Home Treatment

Home treatment for genital herpes focuses on relieving symptoms, reducing the risk of recurrent outbreaks, and helping you cope with a lifelong condition.

To reduce discomfort from herpes sores:

• Take warm sitz baths or wash the area with warm water 3 or 4 times a day.
• In between sitz baths, keep the sores clean and dry.
• Using a hair dryer to dry off the sores may be more comfortable than using a towel.
• Wear cotton underpants, which absorb moisture better than those made from synthetic material.

Nonprescription medicines may reduce the pain and fever from genital herpes.

To lower the risk of recurrent outbreaks, reduce or avoid factors that trigger outbreaks, such as overexposure to sun, fatigue, irritation of the genital area, and stress.

Finding out that you have genital herpes may cause you to have negative thoughts or feelings about yourself or about sex, such as:

• Feeling ashamed or embarrassed.
• Being afraid of the consequences of the infection.
• Being angry at the person who infected you.
• Feeling frustrated with treatment or recurrent outbreaks.
• Feeling scared to have sex.

A counselor or support groups for people with herpes may be helpful. For more information, see the Other Places to Get Help section of this topic.

Genital herpes can be bothersome. But if you are a healthy adult, you do not need to worry that it will cause serious problems.

Medications

Antiviral medicines are the recommended treatment for herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection.

Medication Choices

Acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex)

The topical form of acyclovir (Zovirax ointment) offers little benefit in the treatment of genital herpes and is not recommended.

What To Think About

People taking antiviral medicine every day (suppressive therapy) may want to talk to their doctors about not taking the medicine for a short period each year. This can help determine whether genital herpes outbreaks recur as frequently. They can then decide whether they need to continue taking medicine. People who have six or more outbreaks a year or who have severe outbreaks may benefit from taking antiviral medicine every day.

Antiviral medicines for genital herpes work best when they are taken as soon as symptoms are noticed. For that reason, people with herpes should keep a supply of the medicine on hand.

Acyclovir (Zovirax) is most commonly used for pregnant women. Valacyclovir (Valtrex) also may be used during pregnancy.^{3, 4}

People with impaired immune systems may be more likely to:

• Need daily antiviral medicine to prevent recurrent outbreaks.
• Develop a resistance to some antiviral medicines. For these people, other antivirals are available, but they must be given through a vein (intravenously, or IV) and can have dangerous side effects.