Ice provides immense relief to most types of pain, as it numbs the skin and dulls the pain receptors in the area.
Use a clean towel or washcloth each time you repeat the process and wash each item in hot soapy water to prevent the possible spread of the infection.
Many health food stores and drugstores carry these products. Make sure you buy an ointment or salve (not a capsule or tincture) and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. For propolis and any other topical home remedy, try a small amount on an unaffected area of skin and wait 24 hours (to ensure you don’t have any allergic reactions) before applying it to the site of your outbreak.
You can let the aloe gel or ointment dry and later wash off the crust. Reapply every 4 hours as needed.
Lysine is an amino acid (a protein “building block”) that may increase cholesterol and triglyceride levels, so check with a knowledgeable healthcare professional before taking it. You can also consume foods rich in lysine, such as fish, chicken, eggs, and potatoes.
Heat a cup of olive oil in a pot with a few sprigs of lavender and some beeswax. After cooling, apply the mixture on the infected area. The beeswax should help keep the oil mixture in place, but you may need to lie down to keep it on the sore.
Apply it with cotton swabs or cotton pads directly on your blisters. It can sting you at first, but soon you will feel a numbness on the affected area. Make sure while applying raw honey to your genitals to lie down to ensure the honey stays directly on the area and doesn’t drip off.
Oregano oil, calendula oil, or jojoba oil can all be applied alone or as a mixture.
Most tea tree oil that is available OTC is concentrated and distilled for maximum potency, so only a small amount is needed for the effects to take place.
Although some doctors recommend consuming coconut oil to help boost your immune system, use it sparingly. Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat, far higher than butter (64%), beef fat (40%), or lard (40%). Studies have not yet shown that its benefits outweigh the potential risk for heart disease that comes with eating too much saturated fat. [13] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School’s Educational Site for the Public Go to source
Warm some bathwater and add around 1/2 cup of epsom salt. Soak for at least twenty minutes.
Look for this product online and in specialty herbal medicine stores.
Examples of products available include like Organic’s St John’s wort salve and Bianca Rosa’s St John’s wort salve/ointment.
Only really severe cases of oral herpes will require these medications. [19] X Research source Zovirax is available in many dosage forms, such as tablets, syrups, injections, and as topical creams for the skin and eye. Each form should be used according to the patient’s medical condition and age. Creams can be applied directly to the blisters whether being in the mouth or on the genitals. Acyclovir, for example, is prescribed as 800 mg 5 times a day for 7-10 days. Ophthalmic cream is useful in case of herpes keratitis (herpes affecting the eye causing itching and discharge) to be applied once at bedtime. Tablets and injections are more useful when the systemic route is wanted. In severe cases, tablets are taken twice daily. The most common side effects with these medications are nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, dizziness and muscle aches.
Examples are Cataflam (Diclofenac salt) and Brufen (Ibuprofen) to be taken as tablets, syrups, effervescent sachets, suppositories, or topical creams. A typical adult dose can be one 50 mg cataflam tablet taken twice daily after meals. NSAIDs have some side effects, mostly gastrointestinal disorders like nausea, vomiting, peptic or gastric ulcers. Patients with renal or hepatic disorders should ask their doctor first before taking these medications. Take the lowest possible dosage to relieve your pain. Do not take NSAIDs for longer than two weeks without consulting your doctor. Chronic use of NSAIDs is linked to the formation of gastric ulcers and other health conditions. [20] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School’s Educational Site for the Public Go to source
Paracetamol is available as Tylenol or Panadol and can be taken as tablets, syrups, or suppositories. A typical adult dose can be two 500mg tablets to be taken up to 4 times daily after meals. Take the lowest possible dose to relieve your pain. Acetaminophen overdose can cause liver damage. [21] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School’s Educational Site for the Public Go to source It may also be linked to kidney disease. [22] X Research source
Xylocaine can be applied twice daily.
Echinacea supplements are widely available at most pharmacies, certain grocery stores, and is also available online. If using echinacea as a tea, drink 3-4 cups a day. If using it as a supplement, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Consult with your doctor before using echinacea if you have tuberculosis, leukemia, diabetes, connective tissue disorders, multiple sclerosis, HIV or AIDS, autoimmune disease, or liver disorders. Echinacea may interfere with these conditions.
For the treatment of herpes, the extracts of licorice roots can be effective. Alternatively, intake of two capsules of the extracts of the roots of licorice is equally beneficial. Talk with your doctor before using licorice root. Glycyrrhizin, the active ingredient in licorice, can cause pseudoaldosteronism, a medical condition that causes headaches, fatigue, high blood pressure, or even heart attacks. People with heart failure or heart disease, kidney or liver disease, high blood pressure, hormone-sensitive cancers, diabetes, low potassium, or erectile dysfunction should not take licorice.
If you are using it as a supplement, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Totally avoid processed, packaged and prepared foods. Only eat whole foods. These are foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. For instance, increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables that you eat. Limit red meat and increase the amounts of (skinless) poultry. Stick with complex carbohydrates, such as those found in whole grains, lentils, beans and in vegetables. Increase the nuts and seeds in your diet, as these contain high levels of minerals, vitamins, and healthy fats. Avoid processed or added sugar. This includes sugars added to processed foods like high fructose corn syrup. If you need a “sweet hit”, try using Stevia, an herb that can provide 60 times the sweetness of sugar, or eat fruit. In addition, avoid artificial sweeteners. Increase healthy fats. These are the omega-3 fats found in fish and olive oil. Drink wine in moderation, if you drink alcohol. Wine is part of the Mediterranean diet and, when consumed in moderation, may help contribute to overall health. [30] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U. S. National Institutes of Health Go to source
Other synthetic materials can’t absorb any of your sweat and can inflame, trigger and worsen your genital herpes. This goes for all synthetic materials, such as nylon, as well as silk. Avoid tight clothing, as it will trap sweat and further irritate your skin.
Use detergent soaps to wash your affected areas and hands, especially after each bowel movement, after applying your topical creams, after getting in contact with other people, and before eating.
Get 7-8 hours of sleep daily. Being fatigued wears down your immune system. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, like apples, cabbage, spinach, beetroot, bananas, papayas, carrots, mangoes, etc. Avoid sugar and junk foods. Drink only in moderation. Manage your stress levels. Consider taking up yoga or meditation to banish the potentiality of stress causing your next outbreak.
The virus present in the saliva can be transferred through sharing personal items, like toothbrushes, dental floss, makeup like lipstick or gloss, used utensils, used towels, or through direct contact like kissing. HSV-1 causes oral herpes, though some reports mention genital herpes arising from the HSV-1 strain. HSV-2 is generally reserved for genital herpes as semen or vaginal fluid can be the perfect mediums to transmit HSV-2. Condoms should always be used for anal, oral, or vaginal sex, whether the infected person is asymptomatic or not. That said, even condoms don’t guarantee that you or your partner won’t get infected but they do dramatically lower the risk. If you have any oral lesions, you should not give oral sex or receive oral sex from someone who has oral lesions without protection. If a pregnant woman is having a genital herpes outbreak during delivery, the baby has a higher chance of acquiring the infection than if the mother is asymptomatic during delivery. [33] X Research source
Sickness in the body can trigger the virus inside you to be active, causing some of the symptoms to appear. Stress or fatigue can put a load of tension on your cells, affecting many things in your body. Any kind of medication that can cause any degree of immunosuppression, like corticosteroids or chemotherapy for cancer, can give HSV a chance to be activated. Vigorous sexual intercourse can trigger genital herpes. A woman’s menstruation cycle can be a triggering factor, too, perhaps due to the hormonal disturbance, general discomfort, and weakness of the body.
In men, herpes blisters emerge on the penis, buttocks, anus, thighs, scrotum, inside the urethra, or inside the penis. In women, they appear on buttocks, cervix, vaginal area, anus and external genitals. [36] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world’s leading hospitals Go to source They are painful and itchy, especially in the first outbreak Genital herpes patients can experience painful urination or defecation due to the presence of the irritated blisters around the genitals or rectum. In some case, this will be accompanied by discharge from the vagina or penis. As HSV is a viral infection, flu-like symptoms can appear in some patients, such as having fever, headache, general weakness, and enlarged lymph nodes. Swollen glands (lymph nodes). These are usually located in the groin but can also be found along the neck.
However, the immune system can’t get rid of the virus entirely; each person with HSV will continue carrying it. That being said, the antibodies formed will help to prevent the patient from having another outbreak in the future. This remains true through both HSV-1 and HSV-2 and in instances where both are present. [37] X Research source
The first and most effective test is called a herpes culture. A swab from the fluid or discharge of the sore or blister is taken to exclude any differential diagnosis from any other conditions. In some cases, other blood tests can be performed in case of absence of blisters. These are supposed to measure the antibodies formed against HSV-1 and HSV-2. However, these tests are not always accurate. Therefore, it’s best to go for the culture.
