Genital herpes

Does shaving make outbreaks worse?

Noticed my worst episodes follow a few days after shaving. Coincidence or actually a thing?

first_frost 3 months ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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plain_paper 3 months ago

Friction and skin trauma are commonly reported triggers, so it is not an unreasonable observation. Irritated skin also makes it harder to tell an outbreak from razor bumps, which muddies the picture further.

still_water 3 months ago

Trimming rather than shaving close was the change that worked for me. I stopped getting the crop of small irritated spots that I could never confidently identify, which reduced the anxiety as much as anything else.

west_pier 2 months ago

Definitely do not shave over an active outbreak. Beyond the pain, you are dragging a blade across lesions and then across unaffected skin, which is the one mechanism that genuinely could spread it locally.

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