Genital Herpes Treatment
There is no complete cure for genital herpes but appropriate treatment involving the prescription antiviral medications and opting for healthy lifestyle might help in healing the herpes infection. Oral genital herpes typically results from the HSV type 1 infection while genital herpes usually arises due to HSV type 2 but fortunately both are treatable infections. However, the infections are not completely curable. Over-the-counter medications, home remedies, and other options can relieve discomfort and pain due to genital herpes infection. [7]
Medications
The doctor might recommend that you can take the medicine only when you are suffering from any symptoms of herpes outbreak or you can also take some medications every day even when there are no symptoms of the infection. Patients can usually tolerate these antiviral medications very well with fewer side effects. Treating genital herpes with prescription antiviral medications can:
- Reduce the chance of transmission of the herpes virus to others
- Decrease the frequency of recurrence
- Help sores to heal sooner during the first outbreak of herpes infection
- Minimize the duration and severity of symptoms in cases of recurrent outbreaks
There are different situations when prescription medications containing antiviral ingredients is the best recommendation and almost all these medications fit to cases of genital herpes infection. the prescriptions that are in practice for herpes infection are almost all antiviral medications and just like the over-the-counter topical creams, they prevent the proliferation of the herpes virus but they do not clear the body from it. A short course of one of the antiviral medications options is the first line of treatment if a person is having a first episode of herpes outbreak or a recurrence.
The people with frequent episodes might need to take one of these antiviral medications on an ongoing basis daily and the course of treatment is known as suppressive therapy. Taking genital herpes infection medication when there is no sign or symptom of the infection clearly reduces the risk of transmission to another person through sexual intercourse. Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the following medications for adults having genital herpes, however, the doctor will decide what type of medication is best for you:
- Zovirax
Zovirax 400mg is the best drug to use three times a day for treating the first outbreak of herpes infection for seven to ten days. While, you can use 400mg zovirax three times a day for almost five days to treat the recurrent outbreak of herpes infection.
- Valtrex
Valtrex 500mg is the best to treat first outbreak of herpes infection by using it twice a day for almost seven days and using it once a day for seven days to treat the recurrent outbreaks of the infection.
- Famvir
Famvir 250mg is another drug that you can use twice a day for ten to seven days to treat the first outbreak of herpes infection in adults. However, you can use famvir 250mg twice a day for consecutive five days to prevent the recurrent outbreak of herpes infection.