by Nathalie Foy

The purpose of herpes support groups is to help you deal with the psychological aspect of herpes and provide information about treatments and research. People often write to me for support. They either feel ashamed, helpless, and dirty or just want the pain to go away. I do everything I can in my book Herpes Wise and on my website to tell people how to alleviate the physical pain, but I’m fully aware that I cannot provide psychological pain relief to all of my readers. That’s why I feel local herpes support groups are important.

The International Herpes Alliance defines the role of a support group as an entity that can provide medical advice, refer patients to clinics and doctors and help people pass through different emotional stages. They say that for most people, genital herpes is a psychological disease, not a physical one. I must agree with that. People are afraid of herpes and often fear rejection. Some people just deny being affected by herpes. These are the people who don’t disclose they have herpes to their new partners. Deep inside, they often feel dirty and ugly and lack self-esteem. Going to a herpes support group will help them express themselves and build confidence, eventually breaking the isolation that they confine themselves in.

People usually feel very anxious at the beginning. Is this the end of my sex life? Is there a cure? How do I get rid of it? These are all very common questions. Talking about it freely and no longer feeling lonely will release the pressure. Some people will talk a lot about it. I am one of them. Others will only speak to a few people. Getting support and staying well informed is the first step toward empowerment. People eventually learn to adapt and control herpes or at least not let it control them.

If you feel very anxious, ashamed or dirty you may want to participate in a local herpes support group. There are several forums online. Online support groups are a good place to start. People can learn to talk about herpes, share personal experience and speak with others who are already in control of herpes. Seeing that other people get on with their lives relieves part of the anxiety.

Offline support groups can offer human face-to-face contact. That is essential for people who feel ashamed and tend to withdraw into themselves. Going to a local support group, meeting people, and shaking hands with them, may be an important step toward self-acceptance and love.

I feel that taking care of the physical part of the disease is like treating 20% of the pain with painkillers. Doctors usually don’t provide psychological support for people who are diagnosed with herpes. Statistics confirm that most people are left dissatisfied by their doctor’s appointment. Herpes Support groups can provide the friendly environment that a doctor can’t. However, they cannot change the fear of herpes that is rampantly growing in our society.

Herpes can be controlled and doesn’t have the power to ruin our love or sex lives. We do. If we accept herpes, then maybe we can help people understand that it is not that bad to have it. We can promote healthier ways to respond to STDs in general.

You can find a list of local herpes support groups on my website.
http://www.best-herpes-treatments.com/herpes-support-groups.html


Nathalie Foy is an alternative treatment specialist. She has controlled genital herpes and is now helping others do the same. She has written Herpes Wise, a book which provides her personal plan to control herpes and adresses herpes concerns.

by Cd Mohatta

Genital herpes is treated with oral anti-viral medications. There are many medications available for herpes. They all reduce the intensity of the attack. No medicine cures herpes. The choice of medication depends upon factors such as- the first episode, subsequent episodes, suppressive therapy, compromise of immune system etc. Your doctor may adopt episodic or suppressive therapy. In episodic therapy, your doctor will give you medicine whenever you have an episode of genital herpes. In suppressive therapy, anti-viral medication is continued to suppress any outbreak of herpes. Let us discuss about them.

Episodes - the first episode may be the most difficult one. The medication choice a, strength and duration will therefore depend upon the intensity. In subsequent episodes, the strength may be reduced depending upon the intensity of the outbreak.

Suppressive therapy-

Some people get frequent outbreaks of herpes. To stop this, you may be prescribed suppressive therapy. In suppressive therapy you would take medication daily for a long period and your doctor will monitor you about any change needed in therapy.

Herpes during pregnancy- pregnancy makes women more vulnerable to herpes outbreaks. Most of the women who are carriers of herpes virus may get an outbreak during pregnancy. There is also danger to the yet to be born child if the mother delivers the child through her vagina that has active outbreak. This calls for regular consultation with doctors about the medication and method of delivery.

Immune system- some people have compromised immune systems. That happens in AIDS, regular intake of steroids, and other diseases such as blood cancer etc. Your doctor will judge your immunity and prescribe the medication accordingly.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.


The author CD Mohatta writes on skin care, diseases, treatments, STDs, etc at doctorgoodskin. He also writes text for myspace graphics and myspace comments.

by Cd Mohatta

Herpes Simplex has two types- genital herpes and oral herpes or cold sores. Viruses HSV1 and HSV2 cause herpes. Both of these viruses can cause genital herpes. Genital herpes is contacted by a healthy person from an infected person. If your partner has cold sores and performs oral sex, you will contact genital herpes. Likewise if your partner has genital herpes, sexual contact will transmit herpes to you. The virus enters your body, through a cut in the skin or through mucous membrane. Our mouth, genitals and anus are covered with mucous membrane and therefore that is the easiest path for the virus to enter your body.

Once you contact genital herpes, the virus will remain in your body for your lifetime. There is no permanent cure to remove the virus from your body. Genital herpes is not a life threatening disease, but one who has genital herpes is more susceptible to contact HIV infection.

Genital herpes occurs from time to time. When it gets triggered, you will see blisters filled with fluid near your genitals or anus. After sometime these blisters crust and dry without any scar. The episodes may be accompanied by fever like symptoms. In most of the people the first episode is the most severe. In some people the symptoms are so insignificant that they may ignore them altogether. Herpes keeps getting triggered from time to time. The frequency differs from person to person. During active herpes the probability of transmitting it to another person are very high. But herpes can also be transmitted when no sores are seen.

Genital herpes has no permanent cure. Anti viral medication is prescribed during the outbreak to reduce the intensity and the time period of the outbreak. Some people are advise long term treatment with anti viral medication to prevent frequent outbreaks.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.


The author CD Mohatta writes on skin care, diseases, treatments, STDs, etc at doctorgoodskin. He also writes text for myspace graphics and myspace comments.