Genital Herpes:
Eliminating Outbreaks the Natural Way
People usually discover that they have herpes when they develop lesions in the genital area. For many, the first infection is the longest and the most painful, frequently accompanied by fever. After this first infection, some may never experience another outbreak and others may experience many. It seems to be quite random, especially when you consider that when people are given blood tests, it would appear that many more people have evidence of the virus in their systems, but have never experienced typical symptoms.
Once a person has become infected with the herpes virus, the virus itself hides in the body. It stays with us and we only know about it when we have outbreaks. The herpes simplex virus isn't the only virus that stays in the body once we have been exposed to it - both chicken pox and glandular fever stay with us as well - but it certainly seems to be the one that people make the biggest fuss about.
Medical scientists would really love to develop a vaccine or medicine that would kill the herpes virus. However, a vaccine to eradicate herpes hasn't happened yet, so we have to work with what we have got - and one of the things that we notice is that not everyone who has the virus experiences outbreaks of the virus.
Herpes outbreaks can be considered to be symptoms indicating that the virus is active. Some people have the virus and never experience symptoms, so it's reasonable to assume that the virus is never active. Other people have the virus and experience frequent symptoms. For some reason, the virus is very active in their bodies. What is the difference between these people? And if we knew what the difference between them was, would this enable us to develop a way to manage our herpes outbreaks?
Think about another virus with which we are very familiar: the common cold. We all know that in an enclosed space, a large number of people can be exposed to a cold virus at any one point in time. Yet, the virus seems to behave in different ways in different people. Some people can become very ill, pneumonia may develop. Others never develop a cold at all. If the varying responses to the same cold virus demonstrate the different levels of opportunity for viral activity in different people, then we can see that the different levels of response illustrate differences between people rather than the virulence of the virus - because the virus is the same in everyone.
Now lets think about the many and varied things we do to protect ourselves from getting a cold. Some people take vitamin C, others take herbal antiviral medications like Echinacea. Both of these help by boosting the immune system. Other people swear by a healthy diet and other people will say that their positive attitude helps them to keep colds at bay. We all know that if we are feeling tired and run down or are feeling unhappy, then we are more susceptible to colds.
So, we already have a basic working knowledge of how to deal with the behaviour of viruses - and, as a virus, the herpes virus is really no different. Think of it as an opportunist - its normal state is being dormant and inactive in your body, yet it will take advantage of any opportunity that you give it to make its presence felt. Opportunities seem to be an inefficient immune system, stress, unhappiness, tiredness etc - all those things that we know can trigger colds. Your responsibility then, is to consciously begin to reduce the number of opportunities that you give the herpes virus to wake up and become active.
The way that you do this is quite important. Our instinctive response in a situation like this is to put the barriers up - to go on the defensive. The result of this is that you run the risk of making things worse. This is because you effectively put more energy into creating and maintaining your defence than you do on creating good health in your body. And good health is many more times powerful than a defence system because it can never be breached.
Also, when you concentrate on creating and maintaining defence in your body, you are constantly keeping an awareness of herpes in your mind. And so, because you are thinking about it, it will stay active. The most effective place to put your attention, is on creating good health within your body. When you have good health you are creating an environment which is inhospitable to the herpes virus. Put simply, it doesn't want to come out to play if the environment doesn't suit it.
How do you decide what is good health? Well, I suggest that you change your diet so that your body has all the vitamins and minerals that it needs. A good nutritionist can help you here. And secondly, as we know from the people who have fewer colds - our attitude to life is important. Those people who feel that they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders and who feel that they don't deserve any better from life are the people who have more colds - and it's the same for herpes. Attitude matters.
I know from my own experience that it took me quite a long time to create 'an inhospitable environment' in my body - the sort of environment that the herpes virus doesn't like. My life hadn't been working for me for quite a long time, so reversing the experience of quite a few years of stress and unhappiness was quite a long process. Your own progress will really depend on where you are at this moment in time.
The extended benefits of approaching herpes in this way are that you will create changes in your life that go way beyond just 'fixing herpes'. You will become slimmer, healthier and more balanced. When you work on your 'attitude' you will find that your relationships improve and your experience of life also improves.
What are you waiting for - isn't it time to get started? Book an Appointment now and talk to Alison in confidence.
Alison McVey is a life coach and healer specialising in herpes and relationships. Her aim is to help and support as many people as she can to reclaim their lives and their relationships. Life is too short to let genital herpes either run or ruin your life.
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