Sunday, May 31, 2009

Herpes Cures 101

By Sandra Griggs

The use of antiviral medication as 'herpes cures' have given people suffering from the condition the option to free themselves from the discomfort of herpes for a longer period of time. Likewise, they can reduce the degree and duration of the symptoms in times of flare-ups. Using drugs as a herpes cure does not assure treatment of the STD but only makes living with it more comfortable.

There are three principal drugs used as herpes cures namely acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir. They are taken orally as a pill. For severe cases of herpes, intravenous acyclovir is used.

Topical creams or lotions used as herpes cures offers minimal benefit. For this reason, they are not usually recommended. For initial diagnosis of genital herpes, doctors will usually recommend a brief course, which lasts 7 to 10 days, of antiviral medications to relieve symptoms or to keep them from getting worse. If the sores do not heal within that period, your doctor will usually extend the use of antiviral medicines.

Once the initial treatment has been given, there might be a need to cooperate with your doctor in order to find the best method for taking antiviral drugs. There are a couple of alternatives for taking these herpes cures.

The first option is intermittent treatment. With this method, the doctor will suggest use of antiviral drug for availability in case there is another flare up. This kind of herpes cures requires you to take pills for 2 to 5 days whenever you feel that a flare up will take place or there are noticeable sores.

Suprressive therapy is conducted when your herpes outbreaks are too often. You can expect a reduction of 70% to 80% if you have an occurrence of more than six in a year. In fact, this method of herpes cure can result to zero occurrence as well.

There is no requirement for the number of annual occurrences that doctors set in deciding when is it appropriate to undergo suppressive therapy. The most vital consideration to bear in mind is the number of outbreaks as well as their intensity to hamper with your daily functions.

In addition, daily suppressive treatment helps in the reduction of the likelihood of virus transmission to a sex partner. This herpes cure lowers the possibility of viral shedding, a process wherein the virus reproduces itself on the surface of your skin.

A recent survey of people taking daily dosage of valacyclovir demonstrated that this herpes cure can protect sex partners from getting infected, although condom is still suggested. Half of the sexual partners taking daily dosage of valacyclovir experienced viral infection and the other half was not infected. In addition, 75% of the partners did not show any manifestations of genital herpes, despite being infected by the virus.

Complications of these herpes cures are mild and health experts consider them as safe in the long term. Acyclovir is the oldest of the three medications, and its safety has been recorded in people undergoing suppressive treatment for several years.

People intending to use these herpes cures should consult their doctors for at least once in a year to see if they should go on with the treatment. At first, you may feel discomfort taking the pills everyday, the drug is not effective, or there has been fewer occurrences as time wears on. Your doctor can help in determining the herpes cure that suits your needs.

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