Does Herpes Recur?

Both types of herpes can occur, oral and genital. There are some people that will have some frequent recurrences while there are other people that will rarely ever have reappearance. There is an average of around four reappearances for someone with genital herpes per year. Almost everyone that has genital herpes will have a recurrence.
In the beginning of the infection what will happen is the herpes simplex virus is going to escape the body’s immune system. What it does is enters the nerve endings and from there it will go to the ganglia. The ganglia are nerve cell clusters. Not always, but here and there, the virus can be reactivated. Whenever there is that reactivation it will travel back down through the nerve and to the skins surface. From there it is going to begin to multiply and then it will cause the new outbreak. The reappearances are going to most always develop at or somewhere near the site of the initial infection point.

Symptoms of a Typical Recurrence

During your first outbreak the immune system is going to develop both antibodies and other weapons against the herpes virus. The immune system has a memory and when the reappearance happens the immune system is going to be able to fight off your infection more easily. What this means for you are fewer sores, the sores you have will heal faster and the outbreak is going to be far less painful for you. The flu like symptoms that you get with the initial infection will seldom ever be present.

What Triggers A Recurrence?

There is no one pattern for a herpes infection in people. All of them are going to have different patterns. Any of the following combinations or one of the factors following not always but sometimes could induce a new occurrence:

• Surgery
• Illness
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Skin irritation
• Diet
• Menstruation
• Vigorous sexual intercourse

A reappearance of your herpes infection could occur when the dormant virus is triggered through an immunosuppressive event like those that we mentioned above but also some things like:

• Colds or fevers
• Specific food types
• Beverages
• Vitamins
• Medications

Since the reappearance pattern of the herpes virus is going to be just as varied as the people that carry the virus are you should make sure that you take every possible precaution that you can to keep your virus in check and in remission.