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Are these sores likely to be herpes?

I was wondering if someone could help my understand these sores.

The timeline is as such:

1) just inside the opening of the nostril goes red (where there are hair follicles)
2) they have red bumps that go whitish / yellow
3) then it goes red again
4) then back to normal

The whole thing lasts probably around a week - no fever, temperature or anything.

I have now gotten these in the same place 3 times.

How likely is it to be HSV? I have not heard of many people having nasal hsv.
How likely is it to be nasal vestibulitis or staph or something similar?

I sent pictures to my doctor who prescribed fudicin and it seems to be helping. They thought it was probably a bacterial infection and normal skin bugs.

I want to a private doctor and he said its hsv so then I asked for a swab and waiting to hear back on the results.

I have hay-fever, blow my nose a lot, occasionally pluck nasal hair, and do catch myself picking my nose!
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207091 tn?1337709493
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You can get herpes sores in your nose. I've only ever known one person who did, and she also got them on her mouth at the same time. The only way to know is to get them swabbed, which you've done.

Herpes infects nerve groups, and oral herpes infects the trigeminal nerve, which affects most of the face, meaning you can get outbreaks on your mouth, nose and rarely, your eyes. If you do have it in your nose, it isn't any different than getting them on your mouth - same virus, hsv1, you just get your outbreaks in a bit of a different location. Don't freak out - about half the adult population has hsv1.

If the fudicin seems to be helping, that would seem to be bacterial, like staph or something, and not viral.

The only thing you can do is wait for your test results. If you've had the sores for more than 24-48 hours, and they've started to dry up, the results may not be accurate. You'll need to test again the next time it appears.

Let us know what your results say.
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Strange - it seems to be relatively rare to have cold sores on the nose. My online research seems to confirm this, but I understand it is of course possible.

I got them swabbed by PCR which I understand to be the most accurate way to get a test, is this correct? The doctor said if it came back positive it is 100% accurate, but if it comes back negative it doesn't mean I don't have it.

If it was indeed HSV does that mean future recurrences, if I indeed get any, will most likely be in the same place?

I can't say whether or not the fudicin is helping but they do appear to be calming down daily. How likely is it that bacteria like staph or something else re-appears in the same place 3 times? Could this be that I never got rid of it properly the first time and it just came back? I have never treated it before with anything prescribed, but sometimes would put sudocream or TCP on it.

Would an oral HSV infection not usually last 10-14 days and not be disappearing within a week?
Oh awesome - you got it PCR swabbed. That's the best. Yes, if it's positive, it's 100% accurate, but if it's negative, I'd say it's close to as accurate as you can get if you have symptoms. PCR swabs can pick up herpes on skin with no symptoms. If it were me, and I had symptoms, and my PCR came back negative, I'd be okay with saying it's not herpes causing my symptoms.

Typically - and you will come to hate that word if you have herpes - outbreaks recur in the same place. You can get them anywhere on your mouth or nose, but most often, it will be in the same place.

There is a whole science behind why people get recurring acne in the same place, and there is science even behind why people get recurring staph infections in their noses -

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/staph-infection-in-nose

https://www.healthline.com/health/staph-infection-in-nose

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2013/12/staph-can-lurk-deep-within-nose-study-finds.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6491045/

Google "recurring staph infection in nose" for a ton more on this.

Typically, an hsv1 outbreak lasts about 1-2 weeks, in total. I'd say the average is closer to a week, but of course, it varies.

Both Sudocream and TCP have antibiotic or antiseptic ingredients in them, so they fight bacterial infections. They might not totally kill off staph, but they could slow it down enough to let things heal and feel better. Or they could have just soothed the skin and you felt better from that. Hard to say without test results.

If your PCR swab comes back negative, ask if they'll swab you for staph and other bacteria the next time you get it. Don't put anything on it, and make sure you go in within 24-48 hours of it appearing.
Hey the lab messed up my test and accidentally tested me for COVID instead of HSV!! They are re-testing the original sample that was sent in so I will get an update in a few days on the results, but wanted to ask a few questions in the meantime.

1) How likely is it that my primary outbreak is in my nose?
2) This is maybe the third time I have had a similar thing in the same place (I think the other two were 3 and 6 months ago), if this is HSV would the sores likely be accompanied by flu symptoms?
3) I can't remember ever having a cold sore on my lip when I was younger, it just seems weird that it would now appear where it is now. Is this likely to be a new infection or an old one that has only started showing up recently?
4) I have read that sores initially only appear at the first point of contact - but this seems like an unusual place to first get it, which makes me think if it is HSV it is likely an old infection. Unless, I got it through performing culliningus on a girlfriend but again I have read the chances of this are so remote they are practically zero.

Sometimes I think my sores are HSV and other times I am not so sure - I cant find any good/vivid descriptions of the timelines and looks of each stage of oral HSV - do you know of any posts that have a good description?
Omg that's quite the error. I'm sorry that happened.

1 - You can get a primary anywhere in the nerve area. Everyone is different.

2 and 3 - you are assuming this is herpes. We don't know that yet. If it is, you may never know when and where and how you got it, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. Does it matter? You could have had it for years, and for some reason, are just getting outbreaks, or it could be a new infection. You will likely never know. Even if you did a blood test that came back positive, this has been happening for at least 6 months, and there is no blood test that can tell you how long you've had it.

Some people get flu-like symptoms (achy muscles in the area, a headache), some don't.

4 - Sores TYPICALLY appear at the point of infection. Not always, though. You wouldn't get it from performing cunnilingus.

What do you mean by "each stage"? And oral hsv1 acts and looks a lot like hsv2, or genital hsv1. The sores will look very similar. Of course, staph sores can look similar to herpes sores.

I know it's hard to not over-think this, and not worry. Hopefully, you'll get the correct answers soon.
Literally never heard of that happening, but at least I’m COVID free I guess!

I guess what I meant by each stage is more clarity on what the ‘weeping’ was, was the scabbing looks like etc. But I guess it doesn’t really matter. I will wait for my results and then I will know whether it was or not.

I guess my main questions now are relating to transmission rates etc. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information - even between the experts like Terri and Dr Handsfield.

For example Terri seems to say that 50% of  transmission to genitals are from oral and that a lot of it occurs when there is no active lesions (I.e just shedding).

Whereas Dr Handsfield seems to say so long as there’s no outbreak then oral sex is safe sex. Here is an extract from another post he replied to in 2009 “ However, unlike the situation with genital herpes and HSV-2, mostly HSV-1 is transmitted when there are obvious cold sores.  People with HSV-1 should be on the alert for symptoms of oral herpes and avoid kissing or performing oral sex on partners at those times.  Otherwise, the risk is low and you need not say anything to your sex partners.  Look at it this way:  Half of all adults in the US have HSV-1, and most them perform oral sex on their partners.  But the vast majority of those partners never catch genital HSV-1.  That shows you how low the risk is for any particular oral sex exposure.  The same is true for kissing -- probably not commonly transmitted in the absence of overt cold sores. ”

All slightly confusing if you ask me! Any clarity would be amazing.
Well, it's not conflicting, exactly. Terri's is more updated than Dr. Handsfield's, which is from 2009. You can trust both of them, but go with the more current info, and Terri is the one who focuses more on herpes. You don't need to compare and contract - they're both really good. Just look to Handsfield for other STD info, and Terri for herpes info. I'd trust either of them with my health, though.

And a lot does depend on whether or not your partner already has hsv1. It's just two different schools of thought.

The stages of herpes - I found this:  https://cdn2.momjunction.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Stages-Of-Cold-Sores.jpg Is that what you were looking for?  

So much goes into transmission (presence of a sore, any shedding and the viral load of that, status of your partner), and we don't have transmission stats for hsv1 like we do hsv2. The best thing you can do is avoid kissing or oral sex when you have a sore, if you have it. If your partner already has hsv1, they can't get it again. If they don't, you might consider taking an antiviral suppressively. We don't have studies on how much that helps hsv1, but it should at least prevent you from getting so many outbreaks, and 3 in 6 months is a lot.

I haven't heard of that happening, either, but I guess very cool for no covid. Yay :)

This may be obvious, but check your bills they come in, and make sure you aren't paying for the covid test you didn't ask for nor need.
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