While being told by your doctor that you have genital herpes is not a death sentence, it does have the potential to severely affect your quality of life. Herpes causes recurring outbreaks of sores in the genital area that are painful and unsightly. There is no cure for herpes and so the only way to protect ourselves is by taking precautions to prevent it. What is there to know about the connection between lifestyles and genital herpes prevention?
Limit Your Number of Sexual Partners
The more sexual partners you have, the greater your chance is of getting infected with genital herpes. Promiscuous lifestyles and genital herpes are often associated with each other, especially if you don't practice safe sex. In order to prevent getting genital herpes, stay in a monogamous relationship and make sure you and your partner are both tested to be certain that neither of you are infected. Stay abstinent until you are in a monogamous relationship to greatly lessen your chances of getting infected. The only surefire way to prevent herpes is abstinence because even if you are in a monogamous relationship with someone, there is always the possibility that your partner will cheat on you and get infected in the process.
Practice Safe Sex
Sexually active lifestyles and genital herpes do not have to go hand in hand. If you are sexually active with different partners, you should use condoms to stay safe. Condoms cannot protect you completely from getting infected but they do make a huge difference. Even if you are intimate with someone who has genital herpes, it is possible to avoid getting infected if you practice safe sex. If your partner has genital herpes, make sure to use a condom and avoid having sex when he or she has an outbreak because at that time there is more of a chance of spreading the infection. You can also spread herpes via oral sex. A man should always wear a condom when receiving oral sex and a dental damn should be used when a woman receives oral sex.
Busting Common Myths
Some people fear that they can get infected by sitting on the same toilet seat as someone who has genital herpes but that is not true. Nor can you get herpes by sharing towels, cups, or showers. You can go on with most daily tasks without fear that you are going to get infected with herpes. What you do need to remember is that risky lifestyles and behaviors cause genital herpes if you don't take some basic precautions.
While it's not healthy to live in fear of getting infected, it is important to protect yourself. Make the necessary precautions or lifestyle changes and genital herpes will probably not come to affect you. After all prevention is the best medicine.
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