hi...my daughter was in the afterhour clinic saturday for what they called vaginal ulcers...she also had sore joints, stiff neck and nausea...they took blood and swabbed cultures but they have yet to come back from lab....they suspect herpes but some things just dont add up....she has not had full blown sex, just some manual fondling and no genital to genital or oral/genital contact....and the manual event took place 32 days before (and just that one and only time) the ulcers showed up...from what i read, the blisters appear 2 to 20 days after contact...she is miserable and very distraught, understandably so (she's so young and this was her very first even remotely sexual experience)....but i have been given no other possible diagnosis so we just sit and wait...we will be following up w/ her pediatrician later this morning....
anyone have any other possible idea as to what this might be??? and is there anything i can do to help her pain??? she has to pee in the shower due to the pain and hasnt eaten in 2 days....she is on valtrex so i do push the water....i have garlic soaking in olive oil to try that if she lets me near her...
my heart goes out to her and i am just sick over this....i wish i could just take this away from her....
please, anyone, some help?? support??? general comments??? i'm floundering here, completely at my wits end....thank you anyone who can help in any way....

It could be some other kind of infection (bacterial, for instance), but herpes is the most common. Ornament has good results from spraying aloe vera gel onto the sores. Isn't that it, Orn?

Herpes can lay dormant for years, even decades, so the amount of time between outbreak and sexual experience doesn't matter. It does seem really strange that she could have contracted it from what you described, although there are a few people with herpes infections on their fingers; also, if the other person fondled himself and then her, he could have transmitted the virus from himself to her via his finger.

Please let us know what happens. What a terrible situation for you both.

Im so sorry to hear this! You guys should track the guy down and give him hell if it ended up being herpes. The only way he could have spread it this easily was if he was having an outbreak on the skin when they did the fondling, if, as you say, there was no sexual penetration or oral-genital contact.

Aside from that, it unfortunately does sound like she has Herpes, so make sure you at least find out if its Type 1 or Type 2...there is a difference. As for treatments, let her try Epsom Salt Baths...just pour some in the tub and let her soak in luke-warm water for a little while (you can buy it at any Rite Aide or pharmacy)...it will help her heal. Also, if she has bad burning/itching/pain, she can try lidocaine spray to temporarily numb the area. If she has lesions, I have read of pouring corn starch on them which would help dry them out and heal faster. Obviously some advil/tylenol would help with the joint pain. If she is having trouble sleeping due to itching or pain, let her try taking some Benadryl...it will help knock her out. So experiment with these things...and see which ones help reduce her discomfort.

Other then this, there really isn't much you can do. The first outbreak is usually by far the worst...so stay on the Valtrex (though it tends to be less effective during the first outbreak, especially if taken late) and let the outbreak run its course. Afterwards, you should talk to the doctor about suppressive therapy with Valtrex, it works really well and should greatly reduce/prevent any future outbreaks. If you can do this, at least it will give her some peace of mind through this traumatic time. My heart goes out to you and your family...and please don't hesitate to ask anything else...I'm pretty well-versed on Herpes and would be glad to help answer any of your questions. Good luck!!

hi again....well her bloodtests and swab culture all came back negative (thank God)...since they tested for herpes both through blood and swab and they were both neg. am i correct to assume she really is negative?? i've read about false negs but does that occur w/ 2 tests?? we are seeing an adolescent medicine specialist today who was involved in a study over the past year and a half involving girls 10 through 22 who were not sexually active but got genital ulcers...he said he has seen 40 cases over the course of the study and they still have no idea what it is other than some type of virus....i'm both relieved and frustrated at the same time...her ulcers are still open and quite painful...i pray this is a one shot deal and not something more serious like behcets syndrome...
thank you all for your responses and support....
PPP~~
ps...she has foung some relief w/ olive oil/garlic, lidocaine spray, baking soda sitz baths...and the valtrex is being continued....

The bloodtests would not be very accurate right now. The blood tests work by detecting anti-bodies for the virus...however since this is her first outbreak, it takes times before her body can build them up. This is why some people with herpes will test negative by blood test for up to 6 months, due to the slow build-up of antibodies.

The swab, too, can come back as a false negative if she did not visit the clinic to have them swabbed within the first 24 to 48 hours of the appearance of lesions. Once the lesions have begun healing, there is a high probability of an inaccurate result from the swab.

First off, do you know what "type" of blood test was performed? Secondly, how long did you wait from the appearance of lesions to the time you actually got them swabbed?

Its good shes negative so far, but what you should do is wait a month and get retested for herpes just to be sure...and then get tested again at 6 months for a 99% accurate result (again, due to the antibody detection can take 6 months). And make sure you get either the HerpeSelect or Western Blot tests done, as those two are by far the best. I hope she stays negative and this ends up being some freak thing!

What she is going thru sounds like my first ob. I was sooo sick. I had blisters on my throat, hurt to pee, couldn't eat. I was a mess! I lost 10 lbs in about 3 days. The doc (not my regular one) did not do an exam, i did have blood in my urine so they treated me for an infection. I was soo angry. I did finally get into my ob/gyn when i had a blister and that is what it was. Again not my regular doc.. no bedside manner at all.. stood nearly across the room and told me that it was what he suspected. He did do a tissue culture (most painful thing to me!) I would ask for the specific tests mentioned in the above thread.

thank you all for your responses...i took her to an infectious disease specialist and he ruled out herpes 99%....said her tests (blood-2 tests- and culture) were all neg and the appearance of her 2 ulcers did not resemble herpes...apparently there has been an outbreak of non sexually active adolesences and teens in the area over the past year/year and a half (30-40 girls ages 10-22) that they cant yet identify...my daughter fits all the criteria...they dont even know if its viral or bacterial but it's bad...my daughter actually has a mild case compared to some who have had to be hospitalized and put on morphine for the pain....they are doing more bloodwork and froze blood for testing down the road if they begin to identify some commonalities....i will have her retested in the future just to ease our minds but for now, we are saying prayers and counting our blessings....what a scare for a young girl, especially after her very first sexual encounter that wasnt even a full blown sex thing....i hope this hasnt put her off sex for life, that would be terribly sad...but it opened up a deeper dialogue than we had had in the past, although we have had many...but she now understands that she has choices and that it is her responsibility to make choices knowing that she has to bear the consequences of her choices and that this very well could have been one...it's been quite a h*ll week here as far as emotions....today she is returning to school for the first time this week, just for the afternoon...she's been a trooper...as for mom, i feel like curling up in bed and catching up on some much needed sleep.....and we are both way more educated about herpes than we were in the past...even she said they dont teach enough about it in school....we had no idea of its prevalence and the asymptomatic shedders, etc....my heart and prayers go out to all of you who have unfortunately contracted this disease...i hope soon they come out with a vaccine to prevent new cases and a cure for those already suffering....bless you all and hats off for this forum....
PPP~~~