Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is the main cause of genital herpes and oral herpes. The virus is too common, but not all people recognize they’ve had it as the virus never shows up symptoms. When it comes into the body, it stays dormant in the nervous system and will be reactivated by triggers. That’s why people with herpes often experience other outbreaks in the following years. While there’s no cure for HSV, treatments may help relieve its symptoms as well as prevent recurrences. However, herpes treatments vary from people depending on their symptoms. Thus, if you have herpes infection, your health- care provider will check and choose proper treatment for you. The article gives you more information about types of treatments for herpes.
Herpes is sometimes confused with other conditions. If you can’t be sure about the virus, here’re some signs you should notice.
For genital herpes, you may experience:
Genital herpes and genital pimples are sometime misunderstood. So it’s important to distinguish between them in order to seek proper treatment
Related: Herpes Tests: Everything You Need to Know About
For cold sores, you may suffer from:
Cold sores are mistaken for canker sores because these often occur on your mouth. However, while cold sores result in blisters outside your mouth, canker sores are inside the mouth.
Most herpes cases are prescribed antiviral medications to treat. The treatments help ease the severity of symptoms and shorten an outbreak. Thus, people often take medication as soon as they notice initial signals of an outbreak. Typically, there’re three available medicines for herpes, including:
These have been shown to give clinical benefits for genital herpes. Acyclovir works by preventing the virus from spreading to other cells. Valacyclovir is absorbed in the intestines and liver to acyclovir, so it may be used in lower doses than acyclovir. Famciclovir also helps inhibit the spread of HVS to other cells.
In addition, you can use them as creams to apply affected areas. Prosurx is also an antiviral cream for herpes. It contains powerful antiviral ingredients approved by the FDA. So, it destroys the virus at the root and prevenst it from coming back.
Related: 7 Tips to Treat Herpes and Prevent Future Outbreaks
Herpes treatments depend on symptoms in each stage. Before giving treatments, your doctor will check, test and ask detail information about your herpes infection. There’re three treatment categories for herpes infections
The first- time herpes outbreak is more severe than others, it often accompanies with painful symptoms and lasts longer. So, people with primary herpes infection should receive treatment to reduce the severity as well as shorten the healing time. The following regimens may be effective:
Related: What Are the Stages of Herpes Outbreaks?
Herpes can be reactivated when it meets triggers; therefore, people with the virus may experience several outbreaks a years. If you have less than 6 herpes outbreaks per year, you can consider taking medications. But, herpes medicines will work best when you take them as soon as the initial symptoms occur. These are treatment options you can take:
However, if you have more than 6 herpes outbreaks a year, you may need suppressive treatment to reduce the symptoms. The treatment helps reduce the number of herpes outbreaks by 70% to 80%. Your doctor may prescribe the treatment, including:
You may take the medicines daily until there’s no outbreak at all. But, the treatment only reduces recurrences, doesn’t stop viral shedding.
Besides antiviral medicines, alternative treatment can be used for herpes treatment. Lysine is often mentioned as a good treatment for herpes, but the evidence is still mixed. While some studies have investigated positive results, others have found none. Excitingly, honey is an alternative treatment that has more reliable evidence. It contains more natural antimicrobial properties that heal herpes symptoms well.
Though herpes isn’t curable, antiviral treatment can work well to reduce the severities as well as the number of herpes outbreaks. Depending on your symptoms, doctor will prescribe proper treatment for your herpes infections.
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