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HSV1 on the Nose

Hello Community: I have had HSV1 since I am very little (surely did not acquire it via sex). However, I have not had an outbreak since at least 2014 and when I have had it, it is always around lips, mostly the lower lips, or in the skin right below the lower lips. I do believe I have had episodes on the upper lips, but I do not recall.
I have a lesion on the nose, right in between the nostril. I believe I acquired it by wiping with paper towel about 5 days ago, while running on the treadmill at the gym. This was on a Saturday or a Sunday (most likely Saturday). I generally bring my own towels but these days I used paper towel to wipe the sweat and mucous as I run.
By Monday, I noticed the skin had open up a bit in two areas, like a cold sore. However, I did not feel the typical tingling sensation of a cold sore. By Tuesday, the skin  was red and tender and by Wednesday I had formed a scab which was dried. I am worried because I had an counter with my partner (we are heterosexual) on Wednesday. We kissed and I am pretty sure her skin did not rub below my nose. However, my paranoia makes me feel I could have passed HSV1 onto her. Reiterating, I am unsure whether I had blisters before seeing the lesion open, but I do not recall a blister.
I surely do not recall the typical tingling sensation I feel prior to a cold sore outbreak, nor has it tingled at any moment after. I am not fully healed because of the location and I get that area wet at least twice a day, when I brush and shower.
Thanks for reading me,
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207091 tn?1337709493
COMMUNITY LEADER
Okay, so first, you didn't get hsv1 from sex. You probably got it from a well-meaning adult who kissed you when you were a kid, or you got it when you and another child shared toys at the stage when you were putting everything in your mouth. That's how most people get it.

In any case. since the nose is a new location for you, are you sure it's an hsv1 outbreak? It sounds like it could be, but other than not getting the tingling, does it feel similar to your other ones?

Has your partner ever tested for hsv1? About half the adult population has it, and about 90% of them won't get any symptoms. She can get a type specific IgG blood test to find out, if it matters. If she has it, you can't give her something she already has.

So assuming she doesn't have it, and this is hsv1, it's possible that you could transmit it to her, since you had active symptoms at the time. Is she aware that you have hsv1? And surely she saw the sores?

If you have oral hsv1, this means you can get sores in your mouth and nose area. It also means that you can transmit it to someone else's mouth or to their genitals if you give them oral sex. The chances are highest with symptoms, but you still can without symptoms. Hsv1 hasn't been studied as much as hsv2, so we don't know exact transmission rates, but you should know it's a possibility.

I'm not at all suggesting that you stop kissing your girlfriend or stop giving her oral sex, if that's something you do and you both enjoy. I'm just letting you know the risk.

Ask your gf to get tested. That could ease a lot of your worries.
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I need to have that conversation with her (we are not in a long-standing committed relationship) but I am planning on talking to her today about it. As far as whether she saw sore, at the moment, I had a scab, not sores. That time, we only kissed and there was no oral. In fact, I feel bad as I let myself go in the waking up moments, when we kissed. I had not touched her all night before or during bed. I do not know whether she has ever been tested for HSV, I know she tested for STD in general.

"In any case. since the nose is a new location for you, are you sure it's an hsv1 outbreak?" I am not sure as I did not have the usual tingling sensation I feel prior to, nor do I recall having a blister, prior to the skin opening up. I can tell you that in the past, when I had an outbreak, I was very certain of what was happening. Not this time... My partner is more paranoid than I am which is why I figured, let me post in the forum and maybe someone experienced in the area can give clarity. Thanks so much for your response.
Also: I have read on other places that HSV1 can be passed via Saliva but they do not explain whether the saliva carries the virus within, or transports it from an infected region on the mouth.
I'm wondering if you didn't have some kind of irritation or reaction to the paper towels, and it's not an hsv1 outbreak. I can't say for certain, of course, but it could be lots of things besides hsv1. Obviously, it could be hsv1, so you do need to have a talk with your partner.

You could have touched something with bacteria, like staph, and then touched your nose.

Hsv1 isn't transmitted via saliva. There's some thought about whether it happens when saliva comes into contact with a sore, but really, if you're coming into contact with someone's saliva, you're coming into contact with the sore, even if it's by kissing, sharing drinks or utensils (and this is a really, really inefficient way to transmit hsv1 - you're far more likely to get a cold or the flu this way), or oral sex.

Gotchu! It could be myriad things. And indeed I am having that talk. A new lesson learned! I guess I wasn’t as freaked out at first because I didn’t experience the symptoms of hsv1. Another lesson learned is not to use the towels which I place on the cup holders of the treadmill. I can see how a number of thing could be picked up from there, particularly with my sweat!

By the way! Do you or anyone happen to know how usual it would be to have an hsv1 outbreak without the usual symptoms like tingling?
I don't have a stat for you on that, but really, anything is possible, especially since it's in a new place for you. If it was in the same place you always get it, and you didn't get all your normal signs, I'd be more suspicious of that. Since it's in a different place, it may act differently.

Good luck with your talk. Let me know how it goes, or if you have any other questions. :)
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