The herpes simplex virus, in short HSV, is a contagion that triggers herpes. Herpes could stem from different organs of the body – mouth, and genitals are the two most common parts. Herpes viruses are divided into two types:
- HSV-1: basically the main perpetrator of mouth herpes. This virus plays the main role in creating cold sores and fever blisters. And usually, the outbreaks are seen on the face and around the mouth.
- HSV-2: usually the core culprit of genital herpes.
Oral herpes causes sores around the mouth or on the face. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It can affect the genitals, buttocks, or anus area.
Other herpes infections can affect the eyes, skin, or other parts of the body. The virus can be dangerous in newborns or in people with weakened immune systems.
Herpes simplex is spread by direct contact. Some people have no symptoms. Others have sores near the area where the virus entered the body. These become itchy and painful blisters and then heal.
Most people have outbreaks several times a year. Over time, outbreaks become less frequent. Medications that help the body fight the virus can help improve symptoms and decrease flare-ups.
There is no cure for herpes, but treatment can help manage symptoms and reduce the likelihood of them recurring. Antiviral pills are the best choice for the treatment of oral herpes. Antiviral therapy with acyclovir, famciclovir (Famvir), or valacyclovir (Valtrex) hastens the healing of lesions if treatment is initiated in the early stage.
Treatments of Herpes Virus: A Comparative Study
As of now, no treatment has been found that can cure the herpes virus completely – be it traditional, ayurvedic, or alternative medications. People consume over-the-counter drugs but a question mark always hangs over their efficiency.
Ayurvedic treatments are a new phenomenon to treat herpes and their efficacy is not out of the question. According to Ayurveda theory, our body possesses three energies or doshas – vata, pitta kapha. These vitalities play the main role to keep our body fit. Any disparity in any of these three energies may trigger health problems like herpes. Factors like unhealthy lifestyle & food habits, absence of body movement, and excessive intake of medications for a long timeframe may help accelerate the imbalance of these energies.
As far as an ayurvedic treatment on herpes concerned, Biogetica – located in Mumbai and famous for treating diseases using natural medicines – lately proclaimed that they have come up with a solution that will mitigate herpes within a short period of time.
The US patent office has approved a patent for this ayurvedic therapy for herpes. In their ayurvedic treatment, Biogetica discovers a rare plant extract found in Nilgiri hills. That plant extract consist of a mixture therapy of hyperisince and reginmune.
In 2004, the JSS School of pharmaceuticals came up with another similar remedy. Dr. T Vijayan discovered another plant extracts from the Nilgiri hills named Hypericum Mysorense. In clinical trials, these plant extracts exhibited notable results in treating the herpes virus.
However, as per customer reviews, Ayurveda treatment takes a great amount of time to heal the herpes virus. Besides, this treatment fails to stop the recurrence of the herpes virus.
The main shortcoming of Ayurvedic treatment is that it lacks scientific evidence to back up its efficacy. Besides, it came to the herpes treatment domain not long ago. Therefore, sufficient data on its effectiveness is also found missing.
Antiviral Medications on Herpes Treatment: How effective are they?
Treating the herpes virus from its root is an uphill task because of the typical nature of the virus. Herpes viruses can conceal themselves in our body cells for an indefinite period of time. And they can reappear without any prior notice to get our body infected.
Antiviral medications are usually the primary form of treatment for the herpes virus. Doctors recommend oral acyclovir in curing skin infections. A healthy immune system is a prerequisite for antiviral treatment. The central nervous system or gastrointestinal might take the blow as a potential side effect of these medications.
Professionals suggest using these antivirals as injections if a person faces severe herpes outbursts and a less capable immune system.
Some of those antiviral medications are applied in children to cure the herpes virus around their mouth, while they are used to heal genital herpes outbreaks in adults.
A few are used to treat herpes outbreak around the anus and genital. Doctors do not recommend its usage for people with weak immune systems as it can exacerbate infections.
Extreme stress or trauma may trigger more regular returns of genital herpes in people. For them, doctors consider psychotherapy and counselling as the best remedy.
These above-mentioned antiviral medications help cut the severity and extent of herpes outbreak by preventing the progress of certain viruses. Besides, they help heal sores quicker, prevent forming new sores, and ease pain/itching.
However, these can’t be treated as a permanent cure for the herpes virus as these antiviral medications are not effective to prevent reemergence. The herpes virus continues to live in our body in a dormant position. Furthermore, these antiviral medications that doctors recommend are expensive and not devoid of side effects.
Alternative Medications: How Effective Are They?
Ayurvedic treatment is yet to establish its credibility in the herpes domain as it takes a long time to heal and absence of enough scientific evidence behind those formulas. The same theory goes for traditional medicines as people soon realize that these medications fail to fulfil their expectation in curing herpes outbursts.
In an attempt to find a reasonable and verified solution for herpes treatment, people turned to alternative medications. During the search, people turned all the alternative medication options upside down. Those options are full of promises but no concrete evidence to back their efficacy.
However, Herpesyl has been able to create a buzz. The Herpesyl supplement is natural and made of 26 herbal extracts. Moreover, this dietary blend is free of any side effects and much cheaper than its counterparts.
The sales page of this supplement and the internet are flooded with so contradictory customer reviews of Herpesyl. Someones claim that this supplement can cure herpes within weeks and helps prevent recurrence of the herpes outburst. But not all reviews are only positive. Though the numbers of negative reviews are not that high they are there and it seems Herpesyl is not suitable for all.
And as always before taking any new medication it is highly recommended to consult your doctor.