Question:
I have experienced canker sores in my mouth ever since I was a child.
They always appear inside my mouth, never outside nor even on my lips.
(most often on either my gums or inside my mouth).
I recently read an article where the term "canker sore" was called a
form of herpes.
Can I transmit this to my girlfriend during oral sex? (I'm in my 40's
and have never transmitted it before).
Answer:
No. Canker sores are not herpes.
However, I've got a question for you. How do you know what you have are
canker sores rather than herpes? Ever been tested for herpes? They say that
by the time we're in our 60's and 70's that over 90% of us will have oral
herpes. So, with that in mind, couldn't it be herpes you have? Oral herpes
doesn't have to outbreak on the lips. It can be on the inside of the mouth,
and when outbreaking there, it usually is on the boney parts, the gums or roof
of mouth. ou mentioned your lesions are on your gums sometimes?
The only way to be sure is to get a herpes specific Western Blot test. That's a
blood test that looks for the antibody your system produces to fight the virus.
The Western Blot is the only blood test that can tell the 2 different
antibodies apart (HSV-1 or HSV-2).
Many folks have herpes and yet don't know they have it--they blame other things
like canker sores in the oral area, or yeast infections or infected hair
follicles in the genital area. The only way to know for sure is to have a
blood test. The lack of symptoms is NOT a good indicator that you don't have
hepres (either oral or genital).
