Question:
Are canker sores in the mouth considered herpes? Can you spread herpes from
a canker sore inside the mouth to the genital area through oral sex?
Answer:
"canker sores" are not herpes. But are you sure it's a canker sore and
not a herpes lesion? Oral herpes IS transferable to an uninfected
partner--both orally and genitally through providing oral sex, even when the
person with herpes does not have a known outbreak going on. Asymptomatic
shedding (or the virus being on the skin when no symptoms are present) is
associated with herpes -- either oral or genital.
One of the main ways to tell if something is a canker sore is the location.
Canker sores 'generally' appear on the soft parts of the mouth--inside of lips,
or tongue. Herpes 'generally' recurs outside the mouth--on the lips, nose,
cheek and/or chin. If it IS in the mouth, it normally appears on the boney
parts--the roof of the mouth, or the gums.
However, neither of these locations for either of the maladies is written in
stone. So, your best bet is to get to a doc within a day of discovering a new
sore and have it cultured. Ask the doc to have it typed if it is herpes too.
I don't think it's been found that cankers can be transferred like oral herpes
can.
