Question:
Alright so really, what's the deal.

I've been reading through things and some people say they shower how they did normally even before they had H others say that after you shower you dry your OB areas last...(I assume any area that has an itch) then they immediately wash their towel, get a new ect.

What about bed sheets, I dunno about you but I don't own unlimited amount of sheet sets and can't wash them every single day as well as my all my towels.

Is this really a way to spread H all over your body? If so then how to couples with one infected person and one non infected person sleep and stuff, would your bed not always be "contaminated"?

Answer:
I wear underwear to bed, and to be honest, never really thought about changing the sheets everyday. I've never had any problems, though. I guess if I was having an oral herpes ob, I'd change the pillowcase, mainly because my partner always lays on my side of the bed when I'm not there. I don't re-use my towels, but that's more a personal thing than precaution. The virus can't live long in an oxygenated atmosphere, like on towels and other surfaces, so I can't see the harm as long as you don't share. By the time you took another shower (like the next day), it would be dead. I think it's more of an aesthetic thing than physical precaution, if you know what I mean.

If anyone has any info to dispute this, though, I'd be intersted in hearing it. If I'm screwing up, I'd like to know.

Answer:
I'm recovering from my 1st ob so this is all new to me. But I've been using a different towel every few days and changing my sheets/washing them about once a week. Don't know if anyone else has anything different.

Answer:
I never reuse a towel just out of fear really. I dry my private area last and put the towel in the wash. better safe than sorry. sheets, i wash my sheets about once a week.

Answer:
When I have outbreaks I change my towel after every use and put them in the laundry.
Sheets I change them about twice a week with or without an active OB.
I put my pillows and mattress out in the sun about once a week too.

Answer:
Alright cool,

I don't share towels anyways and I wash them often enough, once to twice a week. I'm a really clean person by nature even before all this. And sheets are done once a week as well and I sleep in underwear and a tank. And it's not currently shared with anyone.

Answer:
Hi Poisonkiss.

I'm quickly learning that a lot of stuff on this site is scaremongering, so here's a quote from the Herpes Viruses Association here in the UK -

The virus is caught off the skin, not from objects. It is a delicate virus and dies quickly when away from the skin where the sore is.

This place isn't sponsored by any product and is purely for Herpes sufferer, so they would know. Check em out - http://www.hva.org.uk/faq.html

Answer:
Some of the things that site mentions have been refuted by individuals on this site. For instance, it says you can't spread it around your own body after your intial outbreak, and that your partner can't give you the same virus in a different place after the first outbreak. I believe there are people on this site who have experiences contrary to that information. Hopefully one of them will mention it.

BTW, mymirrormask, you mentioned previously that you use condoms and believe you can't spread it to your partners as long as you maintain that practice. Even the site you mention cautions you otherwise- "If the virus is active on the skin outside the area protected by the condom, transmission may still happen." Condoms may help, but they don't protect the wearer or their partner from HSV.

In general, it seems the site you're referring to has a lot of good information (and i'd seen it before you mentioned it), but you might consider continuing to look around. One site is probably not the best choice for conclusive information.

Answer:
Hi,

Actually I know that condoms aren't the be all and end all of protection. I think it takes a hell of a lot of common sense, knowledge, and timeing to even start controlling the infection, I certainly never said that just using condoms will prevent it completely. Theres no such thing as a perfect preventative measure.

But I know that a lot of the things said on here are personal experience...it's very different from person to person. No one has exactly the same symtoms as another in the same way. Is there conclusive proof the virus was spread by towels, or sheets? No. And spreading conjecture like that doesn't help. Not one medical report, doctor or independant research study (that I can find) says you can catch herpes form towels and sheets. If you could, we'd all be fucked.

But Im more inclined to believe a site which isn't sponsored by a so-called miracle cure which claims that you gain 'everything' if you use it. Im sorry, but aren;t we all at least agreed that there IS no 'solution that works'??


Plus I was pointing out the site as an alternative, certainly not saying its the only site which she should look at. But it does have a lot of common sense which seems to be sadly lacking here.

And pointing her to another site IS me 'continuing to look around. One site is probably not the best choice for conclusive information.' Should I have typed up a whole list of places on the net????