How To Treat Genital Herpes: Are Natural Remedies Beneficial?

Eat healthier. Once you have the HSV virus, you need to stay as healthy as possible by eating healthy. Avoid eating processed, packaged or pre-cooked foods. Increase the amount of fruits, vegetables, oils and seeds consumed each day. Limit your intake of red meat and increase your intake of skinless poultry and fish. Focus on eating complex carbohydrates found in whole grains, lentils, beans, and vegetables.

• Avoid foods that are processed with sugar, such as corn syrup (which is rich in fructose). If you need to eat something sweet, use stevia, which is 60 times sweeter than sugar. You should also avoid artificial sweeteners. ^[14]

Do exercise. Our bodies work best when exercised. You should start slowly by walking more. For example, park your car far away from work, use the stairs instead of the elevator, take your dog for a walk or go for a walk after dinner. You can also sign up for a gym and find a fitness trainer. Some exercises you should try are weight training, cardiovascular exercises, yoga or using a full-body machine. In general, practice the way you like and persevere.

• You need to consult your doctor first and know what you should and shouldn’t do. ^[15]

Relax more. With genital herpes affecting every aspect of your life, you will feel more stressed every day. But this certainly doesn’t benefit the disease, as stress only worsens the condition. You have to combat that by relaxing. Every day you should spend more time for yourself to de-stress, participate in fun activities such as reading books or watching TV shows you like. Practicing yoga is a great way to relax. ^[16]

• Meditation is also a stress reliever. You can meditate anywhere and at any time. To successfully perform a meditation technique you need practice and patience.
• Try visual self-hypnosis, which means you have to visualize a peaceful image and use it to lead you into a trance.

Know the cause. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted infection. The disease is caused by the HSV-1 or HSV-2 virus, but most cases are caused by the HSV-2 virus. HSV-1 is often the cause of sores or blisters on the mouth and lips. ^[17]

Understand the mechanism of disease transmission. Genital herpes is spread when you have sex with an infected person and have direct contact with their genitals, anus, or mouth. The disease is more contagious when the person has open sores, but the HSV virus can be contagious when there are no obvious sores. Birth control methods cannot protect against HSV. Male or female condoms don’t necessarily protect you because sores aren’t just on the genitals, but they can reduce the risk of infection.

• You will pass the infection on to your sex partner whether or not you have acne at the time, but between outbreaks of acne the risk is lowest.
• If you have mouth sores, you should not have oral sex with others, and vice versa.
• In men, sores and skin lesions often appear on and around the penis, or around the anus. In women, sores appear around the genitals, anus, or in the vagina. If sores or lesions are present in the vagina, it may not be noticeable unless examined or the condition is causing vaginal discomfort and/or discharge.
• The only way to prevent infection is to avoid vaginal, anal, or oral sex. ^{[18] [19]}

Recognize symptoms. Many people have genital herpes but have no symptoms, while others have few or many blisters. That’s why some people infect others without knowing they are infected with HSV virus. If symptoms are present, the lesion usually presents as an ulcer. Fluid-filled blisters form around the genitals or anus, then they burst and leave painful wounds. Sores can appear within two weeks of infection and last for two to three weeks. ^[20]

• Other common symptoms include itching, tingling or heat in the genitals or anal area, some flu-like symptoms such as fever, aches and pains, pain in the legs, buttocks or genital area , white discharge, swollen glands in the groin or along the neck, pain when urinating or defecating.

Cold sores flare up cyclically. HSV infection leads to recurrent and prolonged acne flare-ups. This virus can hide for a long time without showing any symptoms. It is not yet known what causes the virus to resume activity, but outbreaks tend to occur during periods of fatigue, stress, and illness. For women, the disease usually manifests itself during menstruation. The average number of outbreaks is about 4-5 times during the first year. The immune system then responds better to the disease, so the frequency and symptoms also decrease over time. ^[21]

Understand possible complications. The HSV virus is especially problematic for people with weakened immune systems, and also for women who are pregnant or want to have children. HSV infection can lead to miscarriage and premature birth, and women infected with HSV can transmit the virus to their babies. In general, this disease is very dangerous.

• Women infected with HSV often have to have a cesarean section because this reduces the risk of transmitting the infection to the baby.
• The HSV virus also increases the risk of cervical cancer, so women with this condition should have a Pap smear periodically. ^{[22] [23] [24]}