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Red Mark Left Over From Cold Sore. Still Contagious?
Hello Doctors,
As my questions in the past certainly indicate, I am rather concerned about STDs/HSV. Presently, my elderly grandmother is staying with my family. From time to time she gets cold sores. From her perspective, it isn't a big issue, which, I suppose, is true. But, she also has the habit of constantly touching her mouth and not washing her hands afterward; I've seen her subsequently touching all manner of things, including the television remote, various things around the kitchen, light switches, etc., and she insists on hand washing much of the dishes, glasses, cutlery, etc. in the house. Given my general anxiety about cold sores, this makes life a bit uncomfortable for me.
Her most recent cold sore developed three weeks ago (October 21, 2013) and that is when I first noticed a blister(s) on her lip. This subsequently developed into a sore and scabbed over the course of two weeks. Needless to say, I went out of my way to avoid any direct contact with her sore and also any contact with things she had touched. This is especially difficult given that we share not only the house but also a bathroom.
In any event, the sore appeared to heal, but slightly raised reddish mark has remained where the sore used to be. Now, I understand that a person with HSV1 can shed the virus asymptomatically and that it is less of a concern than when an obvious blister/lesion is present, so there is always that reduced risk at play. What I am wondering is whether this red mark that is left over from her cold sore (21 days after the initial blister developed) would likely still be contagious or whether the cold sore has likely healed and this is some kind of normal scar that can be expected to be left over, and whether I can now forget about this issue and go about things normally.
Thank you for your help.
As my questions in the past certainly indicate, I am rather concerned about STDs/HSV. Presently, my elderly grandmother is staying with my family. From time to time she gets cold sores. From her perspective, it isn't a big issue, which, I suppose, is true. But, she also has the habit of constantly touching her mouth and not washing her hands afterward; I've seen her subsequently touching all manner of things, including the television remote, various things around the kitchen, light switches, etc., and she insists on hand washing much of the dishes, glasses, cutlery, etc. in the house. Given my general anxiety about cold sores, this makes life a bit uncomfortable for me.
Her most recent cold sore developed three weeks ago (October 21, 2013) and that is when I first noticed a blister(s) on her lip. This subsequently developed into a sore and scabbed over the course of two weeks. Needless to say, I went out of my way to avoid any direct contact with her sore and also any contact with things she had touched. This is especially difficult given that we share not only the house but also a bathroom.
In any event, the sore appeared to heal, but slightly raised reddish mark has remained where the sore used to be. Now, I understand that a person with HSV1 can shed the virus asymptomatically and that it is less of a concern than when an obvious blister/lesion is present, so there is always that reduced risk at play. What I am wondering is whether this red mark that is left over from her cold sore (21 days after the initial blister developed) would likely still be contagious or whether the cold sore has likely healed and this is some kind of normal scar that can be expected to be left over, and whether I can now forget about this issue and go about things normally.
Thank you for your help.
sir will u pls answer to my concern I posted few mins back.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Short answer- you can forget about your grandmother's recent cold sore and more forward. When the epithelial surface is healed (skin is intact and no longer open) the lesion is back to baseline and residual redness does not suggest elevated infectivity. As you point out however, that does leave the possibility of asymptomatic shedding of the virus.
More importantly, and once again, from your description it appears that you continue to worry more than you should about inadvertent transmission of infection on your grandmother's hands or in relationship to touching something that she had touched before, perhaps in the bathroom, or the kitchen, at TV remote or elsewhere. This is simply not a common enough event to worry about and further, should it happen it is far from the end of the world. Over half the people you know and interact with have HSV-1 and a substantial number of them are sure to have HSV-2 as well- so what. For some reason you are assigning far too much importance to the possibility of getting this infection, even though non-sexual means. I'm not sure why this is but I sincerely believe that this is something that it is in your best interest to discuss with a mental health professional both from a counseling perspective or perhaps as an indicator of OCD. When these sorts of inappropriately intense fears start to impact your activities of daily life, it needs to be addressed. i say this out of concern for you and nothing more. EWH
More importantly, and once again, from your description it appears that you continue to worry more than you should about inadvertent transmission of infection on your grandmother's hands or in relationship to touching something that she had touched before, perhaps in the bathroom, or the kitchen, at TV remote or elsewhere. This is simply not a common enough event to worry about and further, should it happen it is far from the end of the world. Over half the people you know and interact with have HSV-1 and a substantial number of them are sure to have HSV-2 as well- so what. For some reason you are assigning far too much importance to the possibility of getting this infection, even though non-sexual means. I'm not sure why this is but I sincerely believe that this is something that it is in your best interest to discuss with a mental health professional both from a counseling perspective or perhaps as an indicator of OCD. When these sorts of inappropriately intense fears start to impact your activities of daily life, it needs to be addressed. i say this out of concern for you and nothing more. EWH
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
