Ghsv1 and vaginal fissures?

[Lovelylady1996]

I've been diagnosed with genital hsv1 for two months. I had a mild initial outbreak and none since... That I know of. However, me and my partner (the person who I contracted it from) engage in sex but most of the time it's dry and I get little cuts below my vagina afterwards. They look like little paper cuts. I know this can be a sign but I also have eczema down there. Which can cause dryness and itchiness. Do you think that the cuts are an sex induced outbreak or just eczema. I don't experience any itching or tingling, just the little cuts. 

I went to my gynecologist after noticing the small cuts after sex and she told me I have nothing to be worried about. However, from what I hear, you can't always trust the physician. 

Is it common to have little cuts/abrasions from dry sex/fingering. Do you think it's herpes? I'm so annoyed with this whole thing and I'm tired of not knowing what's an outbreak and what isn't. 

[Sanguine108]

One of my friends has a sensitive spot that her hsv2 always bursts from.  She told me how she took a wet St. John's Wort teabag and applied it to the area and experiencing tremendous relief.

This is what's known as a poultice - "a soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth."

Nice thing about this is that you can get JUST SJW tea bags from most markets that have a tea selection (call to make sure)

There's all the nerve innervations in and around the vagina and HSV can cause these ulcerations or little cuts.  SJW regenerates nerves and flesh, is cooling, is antiviral to HSV and just an amazing and under-appreciated herb.

[WilsoInAus]

There is nothing wrong with suggesting a natural remedy. However no manufacturer or producer of clinical SJW claims this has antiviral properties to HSV, nor has it been shown that it does. Testing shows the opposite. For their own health readers should appreciate this.

[Sanguine108]

  Wilso...   Please provide your evidence and sources for "testing shows opposite".

St. John's Wort SJW (Hypericum perforatum)

In one of the studies below it mentions SJW's lipophilic nature.  HSV lives in the nerves.  fats/lipids associate with fats/lipids.  Nerves are fat based.  SJW brings its antiviral activity to where the problem lives. 
-----------------------------------------------------------
Vaginal suppository St. John's Wort.   They're not available in the US but gosh I'd love to be able to distribute this.
http://www.cydonia.com.ba/en/vaginal-ovules-and-suppositories/4-vagitorije-sa-kantarionovim-uljem

Summary of Constituents and Activity from Hypericum perforatum: Constutuents: Pharmacological actions: Dianthrone derivatives   hypericin, pseudohypericin 0,1% anti-viral Flavanols   (+)-catechin (+polymers:condensed tannis), leucocyanidin, (-)-epicatechin (total tannin content is 6.5-15%) astringent, anti-inflammatory, styptic, anti-viral Flavonoids   hyperoside (hyperin), quercetin, isoquercetin, rutin, capilary-strenghening, anti-inflammatory, tumor inhibition, antitumor activity. Xanthones   xanthonolignoid compound antimicrobial, antiviral Phloroglucinol derivatives   Hyperforin 4% anti-bacterial (Staphylococcus aureus), anti-inflammatory Carotenoids   Epoxyxanthophylls wound healing activity INDICATIONS: – Vaginal inflammation with the excessive vaginal discharge – Vaginal herpes(Herpes simplex 2) – Cervical dysplasia induced by HPV(Human papilloma virus) characterized by mucous changes following inflammation. – Degenerative cervical and vaginal mucous changes following irradiation therapy – Vaginal mucous membranes changes due to vaginal dryness of different origin or due to menopausal hormonal disbalance.   APPLICATION: For vaginal inflammation with the excessive vaginal discharge apply one suppository a day for 5 days. Therapy may be prolonged depending on conditions.. For vaginal herpesa(Herpes simplex 2) and cervical dysplasia (HPV) apply one suppository for 30 to 60 days depending on the condition of ailment, and on possible use of some other complementary products. For other cases apply one suppository a day up to 30 days. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Virucidal activity of hypericin(One of St. John's Wort's active ingredient) against enveloped and non-enveloped DNA and RNA viruses.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1699494  Hypericin is a polycyclic anthrone first isolated from the plant St. Johnswort and was shown to have dramatic anti-retroviral activity against Friend leukemia virus and radiation leukemia virus in mice. Hypericin displayed marginal activity (IC50 = 6 micrograms/ml) against Moloney murine leukemia virus (Mo-MuLV) in vitro. Hypericin did not display selective antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus, influenza A, adenovirus, or poliovirus. The 50% cytotoxic concentration was approximately 25 micrograms/ml. When virus was incubated with hypericin before infecting cells, the drug was virucidal to all enveloped viruses tested (herpes simplex, influenza virus A, and Mo-MuLV) at concentrations of 1.56 micrograms/ml to 25 micrograms/ml. Hypericin was not virucidal to the non-enveloped viruses tested (adenovirus and poliovirus). These data indicate that the mechanism of viral inactivation for hypericin is dependent upon the presence of a viral lipid envelope.        Hypericin as an inactivator of infectious viruses in blood components. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7740610 Abstract BACKGROUND:  Hypericin is a potent virucidal agent with activity against a broad range of enveloped viruses and retroviruses. The effective virucidal activity emanates from a combination of photodynamic and lipophilic properties. Hypericin binds cell membranes (and, by inference, virus membranes) and crosslinks virus capsid proteins. This action results in a loss of infectivity and an inability to retrieve the reverse transcriptase enzymatic activity from the virion.   Homeopathic treatment for peripheral nerve regeneration: an experimental study in a rat sciatic nerve transection model. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22818230 Results: Functional study showed faster and better recovery of regenerated axons in Sil/Hypericum than in Sil group (P < 0.05). Gastrocnemius muscle mass in Sil/Hypericum was significantly greater than in Sil group. Morphometric indices of regenerated fibers showed number and diameter of the myelinated fibers in Sil/Hypericum were significantly higher than in control group. Immunohistochemistry, showed the location of reactions to S-100 in Sil/Hypericum was clearly more positive than in Sil group. CONCLUSION: Hypericum improves functional recovery of peripheral nerve regeneration in rats.

[WilsoInAus]

I'm sorry but that is all just gooblydook drawing linkages that don't exist. Your points have nothing to do with effectiveness of SJW against HSV, which not one study indicates. You cannot draw on theoretical words and extrapolate this to scientific realities. 

[Sanguine108]

ummm, back to the topic.

One Chinese medicine remedy.

Yin-Care

http://drjakefratkin.com/articles/yin-care-an-extraordinary-chinese-herbal-product-finds-its-way-to-north-america

"The Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, in a year-long study during 1991-1992, examined 687 patients with thirteen various types of skin disorders. All patients were treated with topical dressings of 3% Yin-Care solution, changed four times daily. Results included the following effectiveness rates: Eczema 74.7%, pediatric eczema 67.9%, allergic dermatitis 76.2%, herpes zoster 51.5%, impetigo 88.2%, tinea infection 62.2%."

http://www.amazon.com/Arbor-International-Herbal-3-4oz-100ml/dp/B0009Y2EVK/ref=sr_1_2/185-1735544-9051769?ie=UTF8&qid=1444586958&sr=8-2&keywords=yin-care

===============================

Neem (Azadirachta indica): Prehistory to contemporary medicinal uses to humankind

Venugopalan Santhosh Kumar1,* and Visweswaran Navaratnam1,2

1Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

2Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), 1 Place St Gervais, CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Reviewed by Dr. V. Ravichandran, M.Pharm., P.hD.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3695574/
"9.8. Skin diseases

Neem has a remarkable effect on chronic skin conditions. Acne, psoriasis, eczema, ringworm and even stubborn warts are among the conditions that can clear up easily when high quality, organic neem oil is used. "

===========================

Plants used to treat skin diseases
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3931201/

Cannabis sativus (Common name: Charas, Ganja; Family: Cannabinaceae)

The powder of the leaves serves as a dressing for wounds and sores. Ganja is externally applied to relieve pain in itchy skin diseases. Hemp seed oil is useful for treatment of eczema and host of other skin diseases like dermatitis, seborrhoeic dermatitis/cradle cap, varicose eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus and acne roseacea. By using hemp seed oil, the skin is strengthened and made better able to resist bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Crushed leaves are rubbed on the affected areas to control scabies.[16]

===========================

Neem: A Tree For Solving Global Problems.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234637/

Neem preparations are reportedly efficacious against a variety of skin diseases, septic sores, and infected burns. The leaves, applied in the form of poultices or decoctions, are also recommended for boils, ulcers, and eczema. The oil is used for skin diseases such as scrofula, indolent ulcers, and ringworm.

 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Sanguine108

[WilsoInAus]

I'm sure that some of these are worth trying for general health of skin of body.

Note that not one of the above discusses efficacy with HSV1/2 and none have indicated an impact on frequency or severity of outbreaks. That's not a problem, it just is what it is.

[Sanguine108]

I apologize LoveyLady1996, I didn't intend to flood your thread with publications.   I just want to say that there is a world of information out there being tested by scientists on various remedies that have ancient roots.  That's usually how a researcher has the idea to test/study anything.  There's an observation of some substance having an effect, whether it's an ancient, cultural-folk remedy or some fad that's in the air, and there's the question as to what this substance is doing in modern, biomedical terms.

There's a world of research available to you. But not all resources are equal. Here are 2 sites which are good to search various peer-reviewed research publications.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

https://scholar.google.com/

----------------
Just in case there's confusion. The botanical name of St. John's Wort is Hypericum perforatum and one of the active ingredients is hypericin; all are from and talking about the same substance.
---------------
-Mannel M, Koytchev R, Dundarov S. Oral hypericum extract LI 160 is an effective treatment of recurrent herpes genitalis and herpes labialis. Paper presented at the 3rd International Congress on Phytomedicine, Munich, Oct. 11-13 2000 (SL-25).
-Koytchev R, Alken R-G, Dundarov S. Hypericum-extract LI 160 for the therapy of herpes simplex genitalis and labialis: results of two placebo-controlled, randomised, double-blind clinical trials. Z Phytotherapie 1999; 20:92.
-Mills S, Bone K. Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy: Modern Herbal Medicine. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, 2000, pp. 542-552.

"A tablet of St. John's wort dry extract was compared with placebo in patients suffering from recurrent orofacial herpes (trial 1; 94 patients) or genital herpes (trial 2; 110 patients) in two separate double blind, randomized clinical trials.³ For both trials the total observation time was 90 days and patients received 3 tablets a day in symptom-free periods and six tablets a day during skin outbreaks. Each tablet contained 300 mg of dried extract standardized to contain 0.3 percent of hypericin and pseudohypericin. The main measure of efficacy was a symptom score, calculated as a total of the severity ratings of major symptoms (such as presence and number of blisters, intensity of complaints, size of affected area) during the skin outbreak.

The total symptom score was significantly lower in the St. John's wort group compared with placebo in both trials. Average scores were 20.3 for the herb vs. 32.1 for placebo for trial 1 and 15.6 vs. 29.4 for trial 2. The herb also led to a superior reduction of the number of patients with herpetic episodes (skin sores) in both trials. Individual symptoms were also noticeably improved by the herbal treatment."
=================================

 Mali, Shrikant. "Herpes Zoster." Egyptian Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery: 91-100. Print. 
"St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) [30–33] St John’s wort is widely known in traditional medicine to be an effective treatment for viral infections and afflictions related to the nerves. In terms of its effect on herpes viruses, several studies have shown promising results. Hypericum species have been observed in vitro to show potent antiviral activity against HSV-1. In addition, two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have shown the efficacy of an orally administered H. perforatum extract against HSV."

====================================

-Schwartz, Stefanie, DVM, MSc, DACVB.  Psychoactive Herbs in Veterinary Behavior Medicine. Ames, Iowa: Blackweel Pub., 2005. Print

The naphthodianthrones hypericin and pseudohypericin have antiviral properties, for example, against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, vesicular stomatitis virus, parainfluenza virus, vaccinia virus (Andersen, Weber, Wood et al. 1991), duck hepatitis B virus (Moraleda, Wu, Jilbert et al. 1993) and murine cytomegalovirus (Lopez-Bazzocchi, Hudson, Towers 1991). The mechanism of its antiviral activity may depend on the presence of a viral lipid envelope, given that the herb is ineffective against nonenveloped viruses such as poliovirus, adenovirus, and human rhinovirus. 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Sanguine108

[WilsoInAus]

Once again, these are not scientific trials. Koytchev is notorious for his studies and linking treatment of herpes to just about every substance known to man.

Please explain a couple of things then.

1. Why have Koytchev in particular and others found (not scientifically, just self reported trials) that the following things are AS or MORE effective against HSV than SJW?:

Lemon, mint, lysine, myrtle, eucalyptus, ginger, thyme, melissa, peppermint, spearmint, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, sage, clove, hyssop, sandalwood, lavender.

Yes folks, that's right, there is a double blind placebo study that 'proves' all these things individually are effective against HSV and users report fewer outbreaks from taking just one of these!

2. What is the proven scientific link for each of these?

3. Why aren't you recommending any of these much cheaper alternatives than SJW when some have been shown according to the literature you suggest to be more effective than SJW?

[Sanguine108]

1.  I've done my homework and have posted studies from different authors.  Please post the literature you are referring to, highlighting your claims. 

Sure those herb have an effect but they're short-lived.  SJW has a greater half-life.  No other herb has hypericin in it.  Hypericin, being fat soluble goes to the nerves and mechanically/environmentally disrupts HSV.   Other herbs people talk about only help to boost the immune system which is like clipping the branches while the root is left alone.  And SJW regenerates and soothes the nerves.  The herbs you list have different mechanisms of action which are all great as they're easy to incorporate into one's daily lifestyle.  The nervines are very good: lemon balm (melissa officinalis), skullcap, catnip...   

2. Refer to previous posts of references.

3. SJW is dirt cheap.  It's not rose oil.  Please post and highlight notable publications.

There's potential to have side-effects when one takes SJW.  So what, you just stop taking it and figure something else out.  That's what doctors do every day when people respond adversely to medications.  Only difference is that you're able to take baby steps of doses with SJW and a concentrated kick with pharmaceuticals.

Here's a testimonial I encountered on one of the facebook groups.
"I used to get Obs ever month, Acyclovir didn't work, L-Lysine didn't work, I started taking St Johns Wort (under my drs supervision) and I stopped having Obs all together. I used to get the worst obs and when the St Johns wort knocked it out, I kept taking it for a few years, I finally stopped taking it and now I only get obs once every year and a half. I always suggest that people try it, its not guaranteed to work for anyone else the way it worked for me."

[WilsoInAus]

Certainly I’ll quote sources. The following articles claim success in being effective topically and more against HSV1/2, there are plenty more and numerous claims by herbalists in this regard if you search:

Lemon: Hoppe

Mint: Kotychev, 1999

Myrtle: Zolfaghari, 1997

Eucalyptus: Schnitzler, 2001

Ginger, thyme, hyssop, sandalwood: Schnitzler, 2007

Melissa: Schnitzler, 2008

Peppermint, spearmint, oregano, majoram, rosemary, sage: Orhan, 2012

Clove: Tragoolpua & Jatisatienr, 2007

To your other comments:

“ SJW has a greater half-life” Does it? Where is your evidence?

“goes to the nerves and mechanically/environmentally disrupts HSV” Does it? Who has studied this? Where is your evidence? Further, how does this stop viral replication?

“SJW regenerates and sooths the nerves” Does it? Where is your evidence? Where is your evidence that this prevents the replication of HSV? A healthier nerve often means more replication of HSV.

Scientific evidence is the observed biochemical impact on the virus, not double blind placebo self reporting tests that prove nothing scientifically and are rarely replicable. You do enough tests on any substance you eventually get a cohort that reports success.

[Sanguine108]

Most of the modern herbal research comes out of the European-Asia area as herbal medicine has a much richer culture there.  In vitro studies are copious and everything "works" when you directly expose infected cells.   I haven't looked but I've found numerous in vitro studies but actual human studies are lacking.  I don't understand why you put a negative spin on this.  

 

J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 1994 Oct;7 Suppl 1:S47-53.

Pharmacokinetics of hypericin and pseudohypericin after oral intake of the hypericum perforatum extract LI 160 in healthy volunteers.

Staffeldt B1, Kerb R, Brockmöller J, Ploch M, Roots I.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7857509
"The median elimination half-life times of hypericin were 24.8 to 26.5 hours, and varied for pseudohypericin from 16.3 to 36.0 hours."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Weber, N. D., B. K. Murray, J. A. North, and S. G. Wood. "The Antiviral Agent Hypericin Has in Vitro Activity against HSV-1 Through Non-Specific Association with Viral and Cellular Membranes." Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy (1994): 83-90.
1Department of Microbiology, Brigham Young University. Department of Botany and Range Science, BYU
http://avc.sagepub.com/content/5/2/83.full.pdf

"Based on fluorescence studies, it was determined that hypericin had non-specific affinity for protein and higher affinity for detergent and lipid. The evidence suggested that strong, non-specific association with membranes, both viral and cellular, are probably the basis of hypericin's virucidal and antiviral activity"

"Tang et al. (1990) demonstrated that generally, hypericin inactivates enveloped viruses only. Additionally, they showed that hypericin has little effect against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strain Mayo 1814 when infected cells are incubated in the presence of hypericin. However, Andersen et al. (1991) demonstrated that the yield of infectious HSV-1 strain KOS could be reduced by 1.2 log10 when infected Vero cells are incubated with hypericin at 500 ng ml' (1IJ.M). It was conceded that this may be due to direct inactivation of infectious virions as they were released from infected cells and into the hypericin containing medium."

 

"The capacity of hypericin to inhibit viral adsorption and penetration was determined using HSV-1 and Vero cells. Adsorption was inhibited most strongly when both the cells and the virus were pre-treated with hypericin (Table 1)."

---------------------------------------------------------------

 Lavie, G., Y. Mazur, D. Lavie, Am Prince, D. Pascual, L. Liebes, B. Levin, and D. Meruelo. "Hypericin as an Inactivator of Infectious Viruses in Blood Components." Transfusion: 392-400.

1Department of Pathology, New York University Medical Center, New York, USA.

"Hypericin binds cell membranes (and, by inference, virus membranes) and crosslinks virus capsid proteins. This action results in a loss of infectivity and an inability to retrieve the reverse transcriptase enzymatic activity from the virion."

=======

SJW regenerating and soothing nerves.   There are numerous accounts of this.  And all I can do is bring up data that wouldn't make sense without giving a lesson in biochemistry and pharmacology.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Sanguine108