Hi Trisha, and other suffers,
I get to see Herpes Simplex nearly weekly as a dentist.
It can also affect other parts of the mouth than just the lip. It will usually affect part of the nerve distribution on any part of the lip, hard palate and "attached" gingiva, ie., the gums. Canker sores affect the mucous membranes of the inside of the lip, cheeks, under the tougue.
It will usually affect KERATINIZED tissue rather than mucosa but can affect mucosa as well.
About 97% of the American population has antibodies to the virus...they have been exposed and infected. Not all these people will have fever blisters.
Herpes Simplex is rather contagious. I will reschedule a patient with an active sore and will not perform any dental surgery if a sore is present.
The virus has developed an infection strategy that is very effective....the affected part first tingles, itches, feels funny...the prodromal stage. Then you get vesicles filled with fluid that is FULL of virus particles. It is nearly impossible for the affected person to avoid touching the site. Then they may touch other parts of their body potentially transmitting it to that part as well...ie., the eyes. Surface may also become contaminated and if another person makes contact soon enough, they can become infected as well. Finally, a scab is formed that looks awful for about 3-5 days. Large lesions can scar or discolor in the sun.
The first infection is called Primary Herpetic Gingivostomatitis. It is miserable. Usually half the mouth is affected. There may be a low grade fever, malaise, sometimes cold like symptoms, severe pain of the gums, teeth, lips, etc. This lasts for about 10 days and goes away. Some infections may spread into the throat or affect the eyes.
You will want to avoid spicy, or salty foods and citrus or acid foods, cruncy foods. It is possible to get a secondary bacterial infection.
Following the primary infection, recurrent infections will occur...usually of the lips or gums. These recurrent infection usually affect the same place each time and as was mentioned by DocVikingo, can be triggered by a variety of causes.
Herpes can affect other parts of the of the body...dentists have to worry about Herpetic Whitlow of the fingers and cannot work when infected. Kissing, exchanging eating or drinking utensils can infect others.
As stated by others, Herpes Type I and Herpes Type II can cross infect and appear to be the same. Now how do you suppose that this happens???? Just don't do IT when infected..OK?!
Along with the previously stated treatments, a new medication called Abreva is available and for some, is effective.
Some people get good control of recurrent infections by taking L-lysine from the vitamin shelf at the pharmacy or grocery. It MUST be L-lysine not D-lysine. You take it like a vitamin, daily for prevention. Many patients go from an attack a month to 2 or 3 a year. For others, Lactobacillus milk or tablets can work.
The neatist treatment is something I use at the office...ready for this?...A RED LASER POINTER!
You got to the Office Depot or Best Buy and find the cheapest Red Laser Pointer. Try to find one that uses AAA batteries rather than the mercury silver batteries. These pointers are in the 640-680 nM wavelength and less than .5 mW. DO NOT SHINE IT INTO YOUR EVES or at a POLICE OFFICER! They can harm your eyes permanently, and the police will think you are using a laser site and HE MAY ARREST YOU OR DO BODILY HARM!!!!!
As soon as you feel a cold sore coming on, you expose the affected area for a total of 30 seconds for ANY PORTION OF THE LESION...A LARGE LESION WILL REQUIRE A MINUTE OR MORE OF EXPOSURE. Do it on once a day...more exposure is LESS effective...I don't know why.
This treatment is also about 70% effective for "canker" sores...so if you get ulcers from your regulator, the laser may help.
Now the "bad news"...this treatment is NOT FDA approved. Nobody in their right mind is going to do the testing necessary to create a medical device out of a laser pointer. There ARE, however, laser devices now in use for other ailments that use exactly the same wavelength that are approved.
My hygienist suffers from these sores and is forever "stealing" my pointers. If she "treats" the area during it's prodromal stage, it will go away without ever producing the vesicles or scab.
What is nice about this "trick" treatment is that you are simply using red light...the least energetic and non-ionizing to treat the sore. Most of the antiviral medications have side effects and can affect the liver. If used too often, the medication become less effective and resistant viruses are produces. The light has none of these drawbacks.
If any of you reading this try the laser, let me know how it works. It would be neat to collect some data on efficacy.
I'm not nuts!
Good luck.
Laurence Stein, DDS
:doctor:
Disclaimer
(No representations are made that in any way offer a diagnosis, treatment or cure for any illness or condition, either discussed or implied. Answers to questions are offered as information only and should always be used in conjunction with advice from your personal diving physician/dentist. I take no responsibility for any conceivable consequence, which might be related to any visit to this site.)
For further reading on laser biostimulation, try:
http://www.laser-world.com/lllt/science.htm#4 This article is NOT specific to Herpes infection. However, it mentions wound healing and biostimulation by red laser. It is thought that the light increases the formation of collagen and stimulates the mitochondria to process energy better. The net result is more rapid healing.
though sometimes I go off the deep end.
