014: #askalexandra: Can You Give Yourself Herpes?

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Ask, Answer and Get The Facts About Herpes

Welcome to episode 14 of Life With Herpes, I’m excited to share this episode with you! This is another of my favorites, the #askalexandra show - it’s your chance to have your question answered. I love that we get to interact, it’s one of the reasons these episodes are my favorites. Our question for episode 14 comes from Nick in St. Louis; he wants to know if you can give yourself herpes. Great question Nick! Ready to hear the answer? Join me for the answer on this edition of Life With Herpes.

 

More About Life With Herpes

 

The short answer to Nick’s question is yes you can give yourself herpes. As you know, the virus is spread from skin to skin contact, and it is also spread through semen, vaginal secretions, and saliva. And it can be passed on without you having an outbreak.

But here’s how you can pass it to yourself: during an outbreak when you touch an open sore and then you touch another part of your body, you can spread it.

So you want to be sure you wash your hands immediately and thoroughly after touching any area where you have an outbreak and open sores. To be sure you are washing your hands thoroughly sing happy birthday in your head, it takes about 20 seconds to do so. Washing for 20 seconds with warm water and soap will kill the virus and stop you from spreading it.

Also, especially ladies, look at your nails and keep them clean. Be sure to wash underneath your nails when you wash your hands, and remove any dirt trapped under your fingernails.

But if you don’t wash thoroughly and you touch a sore and then touch another part of yourself, like your mouth or your inner thigh area, you can pass it to yourself. Or if you have an open cut and you have the herpes virus on your hands then you touch the sore you will pass it to that part of your body. Obviously, you can also pass it to someone else in this way. If you have an open sore and don't wash after you touch it then you shake someone else's hand you can pass it on to them through the skin to skin contact of your handshake.

So be conscientious about washing your hands when you have an outbreak, and clean your hands after touching any sores you have on your body.

Tweetable:  “This virus has been around since man has walked the planet.” - Alexandra Harbushka



Thanks to Nick for this great question! If you want to be like Nick and have your questions answered go to the Life With Herpes home page and look for the #askalexandra section, click on it and fill out the fields with your question! You can remain anonymous if you’d like, just let me know. Otherwise, I’ll only use your first name and city like Nick in St. Louis!

Thanks for joining me on another episode of Life With Herpes, see you next time.

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