On Genital Herpes…

Updated July 2019.

HSV 2 or Herpes Simplex Virus is some sexual baggage that I carry deep in my nervous system.

I SHOULD have written about this earlier (originally published Nov 2011). But I am ashamed of being a carrier and as life has shown me, so are many more adults.

So how did I get the virus? All of the below played their part in the outcome.

I had pretty much NO sexual education and that most certainly was a factor in the end-game.

The time in which the virus came to be a part of me was also “pre-internets” so knowledge was pretty thin on the ground.

Condoms were available but I never used them. Why you may ask?

Between overall sexual stigma and very little to no instruction on how and why one should use a “franger” (why oh why has this word left our vocabulary!), blokes like me as a rite of passage just loaded the 6-shooter, spun the barrel and played Russian roulette in the early 90’s as the norm.

Flashback. My first sexual experience which was not in Australia wasn’t the greatest advertisment for them either (it broke part way through the act).

Really though when I think back to those years now I am amazed that I got through them with just HSV2. I didn’t have a clue about sex.

I also knew very little about females and less about reproduction other than the bare basics. I am actually very happy to have been a largely quiet and shy man because if I had been the opposite it could have been a very different outcome altogether.

Anyway, many years have passed now since that nurse stuck the swab to test for HSV2 way to far into the eye of my penis and made me howl in pain.

Honestly though, I look back on the last couple of decades and frankly I wouldn’t change a thing inclusive of HSV2.

It has turned out to be a great indicator of my overall health as it usually appears when my immune system is on Struggle St.

To summarise, Herpes isn’t a game changer, it just requires some thought and honesty into how you might manage and continue a sex life.

AES