devastated

A canker sore is NOT a coldsore, however, sometimes oral herpes can be located inside the mouth and resemble ulcers or canker sores, but most often, a coldsore will be on the lips or even face.

The chance of spreading herpes to the genitals while a sore is on the lip is pretty high, and it is even possible to spread it while there are NO coldsores present, as the virus sheds from time to time without producing symptoms, and actually, most people infected with oral herpes never get any symptoms at all and are unaware that they have it. Even so, in these people, the virus will shed and be contagious from time to time, without symptoms appearing. Research indicates that over 80% of the population are infected with HSV1 by the time they are 14 years old, most becoming infected via non sexual means, i.e., a relative kissing them, etc. Only about 20% of those infected ever show symptoms.

Oral herpes is generally caused by HSV1, but HSV1 can also infect the genitals. HSV2 predominately infects the genitals, but can infect orally, but oral HSV2 is uncommon, it prefers the genitals.

If you contract HSV1 on the genitals, it is still considered genital herpes, even if it came from someone's mouth. However, genital HSV1 is usually not as severe as genital HSV2, and the outbreaks are usually not as frequent as HSV2.

If you have more questions, try reading some posts over on the herpes board, or ***** has some great info on herpes, including the differences between the types, etc.



There is no cure for either type of herpes.