A completely boring HERPES educational blog post that you should absolutely read anyway.

Coco Densmore
Living With Genital Herpes
17 min readMay 8, 2023

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Yes, there are my actual herpes test results.

This is a high-level compilation of the important stuff I’ve learned since receiving my HSV-2+ diagnosis in September 2021. It is long and boring but you should absolutely read it anyway.

After reading this, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions about your sexual choices. You will come to recognize herpes is a nuisance skin condition and does not cause any major health issues. Furthermore, the instance of transmission is very low if appropriate precautions are taken.

In other words, HERPES IS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE, and it is really not a very big deal.

Unfortunately, in our society, herpes has the next worst reputation to HIV. People constantly make jokes about it, adding to the persistent stigma, and making people who have genital herpes feel like shit. STOP DOING THAT!

HSV-1 vs. HSV-2

HSV-1 is traditionally referred to as “oral herpes”.

HSV-2 is traditionally referred to as “genital herpes”.

Genital herpes can be HSV-1 or HSV-2:

Excerpt: “Cold sores (aka mouth herpes mostly caused by HSV-1) can become genital herpes through oral sex (in fact, 50% of all new genital herpes cases are from oral…

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Coco Densmore
Living With Genital Herpes

Coco Densmore writes about Embracing Her Single, being HSV-2+, living with bipolar mental illness, and overcoming childhood sexual abuse. www.cocodensmore.com.