[Question #7418] Do I have anal herpes symptoms?
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57 months ago
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I’m a female and 6 weeks ago I developed about 3 small, open sores quite deep in my anus. I have never had anal sex and I also hadn’t had sex since early September (though I’m aware symptoms can show up any time)., I developed theses sores after a week of extremely heavy drinking, then spending 3 days after with chronically heavy diarrhoea where I ultimately ended up getting quite sore there from the wiping (sorry this is so tmi) which is when I noticed going to the loo started becoming very painful, and I found the open sores. Since I hadn’t had anal sex (or any sex in over a month) and the quantity/ nature of the sores weren’t worrying, I put it down to being an anal fissures from wiping friction and ended up having unprotected sex with my roommate- no symptoms occurred for them. These sores took about a week to heal, with one being hugely stubborn, deep and it bled a lot (it was very far up and friction couldn’t be avoided).
Fast forward 2 weeks I ended up going to two more parties two days in a row (drinking again) got mild diarrhoea and 2 teeny tiny little sores appeared again (however I wouldn’t have even noticed them without looking and they weren’t easy to find). I decided to go to the doctors but by the second day they had already disappeared. Since then, I’ve experienced mild tingling. I couldn’t tell you if anything looked abnormal because to be frank, I had never inspected this part of my body so closely in my entire life haha.
I’m aware I cannot take your advice as a diagnosis and should go to the doctor, but I’m just not quite sure where to go from here. I’ve recently started dating someone and I’ve managed to put off having sex due to being in COVID lockdown in the UK, but I don’t have the symptoms now to get tested. I’m not even sure if I should be worried it is herpes!
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57 months ago
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So I have now literally just had another look and there was a tiny pinprick sized hole right at the opening that I have now accidentally pulled open and it’s bleeding quite a lot...
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
57 months ago
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You don't ever have to have had anal sex to get anal herpes - the virus simply travels down a slightly different nerve (that supplies the anus) to get to the surface of the skin, even when you are infected genitally. The symptoms that you describe could either be genital herpes or anal fissures - it is impossible to know over the internet. However, your description is concerning enough that I think a herpes antibody test would be helpful in clarifying this situation.
Terri
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