Women's Health Community

Dear Anon: Given the timing my best GUESS would be that you need to rule out a genital herpes lesion. If you have never been sexually active this is not the most likely explanation. However, it is classic for genital herpes to reappear during the premenstrual time. Whether this is due to a blunted immune system, or the increased stress of "PMS", herpes recurrences are more common around menstruation.

Herpes lesions can look like paper cuts, a canker sore, or a bad bug bit. Usually the lesion is preceded by an itchy, or burning sensation. The symptoms will go away (even without treatment) within five days or so. It is also possible to have had an unrecognized, super-mild, initial outbreak.

Bottom line, when you have the symptoms next time, see your GYN or clinic. They can give you the most "for sure" diagnosis after seeing the lesion. Your GYN can also choose to do a very accurate herpes test (eg HerpeSelect) which can be done at any time as it looks for blood antibodies suggesting prior herpes exposure.

Yours,
Jane

When I was 18 I had a sexual partner that gave me herpes simplex 1 on my vagina from a cold sore that he had on his lip. That's probably what I am breaking out with then. Is there anything I can do for it?

Dear lacee: Yes, one can get HSV type 1 (usually from a lip lesion) transferred to the genitals via oral sex. Interestingly, this mode of HSV transmission seems to yield fewer infections than genital to genital transmission.

The most reliable thing to do is to have your GYN give you a prescription for an antiviral medication. There are even some generic versions available.

There are some over the counter medications approved by the FDA for treatment of HSV on the mouth. Here is a recent citation on this fro the National Library of Medicine site:

J Esthet Restor Dent. 2012 Apr;24(2):103-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1708-8240.2011.00417.x. Epub 2011 Apr 27.
Treatment of herpes labialis: comparison of two OTC drugs and untreated controls.
McCarthy JP, Browning WD, Teerlink C, Veit G.
Source

Quadex Pharmaceuticals, LLC, Midvale, UT 84047, USA.
Abstract
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Rapid resolution of active herpes labialis lesions is of great benefit to the patient not only in terms of controlling pain and disfigurement, but in disruption of needed dental treatment.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:

Using three groups, this retrospective study investigated the time required to complete healing and the loss of discomfort.
METHODS AND MATERIALS:

Based on 180 completed surveys, responses were divided into three groups: One group used Abreva (GlaxoSmithKline, Parsippany, NJ, USA). The second used Viroxyn (Quadex Pharmaceuticals, West Jordan, UT, USA). The third group, the Control group, consisted of untreated lesions. All three groups were asked about past experiences with lesions treated using Abreva and/or Viroxyn, and lesions which were left untreated. In addition, 58 participants who had used Viroxyn only responded. Participants were provided standardized responses from which to choose.
RESULTS:

For both the time to healing and time to loss of discomfort, participants in both the Abreva and Viroxyn groups experienced significant improvements. Relative to the Abreva, Viroxyn provided significant improvement in both outcomes (all t-tests; all p < 0.001). Relative to the Control group, Viroxyn and Abreva offered an 8.0 and 4.0 day reduction in time to healing, respectively. Loss of discomfort occurred within 3.0 days and 1 hour for Abreva and Viroxyn, respectively.
CONCLUSION:

Relative to the untreated controls, both Abreva and Viroxyn offered a significant reduction in both the time to healing and time to loss of discomfort. Furthermore, Viroxyn offered a significant reduction relative to Abreva.

As you can note Lacee, this study was done on dental patients with oral herpes. I could not find any published studies on the use of these products for herpes on the vulva. I would urge you to talk with your GYN or clinic about your treatment options.

One last thought, if it is HSV, the virus takes advantage of a lower immune system to do its evil work. Whatever you can do to improve your immune system may be helpful (eg adequate sleep, good nutrition, stress management, etc.).

Yours,
Jane