tw: health anxiety Hi everyone, so a few months ago i made a post about how i had hooked up with someone and they later found out their previous partner had an sti (herpes) , i tested clean and in the heat of the moment a little over a week ago we hooked up again. before he had informed me that he did end up testing for herpes in the past but it wasn’t currently active. we used condoms but i’ve fallen down the awful internet spiral of that it can still spread when not active even with condoms? everything i look up seems to contradict itself and now i feel tickling on my lip and obviously started to worry (lol). i asked my obgyn for an sti panel but she said there is no test for herpes ? (which i know isnt true because ive gotten the test done before so i’m in the process of getting a different dr). I’m just wondering if anyone has more accurate info on this and if i should be concerned. Thank you!

As far as I am aware tests are most accurate when you have an active outbreak. A blood test may or may not be accurate when you do not have an active outbreak of sores so most doctors do not test/rely on the test for it. Condoms are very effective at preventing STIs but no they are not 100% effective. It’s also possible that you have the herpes virus in your system anyway and just don’t know you have it, as a large % of the population have it anyway.

Please don’t refer to STI results as “clean”, it gives the impression that people who may have one are dirty (which isn’t the case). They probably told you no because the most accurate time to test for herpes is during an active outbreak; tests outside of this are likely not going to be reliable. Most of the population has herpes, some people never find out. Like @bluerose9 said it’s possible you’ve had it you’re entire life already. I wouldn’t worry so much about it.

If you have cold sores or fever blisters then you already have herpes. Something like over 70% of the adult population already has herpes anyway. It’s very common and it’s not the end of the world.

@Yi_eune Thank you so so much! I totally did not mean to refer to anyone as dirty or anything of that sort, that is definitely not how i view stis, I will definitely change my language going forward ! <3

Thank you all! I think my main fear of it is just unintentionally passing it to someone else (even with proper precautions like condoms). I appreciate all of this!