If you have been diagnosed with the herpes virus or are dating someone who has the virus, it is important to understand your responsibilities. Herpes is not a life-threatening virus in our day, but it is also not curable. While you can safely have intimate relations with someone you love without transmitting the virus, it is easy to transmit if you are not handling those relationships responsibly.
When You Are Infected
If you are infected with the herpes virus, most of the responsibilities fall on your shoulders when it comes to dating safely. You have to be well aware of all phases of the virus and do everything possible to look for signs and symptoms that will tell you what phases you may be in at any given moment.
Dating with herpes starts out just like anyone else dating. You focus on getting to know someone and determining whether there may be a future with them. When things become more serious and you start to become more intimate is when your responsibilities kick in. You have to first let your new partner know that you have herpes, no matter how uncomfortable that may be.
If you just try to control things so they do not get infected but never tell them, you are making a big mistake. They have the right to know and your chances of not infecting them are much stronger if you are both taking precautions together. Plus, a good relationship can quickly turn sour when one person finds out the other was hiding a secret such as herpes.
When the relationship progresses to sexual contact, you must always wear protection. Even if you think you are in the inactive phase where transmission is not likely, you must use adequate protection. Remember, shedding makes it possible for vaginal fluids and sperm to pass on the virus even without visible symptoms!
Finally, you have to take care of yourself and do everything possible to control the virus. This means taking your medication exactly as prescribed and seeing a doctor whenever you have a concern.
Dating Someone with Herpes
If you are not infected with herpes yourself but are dating someone who has the virus, it is your responsibility to learn about the different stages of the virus. This will help you understand how to prevent the transmission of the virus into your own body.
Just as it is not right for the person infected to keep the fact that they are infected from you, it is not right for you to leave all of the preventative measures in their hands. Become an active participant in their health and make sure you listen when they say sexual contact may not be safe.
Your biggest responsibility in the relationship is to understand that just because they may not be showing any visible signs of the virus, it is still in their body and may still be transmitted to you. As long as both people in the relationship are well aware of the virus and take the adequate precautions to keep it from spreading, it is entirely possible for any couple to love one another without spreading herpes. You just have to know your responsibilities in the relationship and keep to those commitments.
Herpes-Treatment-Help.com is a guide to treating and living with the signs, symptoms and stages of herpes. Learn more about dating someone with herpes by visiting the Web site.
