—Worried

This is a perfect example of where your health care provider is your best resource. The health care provider can talk with you about your symptoms, how long they last, how long you have been having them, and whether they have changed over time. S/he can examine you to see the symptoms for him/herself. If needed, the provider can select the appropriate tests, and take, for example, swabs of cells to examine and grow in a lab for a diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is made, then the appropriate treatment can be selected.

If you are a student at Columbia, call x4-2284 for an appointment in Primary Care Medical Services. Others can contact the nearest health clinic or their own primary health care provider.

If you are worried about herpes, appointments need to be scheduled no more than 48 hours after symptoms appear to ensure more accurate test results for a herpes virus culture. However, if you no longer have visible symptoms, the health care provider may do a blood test, which tests for the presence of herpes antibodies, to see if you were ever exposed to the herpes virus.

A herpes episode usually begins with a tingling or itching sensation of the skin in the genital area. Then sores appear, starting as one or more red bumps. These change to watery blisters within a day or two as the sores rupture, leaving shallow ulcers that may ooze, weep, or bleed. After three or four days, a scab forms and the sores heal themselves without treatment. Some women also find it painful to urinate, have a dull ache or a sharp pain in the genital area, have an urge to urinate frequently, dispel a vaginal discharge, or experience vulvitis (a painful inflammation of the vulva).

Many people with Herpes Simplex Virus-2 (genital herpes) have recurrent herpes episodes. Aside from menstruation in women, many things can trigger a herpes episode in people, including stress and illness.

For more information, you can call the National Herpes Hotline at 919.361.8488 or visit the American Social Health Association web site.

Alice

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