over21

A blood test will be worth it, if it's the correct blood test. Don't trust a visual exam, insist on an IgG type specific blood test, the HerpeSelect brand is the most common.

Skip the older IgM test, they're unreliable. If your doctor says he's giving you a test to determine if your possible infection is recent or not, then he/she is giving you an IgM test. Skip it, the results just muddies everything. So, be sure and ask just what test you're getting, don't assume your doctor knows best. Search the Internet to learn the worthlessness of the IgM test for Herpes.

The proper waiting period is at least 12-16 weeks post possible exposure before getting bloodtested. You can still get tested now, if the results are negative and it's been less than 12 weeks, you'll need to retest later. If that second test is positive, then you'll know it a recent infection. Hope that makes sense.

Get hard copies of your results so you can post them here if you have questions about the actual test or the results.

A culture test is a better test, however, false negatives are very common because of timing issues, and sometimes there's just not enough of the virus present at the time of swabbing. You can only culture test when there's something to swab, like a lesion.