[Question #3730] Symptoms appearing after more than 3 weeks

87 months ago

I became sexually active this year and always practice protected sex. My last exposure was on April 10 including unprotected oral sex. I always check my genitals for the classic symptoms whenever I bathe and never exhibited those.

May 8- I noticed quite an intense itch on the the side of my left foot (around the big toe). The next day, it started to show blisters with clear fluid. They eventually grew to the point that it looked like herpes blisters. I stupidly burst them. There wasn't any pain. Healing began with no ulceration but 1 or 2 areas had light scabbing. The rest were just red dots.

13 May- I noticed a few more blisters starting to form on the big toe joint, they eventually grew with clear fluid in them. There wasn't any itch or pain. Today, they must have burst- no ulceration or scabbing, red dots again.

15 May- a blister appeared on the base of my left heel

16 May- 2 or 3 blisters started to appear on right side of my right foot.

I have an ongoing case of tinea pedis. The original site of blisters had the most noticeable tear in the skin prior to this outbreak and looked the most serious. I have tried to avoid contact between the 2 feet as much as I could.

Having done my research, I've concluded that I should get an IgG test for HSV1 and HSV2 in around July to confirm the possibility of Herpes. I'm prepared to be diagnosed with HSV2. Could I be that unlucky given the timeline of events?

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

87 months ago

I think that is highly unlikely! But I would strongly encourage you to see a health care provider to try and sort out what is causing those blisters. Though people with genital herpes can get outbreaks on the foot, I think what you describe is quite different because your blisters are all over the place while herpes blisters on the foot would normally just show up in one place and then go away. You also really haven't had any realistic risk factors and your antibody test is negative.

Terri

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87 months ago

Hi Terri, Thank you for your response. Well, most of the blisters are on 2 sites that are quite close to each other, about 1-1.5 inches apart. I read that during an outbreak (or at least in the first one) subsequent crops of lesions can appear, so that was the concern.

May I know what do you mean by 'haven't had any realistic risk factors' that would lead you to conclude that the antibody test is negative? Of course, I will definitely do a test anyway to confirm that, but am just curious based on your experience. Thank you for answering again in advance.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

86 months ago

Well, I refer to your excellent use of condoms and frequent checking of the genitals for symptoms.

Herpes blisters do appear in groups, yes, are they still there? have you had a professional do an assessment of them?

In my experience, people who have new infection have their symptoms show up in the genital area first and then with recurrences, I have seen only three or four people get blisters on the foot area.

Terri

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