HSV triggers are factors that adversely affect your immune system and increase the likelihood of herpes outbreaks. Many HSV triggers are universal and can trigger an outbreak in most people. However, we all have individual strengths and weaknesses, depending on our physical and emotional health states before an outbreak, which is why HSV triggers can be as unique as our fingerprints. Understanding these universal HSV triggers can help reduce the chance of an outbreak, put your herpes in remission, and lower the risk of transmitting the herpes virus to others.
Here's the thing. All HSV triggers share a common denominator often overlooked: the elephant in the room that causes more frequent and severe herpes outbreaks, especially as you age. Until you deal with the elephant, you'll never be free from herpes symptoms.
- Toxic Relationships
Of all of the ailments I've researched, herpes is the one that provides the ultimate example of how emotions and physical illness are intimately connected. If you have had herpes for any length of time, you probably realized early on that an argument, shock, outrage, or sudden sadness or grief can cause an outbreak within days.
Toxic relationships are traumatic and cause emotional strain centered on negative thought patterns, fear, anger, and resentment. Toxic relationships can occur between lovers, friends, and coworkers. Many lead to chronic stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Ongoing psychological stress triggers chemical changes in the body that reduce white blood cell activity, deplete essential nutrients, and impair immune function and cellular energy. The result is diminished defense against infection and impaired healing, leading to inflammation throughout the body.
If you hardly recognize yourself in a relationship, pay attention. Confusion, disappointment, and hurt will keep you stressed and experiencing recurring outbreaks, no matter what else you might do to put your herpes in remission. Sooner or later, you will have to let go of the stress by working things out or leaving the relationship to save yourself.
- Sexual Activities
During sexual activities, friction can irritate the skin, cause microscopic tears, and bring on an outbreak, especially when there isn't enough lubrication. Certain positions during intercourse can also irritate nerve endings in the lower back, sacrum, and pelvic area, reactivating the herpes virus. Additionally, condoms and toys can irritate delicate tissues when used without sufficient lubrication. All of these things can lead to inflammation.
- Colds & Flu
Being ill with a cold, flu, or COVID-19 can trigger a herpes virus flare-up, so optimizing your immune system is essential. Fevers also trigger HSV, which is why cold sores are often called fever blisters. Why? Illness triggers inflammation, which triggers HSV to reactivate (it attacks when you're weak).
- Not Exercising or Exercising Incorrectly
Engaging in enjoyable activities and moderate physical exercise can help reduce stress and elevate your mood, ultimately benefiting your immune system. Exercise gets the heart beating and muscles working and helps detoxify your system, which is essential for putting herpes into remission. Conversely, overexercising and specific positions, such as standard sit-ups, bicycling, rowing, and weightlifting (which can strain the shoulders and neck), can stress nerve ganglia where the herpes virus resides. Additionally, wearing hot, sweaty, or constricting clothing can irritate the skin and exacerbate outbreaks. Why? Because it causes inflammation.
- Sitting for Too Long & Improper Posture
Pay attention to your posture. Genital herpes (HSV-2) lies dormant in the sacral ganglion, a group of nerves situated at the bottom of the spine. Should these nerves be irritated by pressure, movement, prolonged sitting, or other factors that cause excess stress or pain to the nerve ganglion, it will increase the likelihood of genital outbreaks. Why? Because it causes inflammation. If you tend to sit for most of your workday, it's essential to stand up, stretch, or walk around as often as possible.
- Lack of Quality Sleep
During sleep, particularly during REM sleep (the phase of in-depth dreaming), significant repairs are made to the body's tissues, and energy is restored. Most of this work begins around 11 PM and lasts for the next 4-5 hours, so it's essential to get 8-10 hours of sleep each night. Lack of sleep negatively impacts your immune system, and your body cannot heal properly without adequate rest. If your sheets are empty at night or you can't get to sleep or stay asleep, you've got a real problem, because without proper rest, you're setting yourself up for inflammation.
- Hormonal Changes
Anything that causes your hormones to dip and dive will affect your immune system's ability to function correctly. Menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, andropause (male menopause) can affect the frequency and duration of herpes outbreaks. Problems with your adrenal glands, gallbladder, or liver, as well as gut dysbiosis, can also lead to immune issues and inflammation.
- Autoimmune Disorders & Illnesses
Autoimmune disorders are self-attacking disorders in which your immune system is too aggressive and directed at an inappropriate target. Autoimmune conditions, which involve inflammation, often trigger histamine release, which in turn triggers more inflammation and herpes outbreaks. See my e-book, The Anti-HSV Cauldron: The 4-Week Plan for HSV Remission, if you're stuck in a nightmarish cycle of frequent outbreaks.
- Environmental Toxins
The frequency of outbreaks you experience can depend on how sensitive or allergic you are to certain environmental toxins, such as food additives, plastics, dust, molds, pesticides (and other chemicals), pollution, mothballs, household cleaners, room sprays, and colognes. 50% of all stress is caused by physical or environmental stress. Environmental stress triggers often correlate with poor living conditions, but not always. Environmental stress can also arise from living in a cluttered or loud environment, or from electromagnetic overload. See Creating Healthy Spaces for simple and healthy tips. Even if you're "homeless," there are things you can do to create less stress in your environment and reduce chances of becoming inflamed by it.
- Sunlight & Tanning Beds
Excessive sunlight can trigger cold sore outbreaks. Two hours of midday sun for one week can cause a cold sore to appear within seven days. Ultraviolet light from tanning beds can trigger both cold sores and genital outbreaks. They may also trigger Shingles. When outdoors, wear a hat and use natural ingredients, such as virgin coconut oil, to protect your skin from mild sunlight. For hotter temperatures, you can opt for more protection by using an over-the-counter sunscreen (no higher than SPF 7), but this can backfire. Most sunscreens contain chemical sunscreens and are known to cause Cancer. Additionally, many lip balms and sunscreens contain citrus essential oils, which can irritate your skin, cause sunburns (inflammation), and potentially trigger HSV.
Note: If you don't get much sun, consider taking a vitamin D3 supplement. Vitamin D3 is essential for optimal immunity when fighting viruses.
- Foods & Substances
The Herpes Simplex Virus relies on the body to become unbalanced and symptomatic. Particular foods, ingredients, the way meals are prepared, and overeating can trigger outbreaks relatively quickly, as adverse reactions to certain foods or those to which you are sensitive, such as gluten in bread and cereal grains, can significantly stress your entire immune system and cause inflammation. When searching for herpes "cures, you will undoubtedly read about the importance of eating a balanced diet brimming with natural foods, which is good advice. However, even healthy foods can pose problems, which is why it's essential to consume a proper anti-HSV diet (see my e-book, The Anti-HSV Cauldron: The 4-Week Plan for HSV Remission).
- Addictions
Addictions of any kind are stressful because they are overstimulating. Stress is an event, action, or thought that requires you to adapt or change in response. Addictions require you to adapt to your habit or address it, which is why they are a real bother. There is no managing an addiction without also managing the stress involved. Whether it is food, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, sex, or shopping, addictions wreak havoc on the immune system because of the physical and mental stimulation involved, leading to inflammation either directly from a substance or chemical reactions occurring in your body from stress.
When you have a physical addiction to a substance, such as sugar, caffeine, or a drug, it means you are sensitive to it. If you weren't sensitive to it, you wouldn't be addicted. It wouldn't affect you. Your body and mind would not cry out for more. It's the things you're sensitive to that you can end up addicted to. The stimulation triggers a chemical response in the body that causes inflammation and can reactivate herpes.
When you hear others speaking of a genetic predisposition toward alcoholism, for example, it means you inherited a particular sensitivity. This sensitivity can span four generations. Excessiveness, whether it’s consuming alcohol, sugar, caffeine, drugs/medications, or gambling, tips the scales out of your favor and right into a herpes outbreak or worse.
- Caffeine
Caffeine is a substance that stimulates the adrenal glands to release adrenaline, the hormone that triggers the "fight, flight, or freeze" response. People often use caffeine to maintain alertness. As an addictive drug, it can take more and more caffeine to produce the same amount of alertness, so it's easy to end up drinking more and more to get that same response. The more caffeine you use, the more adrenaline is produced until you finally reach a stage of adrenal fatigue. Adrenal Burnout Syndrome weakens your immune system, allowing viruses and bacteria to attack and make you ill.
Caffeine also dehydrates the body, disrupts the body's mineral balance, and causes acidity, all of which affect mitochondrial function (cellular energy) and can trigger a herpes outbreak. However, there is a plus side to caffeine. A little caffeine is beneficial, but only when consumed in amounts of less than 2 cups per day. When applied topically, studies show that it inhibits HSV-1 replication (the virus that causes cold sores).
Caffeine and carbonated beverages often go hand in hand (think Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and energy drinks). Carbonated water isn't good for you. According to The University of Maryland Medical Center, carbonated drinks can irritate the stomach and intestinal lining, which can cause "the elephant in the room" (inflammation), bloating, pain, and stomach ulcers. These side effects inhibit the body's ability to absorb nutrients, further contributing to inflammation and poor immunity.
- Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders and nervous ills are all about emotional or physical stress. When you suffer from nervousness, panic attacks, Agoraphobia, or Depression, you experience more frequent or severe outbreaks. Why? Again, stress triggers chemical changes in your body that lead to inflammation, which triggers herpes outbreaks. So that you know, anxiety disorders are almost always caused by a problem in the gut microbiome.
- Medications & Supplements
Over-the-counter and prescription medications (including steroidal and antivirals) and recreational drugs (including marijuana) create adverse changes in your gut microbiome, cause inflammation, and encourage more frequent outbreaks. Even some natural supplements, such as certain probiotics, can trigger more frequent outbreaks. Antiviral prescription medications can cause HSV to mutate and provoke more symptomatic and severe outbreaks.
- Dental Fillings (and other toxic metals)
Mercury amalgam dental fillings are toxic and reduce immune function. Mercury is known to cause toxicity of the brain and Autism, by the way. Most dental insurance companies don't cover the removal of these poisonous fillings, but if you have a mouth full of mercury fillings, it is well worth paying to have them removed, if you can afford to. How are herpes and metals related? Heavy metals are toxic, cause acidosis, and lead to "the elephant in the room" (inflammation). Herpes uses toxins to hide behind. You can eliminate heavy metals and toxins by cleansing and detoxifying your body. By the way, mercury is known to cause toxicity of the brain and Autism.
- Surgery & Injuries
Surgery and injuries can trigger a herpes outbreak from surgical positioning (on the table), trauma to the nerve ganglia where herpes resides, medications (which cause inflammation and increase the release of histamine), and emotional trauma.
- Electromagnetic Frequencies
Increasingly, studies demonstrate that electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, computers, appliances, and radio waves can harm our immune systems by interfering with mitochondrial and electromagnetic energy systems. The mitochondria are the powerhouses in every cell in your body. They create and transport energy through your bio-electrical grid. Less power means less energy. Less energy means greater toxicity, more inflammation, and more outbreaks.
- Medical Marijuana
THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that makes you high. However, THC alters the immune response, making white blood cells 35-40% less effective at fighting disease (and increasing inflammation). For this reason, I don't suggest using marijuana containing THC to relax or relieve herpes-associated pain. You're only doing yourself a disservice. Instead, use CBD oil, herbs, and essential oils for their calming and healing benefits. You'll find resources in The Herpothecary.
- Stress & Trauma
Stress is a contributing factor to more frequent and severe outbreaks of herpes. However, it's not just any type of stress. It's chronic stress, traumatic events (the death of a loved one, an environmental catastrophe, a physical injury, etc.), or stress perceived as traumatic, which can be different for everyone. Having a flat tire on the way to work may not be traumatic for someone who has a spare in their trunk, knows how to change a tire, and has an understanding boss. On the other hand, if you're stuck on the side of the freeway, don't know how to change a tire (spare or not), and your boss is the type to fire you for being five minutes late, the experience can be traumatic. An example of ongoing stress might be walking on eggshells in an abusive relationship. Sometimes, it's chronic physical stress, such as a physically demanding job, a nutritional deficiency, or insufficient sleep. Why does stress trigger outbreaks? Because it alters body chemistry, adversely affecting immunity, leading to inflammation, which herpes depends on to reactivate.
So, what's the common denominator, the "elephant in the room"? INFLAMMATION!
Also, see How Your Immune System Works to discover the role of inflammation in the body, and Why Does Stress Cause Herpes Outbreaks?.
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