I have genital hsv1, got it from oral sex from a guy with a coldsore. Just been to the doctors and was told something strange (I know ghsv1 used to be quite rare and my dr is fairly old so maybe is just confused). He basically told me that I could give a partner a coldsore if they go down on me, but that I am unlikely to pass my hsv1 to a partners genital. Is this true? It seems highly unlikely so I thought I'd ask on here. Thanks in advance for your help, don't know what I'd do without this site!
gHSV-1 doesn't shed too often, so is less infectious generally. It is not commonly passed via genital to genital contact and is mostly acquired from oral sex by someone shedding orally. Someone with no HSV-1 could get it orally from you, if they give you oral sex when you are shedding, since it does prefer the mouth more, so your doctor is kind of right. However, a lot of people already have oral HSV-1, which should protect them generally.
What really confuses me though is the fact that I got hsv1 genitally but not orally? Do you have any idea how this could have happened? If the guy I got it from was shedding is it not strange that I didn't get oral hsv1 too?
For whatever reason, the virus decided to go down there! It's possible you also got it orally as well, but it just didn't break out orally. Not everyone does. Herpes often works in mysterious ways, it seems!
You've helped me out a couple of times on here to thank you again for your advice!
You're most welcome!