THANK YOU for taking the time to do this. What can I do to help you? Aside from laying down some facts below, that is.
~~~~~~~~~~
All y'all out there that are thinking you're so high-n-mighty would do well to get yourselves checked. Of everyone 18 and older in the United States, 15-20% have it. That's right - one out of every 5-6 people.
At this point, if you didn't know better, you should be scratching your head and saying, "What? How? None of MY friends have it. This statistic is wrong!" Well...90% of those who have herpes don't know they have it. That's why there's such a stigma about something a huge portion of the population has.
Again, if you're thinking, this is the point where you're like, "If it's so heinous, WHY don't they know?" Good question! First, the commercials make it out to be much worse than it is - ??? Profit! Also, it's because most people who have it have never (not even once!) had an outbreak, or if they have it's been so mild as to not be noticeable, and they haven't had the blood test for it.
Docs don't automatically test for herpes unless you present with symptoms of an outbreak so most people erroneously believe they've been tested for "everything". Make no mistake - you have to ASK for the blood test for herpes or you won't get it.
So at this point, if you've ever had sex and haven't had the test for herpes, you might take a moment to contemplate if you're already positive. I'll let that sink in....
Why don't docs test you for it? Aha! Good question again. They don't automatically test because it's so prevalent in the community and because most people do just fine with it and, honestly, what are you going to do about it if you have it? It adds a burden to YOU to self-disclose a condition you didn't know you had, to a population who are undereducated about the issue and that makes your life harder.
So if you're feeling judgmental about "those people" who have herpes you need to take a step off and readjust. "Those people" likely include people near and dear to you, maybe even your current sex partner(s), maybe even you.
Source: I've been educating people about this but a gal can only do so much when you see one patient at a time. Reddit is a hard place to do this and I commend OP on his AMA.
NurseHerpadoo354 karma
THANK YOU for taking the time to do this. What can I do to help you? Aside from laying down some facts below, that is.
~~~~~~~~~~
All y'all out there that are thinking you're so high-n-mighty would do well to get yourselves checked. Of everyone 18 and older in the United States, 15-20% have it. That's right - one out of every 5-6 people.
At this point, if you didn't know better, you should be scratching your head and saying, "What? How? None of MY friends have it. This statistic is wrong!" Well...90% of those who have herpes don't know they have it. That's why there's such a stigma about something a huge portion of the population has.
Again, if you're thinking, this is the point where you're like, "If it's so heinous, WHY don't they know?" Good question! First, the commercials make it out to be much worse than it is - ??? Profit! Also, it's because most people who have it have never (not even once!) had an outbreak, or if they have it's been so mild as to not be noticeable, and they haven't had the blood test for it.
Docs don't automatically test for herpes unless you present with symptoms of an outbreak so most people erroneously believe they've been tested for "everything". Make no mistake - you have to ASK for the blood test for herpes or you won't get it.
So at this point, if you've ever had sex and haven't had the test for herpes, you might take a moment to contemplate if you're already positive. I'll let that sink in....
Why don't docs test you for it? Aha! Good question again. They don't automatically test because it's so prevalent in the community and because most people do just fine with it and, honestly, what are you going to do about it if you have it? It adds a burden to YOU to self-disclose a condition you didn't know you had, to a population who are undereducated about the issue and that makes your life harder.
So if you're feeling judgmental about "those people" who have herpes you need to take a step off and readjust. "Those people" likely include people near and dear to you, maybe even your current sex partner(s), maybe even you.
Source: I've been educating people about this but a gal can only do so much when you see one patient at a time. Reddit is a hard place to do this and I commend OP on his AMA.
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