Do you know if you have HSV 1 or HSV 2 on the buttocks?  Was a swab test done of the lesion?  If yes, and positive, it should be typed.  Typing is very important as HSV 1 and HSV 2 behave quite differently in the genital area.  If typing was not done, you should request that it be done if they still have your sample.

We know that people who have buttocks herpes basically have genital herpes - these two areas are innervated by the same set of nerves and the transmission rate is likely very similar in people who have their outbreaks on the buttocks vs. the genitals, perhaps slightly less.    If you have an uninfected sex partner, you may wish to consider taking daily antiviral medication to reduce the risk of transmission and/or using condoms to further reduce that risk.

Terri

I'm sorry that this was initially misdiagnosed as shingles - that happens more times than I care to think about.

If you had transmitted this to a partner, they may well have gotten back to you with a concern, but maybe people who are infected with HSV 2 don't know it so it is also possible that an asymptomatic infection happened in a partner of yours.  Because you don't know the type for certain (though I would say that likelihood is VERY high that it is HSV 2 with frequent recurrences, it would be difficult to tell past or current partners much about what they should look for specifically.  When did you start having these symptoms that were originally misdiagnosed?  Have you had many partners since?

I would suggest that you go westoverheights.com and read the free herpes handbook as a place to start learning about your infection.  And I would say if it comes back again, two thing:  1) have it swab tested and typed.  Your doctor is wrong - there is a big difference in these two infections genitally and 2) ask about starting daily antiviral medication like valtrex to reduce the frequency of your own recurrences and reduce the risk of infecting a partner.  This drug is safe for long term use.

Terri

Terri