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How the herpes virus works and what causes your outbreaks.

• The virus comes in contact with broken skin or the lining of the mouth, vagina, or anus.
• The virus goes to the nuclei of the cells and tries to reproduce itself, or replicate.
• Even though the cells are infected, most people do not get symptoms.

• Sometimes the virus's replication process destroys the cells it has invaded causing blisters or ulcers to form on the skin.
• The blisters or ulcers crust over and heal without scarring.
• The virus is transported back through the nerve to important nerve branching points called ganglia deep in the body.
• The virus stays in the ganglia in an inactive, or latent, form. During this time the virus does not replicate. It stays in this latent form for varying amounts of time.
• Certain triggers may cause the virus to travel back down the nerve to the skin and cause symptoms again. This is known as recurrence.

Causes of Herpes Simplex Virus Recurrences
Even with a normal immune system, recurrences can happen. Sometimes the recurrence occurs spontaneously. However, the following are known triggers that can stimulate a recurrence:

• Physical stress
• Poor emotional coping style
• Persistent stressors for greater than 1 week
• Anxiety
• Fever
• Exposure to ultraviolet light
• Nerve damage
• Tissue damage
• A suppressed immune system
• Heat
• Cold
• Menstruation
• Other infections
• Fatigue