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Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Cold Sores
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Question
I am thinking of getting a lip piercing, but I do get cold sores. They are not too frequent (4-5 a year) and not too intense, either. A few people have told me that they will intensify and happen more often with a piercing. Are there any dangers associated with lip piercings and cold sores? Thank you, Ryan
Hello Ryan,
Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, are caused by one of the herpes viruses ("orolabial herpes"). They are frequently confused with canker sores, caused by a localized breakdown in the skin immunity but not related to an infectious agent. Both are painful nuisances!
If you really have cold sores (herpes), having them every 2-3 months is kind of a lot for my taste. I would make sure that you receive an antiherpetic medication such as Valtrex or Famvir, as a suppressive therapy. Stressful events sometimes are triggers for herpes. Reducing and managing stress in your life may help to control the frequency of outbreaks as well.
Herpes affects the margin and adjoining skin of the lip & nose ("nasolabial" area) but infects specific types of cells. It then retreats into remission along the nerve root. I would avoid lip piercing in the usual areas where you get outbreaks, and certainly avoid the actual piercing procedure at the time of an outbreak. Perhaps a good time to consider getting the piercing is a week or two after the complete healing of the next outbreak. During the healing of this minor procedure, their may be localized inflammation and tissue stressors that might generate another outbreak.
Another option is to consult with a dermatologist or your family doctor. Good luck, and happy Thanksgiving!
--mark
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Mark Behar
Expertise
Almost any question or concern about sexually transmitted infections, abnormal Pap smears, anal cytology (anal "Pap smears"), gay men's health issues. There is no such thing as “d/d free” or “clean” (free of infection), so why do so many of us deceive ourselves into thinking that some people are indeed totally free from a potentially infectious disease, like HIV, herpes, hepatitis, syphilis, chlamydia, warts, gonorrhea, etc., just because they say so? Clinical laboratory tests are not perfect, and having a “negative” or “nonreactive” test does not mean that a person is free from infection. Perhaps at the moment the test was taken, the person was uninfected; or, perhaps, the test wasn’t sensitive enough to detect presence of the infection. There is really no way that anyone can determine that they are truly “disease free,” and there are over a hundred of infectious conditions that can be spread without your knowing anything. Rather than trying to “prescreen” or “serosort” a potential sex-mate with deceptive questions that are impossible to know by today’s technologies, a wiser option may be to consider everyone infected with something, and either use appropriate protective measures (“safer sex”), or accept the responsibility and conseqences of possibly “catching” something from someone who’s hotter than expected (pun intended!). There is much research that supports the contention that an HIV positive person reliably taking HIV medications, and having an undetectable viral load, presents a lower risk for transmission of HIV than people who may think or say they are HIV negative, but are not. Food for thought!
Experience
Family Practice PA since 1981;
Volunteer Clinician for Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic, Milwaukee, since 1977; answer STD questions submitted to their web site.
Professionally lectured at national and regional Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner conferences, and at national gay & lesbian health conferences on topics including HIV/AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, STDs, human papilloma virus (the cause of venereal warts), abnormal Pap smears, gay and lesbian health issues, among others.
Organizations
Co-Founder, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Gay Physician Assistant Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Inc.;
Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants;
American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP); Board of Directors, National Association of Black and White Men Together: A Gay, Multiracial Organization for All People (NABWMT)
Publications
Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA)
Education/Credentials
Physician Assistant Certified, since 1982;
Masters in Physician Assistant Studies;
Colposcopy Recognition Award, American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP);
Awards and Honors
Colposcopy Recognition Award (CRA), from the American Association of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology;
Distinguished Fellow, American Academy of Physician Assistants;
Fellow, Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants
Past/Present Clients
Brady East STD Clinic, Milwaukee, WI
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