So I’m sitting at my desk when I hear a coworker yell, ‘Ow!’ ‘What?’ asked another coworker. The first replied, ‘I yawned, and I have a big old cold sore that split.’ More than I needed to know about my coworker. But it reminded me of a question I’ve always had.
I know ‘cold sores’ (and the common cold) are caused by a herpes virus. But is it the same virus that causes genital herpes? If you kiss someone who has a cold sore, do you ‘get herpes’, as in the common usage of saying someone has herpes?
[NB: No, I do not want to kiss my coworker. And I didn’t even before I heard her a few minutes ago.]
I googled “how many Herpes virus’ are there,” and got an answer of EIGHT.
The quick answer it has to your question is, that the most common H virus causing “cold sores” around the mouth, is HHV1, and the most common one causing genital herpes, is HHV2. However, either one can be transmitted to either place, so there’s no telling.
HSV type 2 is generally passed through genital to genital contact. Cold sores are usually HSV type 1. It is possible to give someone genital herpes of the latter type through oral contact. But fortunately, if the receiver already has type 1 (gets a cold sore now and then) they have an immunity to it which will stop it from being passed to the genitals.
A woman giving oral sex who has a type 1 herpes and the man has type 2, she could then have both forms of the virus presenting as two cold sores on her lips. Conversely, the man with type 2 could then be presenting with two herpes outbreaks around his genitals. Idk if there is much of a difference between the two viruses except location. I could be wrong tho.
About 2 years ago I got myself an STD test (full board). I was surprised when it came back 100% negative. I was sure they were going to find some form of herpes in there.
And just a few months ago, I went to the doc for an annoying cold sore (never had one so bad). She told me it was herpes. When I told her: “But my STD test came back negative.” her answer was: “It’s not that kind of herpes. This kind isn’t a STD.”
Uh, okay. Whatever that means.
You need to understand the mechanisms of the testing. You no doubt got a specific test for Herpes Type 2, not a complete set of all eight types. Your “full board” wasn’t a full board of all HERPES types, it was a full check for all the primary expected STD’s.
It means you have HSV 1 (type 2 has historically been considered the STD, though the lines are blurry due to oral sex transmission). I’m not sure what type of test you took, but if it was a blood test, it would test for antibodies, which you will not have until you first have an outbreak. It’s possible you acquired the virus a while back & are just having your first outbreak. Or it’s possible that you acquired it since taking the test.
68% of people in the US aged 12-70 have one or both types of Herpes Simplex in a blood test, and, because the blood test is notoriously bad, there are a lot more who have it and don’t know it. 90% of people worldwide are estimated to have one or the other or both, the majority of whom never get a cold sore or a genital ulcer. Epidemiology of herpes simplex - Wikipedia
The betting money is always on “has herpes, doesn’t know it.”
Probably wasn’t virus then. Bruise or bacterial. Any tiny cut may turn into a blister and develop the ulcer look when the ballooned section leaves a circular lesion.
These swellings are called mucocele (in the mucosa of the lips ) or ranula (under the tongue, may be larger because its involving a saliva gland. ). You might call them a cyst but cysts are tough skinned… these swellings easily burst their membranes.
My assumption is that the sore was healing and starting to form a scab. The lip tissue can be very susceptible to splitting if it’s allowed to dry out and it causes a deeper wound that takes a lot longer to heal.
