Americans?
Is it that people don't get tested? Or is this population atypical? (ha ha ha.) Or ... what?
I'd be interested in seeing the results of a poll to draw that out.
What is your HSV-1 status:
[ ] positive, according to a blood test or swab of an active lesion
[ ] positive, I assume, because I get cold sores (but I haven't had a medical test to confirm it's HSV-1 instead of HSV-2)
[ ] negative, according to a blood test in the past five years
[ ] unknown/other
Is it that people don't get tested? Or is this population atypical? (ha ha ha.) Or ... what?
I'd be interested in seeing the results of a poll to draw that out.
What is your HSV-1 status:
[ ] positive, according to a blood test or swab of an active lesion
[ ] positive, I assume, because I get cold sores (but I haven't had a medical test to confirm it's HSV-1 instead of HSV-2)
[ ] negative, according to a blood test in the past five years
[ ] unknown/other
(Don't try to reply with data here, there wont be enough results to matter. Maybe aroraborealis will do a followup real poll, at some point.)
Nope, I've never tested positive for either, and neither has one of my partners. (The other had what appeared to be one fluke positive but has been consistently negative before and since.)
No, I just assume that despite avoiding kissing random people with cold sores, I will get them at some point in my life. I like kissing too much to give it up. I don't think it's that complicated.
That said, I'm really sorry that my original entry was phrased as if I wanted a merit badge or a cookie. I was basically trying to talk about OTHER peoples' status, not my own (except in relation to theirs); I promise I'm not collecting a list of worthy candidates. :)
That said, I'm really sorry that my original entry was phrased as if I wanted a merit badge or a cookie. I was basically trying to talk about OTHER peoples' status, not my own (except in relation to theirs); I promise I'm not collecting a list of worthy candidates. :)
[ ] positive, I assume, even though I do not get cold sores, because I live in the United States of America and am over the age of six (but I haven't had a medical test)
This is a "no" according to the definitions of this poll, and I'm sure that's why the difference you describe.
This is a "no" according to the definitions of this poll, and I'm sure that's why the difference you describe.
My husband is HSV-1--positive, and this is his method. The minute his lip starts to tingle, we are a No-Kissing Zone.
I made the same mistake! I said "yes" to that question because I thought "shared mouth activities" was some euphemism for oral sex that would make sense to me if I thought about it, and I didn't want to think about it because I liked how little sense it made.
everyone should have a manual :)
i dated at least one person with an extensive set of notes, and helped write one for another.
care and feeding guides are especially important for some.
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i dated at least one person with an extensive set of notes, and helped write one for another.
care and feeding guides are especially important for some.
#
Hmmm. My very small recent sample turned up a large fraction of people who assumed like you until they got tested and found they were negative. This is what provoked my question.
having read the above and the below, with the understanding that it means have to assume you are the "last person standing" (i keep thinking zombies, omega man, i am legend)... it might happen, but EVENTUALLY is not now, nor soon, hopefully...
haven't had a mouth sore that wasn't directly dentally related (ie: abrasions, cuts) that i'm aware of, and tested out on everything my HMO would provide...
barriers are my friends. hugs are wonderful. i long to kiss more, but that's just not an option usually.
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haven't had a mouth sore that wasn't directly dentally related (ie: abrasions, cuts) that i'm aware of, and tested out on everything my HMO would provide...
barriers are my friends. hugs are wonderful. i long to kiss more, but that's just not an option usually.
#
i think mostly my HMO deals with people who are in the car care mode of "fix it", they don't want to know why or how...
now with my car, i want to see the parts and hear the complete details, including if there's rust, and preventive and pro-active things. applies to my body. sometimes it takes the doctor a little bit to "wake up" as they coast too often without having to talk. the guy i have is/was a teaching doctor, so he actually seems delighted to converse with someone, even the lay person, who is making SOME effort :) i've learned more than a few things... and sometimes challenge them :> which hopefully makes their day better too.
when i explained to them at the time i was planning on entering a long term r-ship with someone, and we wanted ALL the tests just for peace of mind, he explained that some of the tests might NOT give us peace (like HSV), because of prevalence rates, lack of clarity on what results MEAN, etc, etc. after all that, he took multiple-samples, send them off, and i got a detailed letter sometime later with lots of negatives, plus the usual eat better, sleep, drink water, ... :)
and information is good! i have an perhaps more than selfish interest in those near and dear to me as well. myself included :>
#
now with my car, i want to see the parts and hear the complete details, including if there's rust, and preventive and pro-active things. applies to my body. sometimes it takes the doctor a little bit to "wake up" as they coast too often without having to talk. the guy i have is/was a teaching doctor, so he actually seems delighted to converse with someone, even the lay person, who is making SOME effort :) i've learned more than a few things... and sometimes challenge them :> which hopefully makes their day better too.
when i explained to them at the time i was planning on entering a long term r-ship with someone, and we wanted ALL the tests just for peace of mind, he explained that some of the tests might NOT give us peace (like HSV), because of prevalence rates, lack of clarity on what results MEAN, etc, etc. after all that, he took multiple-samples, send them off, and i got a detailed letter sometime later with lots of negatives, plus the usual eat better, sleep, drink water, ... :)
and information is good! i have an perhaps more than selfish interest in those near and dear to me as well. myself included :>
#
Fascinating.
Seems that very few people with oral HSV-1 give much thought to disclosing, and few people without it care.
If you put up the same poll with genital HSV-2, I bet you'd see dramatically different results.
I wonder why?
Seems that very few people with oral HSV-1 give much thought to disclosing, and few people without it care.
If you put up the same poll with genital HSV-2, I bet you'd see dramatically different results.
I wonder why?
I'm curious why you disclose always before oral sex, but only sometimes before kissing, when HSV-1 is more easily transmitted to mouths than to genitalia?
I had a doctor recently tell me, as part of her standard safe sex lecture, but with remarkable emphasis, that a person with a cold sores should be especially careful not to perform oral sex on a woman, because the worst infection site for HSV is female/genital. She was fairly graphic, too.
Stigma?
People are stupid (irrational)?
Yeah, from what I've heard, there's not much rational basis for such a difference.
People are stupid (irrational)?
Yeah, from what I've heard, there's not much rational basis for such a difference.
HSV-2 yes. HSV-1 genitally tends not to be so much, at least according to my reading. HSV strains in their "non-preferred" sites tend to be less bad than in their preferred sites, and also harder to transmit.
Not all "cold sores" are HSV-1 though. Most are, but since they can occur from HSV-2, unless you KNOW which strain it is, you can't assume.
Not all "cold sores" are HSV-1 though. Most are, but since they can occur from HSV-2, unless you KNOW which strain it is, you can't assume.
Largely because the odds that someone has previously had oral contact with HPV is far higher than the odds that they have had genital contact.
The odds are catching the same strain in one location that you already caught in another are **extremely** small. (They are protected by the same anti-bodies) So if they have been exposed orally already, then they are protected orally and genitally. The odds that they are vulnerable to infection are pretty much the same regardless of where their exposure was...but the odds of transmission are higher orally than genitally. So you are warning the group with the lowest likelihood of catching it instead of the highest.
(I assume when you say HPV you mean HSV-1)
(I assume when you say HPV you mean HSV-1)
Yeah. There's no rational basis whatsoever, and yet people treat oral and/or HSV-1 with a great big shrug and yawn, and genital and/or HSV-2 like leprosy.
Yes, HSV-1's what I meant. Damned 3-letter acronyms with the same first and last letter.
There are also elements of "you talk about these things before sex" and "genital HPV seems like a far worse thing to get than oral".
There are also elements of "you talk about these things before sex" and "genital HPV seems like a far worse thing to get than oral".
Do please note, though, that *if* I've had a recent outbreak or feel one coming on, I do disclose before kissing.
"genital HPV [er..HSV yes?] seems like a far worse thing to get than oral"
And this, right here, is the heart of the issue I have. Why?
HSV-1 genitally is generally milder/less painful than oral and harder to transmit.
It isn't just you, lots of people seem to think this. Sore mouth = ok. Sore pussy = bad. I don't really get the distinction.
And this, right here, is the heart of the issue I have. Why?
HSV-1 genitally is generally milder/less painful than oral and harder to transmit.
It isn't just you, lots of people seem to think this. Sore mouth = ok. Sore pussy = bad. I don't really get the distinction.
From a purely practical point of view, I don't have to put clothes on my mouth. And it's fairly easy to avoid things rubbing against it. And it is much easier not to touch it. I would also rather have an HSV blister on my lip than on, say, my armpit or the back of my knee.
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