Genital herpes is a long lasting sexually transmitted infection that cannot be cured permanently, but can be controlled with appropriate treatment. Lifestyle modifications and home remedies for herpes can greatly help manage and reduce the symptoms caused by herpes. This highly contagious infection is caused by a virus known as herpes simplex virus and is transmitted through unprotected sex. It can affect both men and women who are sexually active. In fact, women are more susceptible to herpes virus than the men. As of yet, there are no medications available to completely eliminate herpes virus. Following the initial episode of infection, the virus goes into a dormant state. The people are usually asymptomatic or without any symptoms during this phase, but are able to infect others.
The dormant herpes virus can be reactivated by a number of factors, including physical or psychological stress, trauma, illness, surgeries, tiredness, weak immune system, and menstruation. Symptoms that are associated with an outbreak of herpes virus include occurrence of painful fluid-filled blisters or sores, a tingling, burning, or itching feeling before the appearance of these blisters, fever, malaise, muscle pain in knees, lower back, thighs, and buttocks, pain with urination, enlarged groin lymph nodes, and vaginal discharge. In women, these sores can occur on the vagina, labia, cervix, thighs, and on the anus. Men can get herpes blisters on their scrotum, male organ, thighs or buttocks.
Herpes blisters can also crop up on other body parts, including mouth, gum, lips, and fingers. You can protect yourself from getting this infection by avoiding all types of sexual contact with an infected person and by wearing a latex condom during sex. If you have herpes blisters on your genital parts, wear loose-fitting undergarments. Always keep the blisters clean and dry to avoid secondary infections. The best home remedies for herpes include drinking lots of water, taking adequate rest, and reducing stress.
Do not eat foods that contain the amino acid arginine, as it can aggravate the herpes. Warm baths are excellent home remedies for herpes. Add baking soda or Epsom salts to warm bath water and soak yourself in it for sometime. This helps get rid of pain and itching caused by herpes. Put some cornstarch on the blisters to dry them out and to alleviate itching. Another way to reduce the pain and swelling is to apply an ice pack or cool compress to the affected area. Applying aloe vera gel to the blisters also provides quick relief from the itching.
A simple method to relieve the itching caused by herpes is to apply some cold milk to the sores with a cotton swab. Olive leaf extract is considered as one among the effective home remedies for herpes. It has the potential to slow down the reproduction of virus in the body. Placing a chilled used black tea bag on the affected areas is also a good home remedy for herpes. Another way to speed up the healing process of herpes blisters is to apply some tea tree oil to the infected area twice daily.
Read more Home Remedies for Herpes. Also know useful High Cholesterol Home Remedies.
