I am not planning on listing who the “good” healthcare providers are any more because I think that it creates an unfair advantage in the medical community. There are many good providers out there that deserve a chance to be discovered. Plus, not listing the “good ones” will work towards keeping the lines of communication open between provider and patient. Besides, if only a few offices around the country get flooded with patients how fair is THAT actually going to be for the person that’s trying to get answers? Finally, since I can’t guarantee the quality of the care from each individual provider then there is no point in listing them.

Somebody that is willing to answer ALL of your questions no matter how “silly” or “relevant” the question as presented by the patient. In other words, if you want to know which type of HSV that you have as well as location it is important because it matters to you AND you have a right to know!! So many times I have heard about providers telling their patients that it’s not really important to know the HSV type that they have. I think if it’s important to the patient then it should be just as important for the provider to get them some real answers instead of a quick dismissal.

Somebody that can and will test you properly for herpes. Since herpes is NOT included in the routine STD testing process it’s important for you to ask specifically to be tested for herpes. If you have an outbreak that can be cultured hopefully your provider will be willing to see you right away so that they can run that forum of testing immediately. Too many times providers will want you to schedule an appointment and it just doesn’t work too well when you have to wait for too long to be seen. In fact, it’s how most false negatives originate to begin with.

Somebody that is willing to provide type specific herpes testing so that you will know which type you have if there are no sores or lesions that can be cultured. Not everybody has an outbreak that can be cultured and that is why it’s important to have the right herpes testing done. In situations like this a type specific herpes blood test is in order. And if the provider is not up-to-date on such tests perhaps they are willing to do the research, learn, and bring themselves up to speed on what the latest herpes testing is these days.

Someone who will offer suppressive therapy to the patient that requests it, regardless of the frequency of their recurrences, or even if they are having recurrences. Since most new cases of herpes are transmitted from someone showing no symptoms, and suppressive therapy reduces shedding so dramatically, it should be used way more than it is now. The last time I checked, suppressive therapy reduced frequency of outbreaks as well as asymptomatic shedding. Isn’t that a good thing and what good provider would ever be against THAT?

Someone who takes time to answer questions and offer support. In addition, a good herpes clinician will seek out answers when they don't have themselves. A decent herpes clinician is somebody that is willing to humble themselves if it means that they will learn something new from their patient too. A good healthcare provider is someone who ALWAYS diagnoses herpes by lab test, or confirms a clinical impression with a lab test. Looking at someone and telling them they have herpes by visual exam has a 20% error rate and isn’t THAT too high?

Someone who realizes that not everything going on down there is always going to be herpes. Hopefully people are able to get a complete work up so that they can rule out other things such as jock itch, yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, etc. Over the years I have bumped into so many women that thought they were having a herpes outbreak and wound up believing that herpes outbreaks are supposed to be a constant every day occurrence. Does that sound right to you? It doesn't sound right to me at all.

I would just also like to add that twelve years ago when I was diagnosed with genital herpes I did quite a bit of research and thought that I knew exactly who the good healthcare providers were because of the horns that they tooted in the herpes community and all of the good works that they had accomplished on paper and in lectures. I have since realized that the ones that toot the loudest aren’t necessarily the most humble in nature and may not have as much time for you in the end. So take that into consideration when choosing your healthcare provider because who you know and how popular you are in the medical community does not always cut it either.

Attempting to find a diagnosis or answer as to what you have on the Internet is not a good idea. It’s also not a good idea to have somebody who you’ve never talked with in person or on the phone decipher your test results. You need to have YOUR doctor decipher your test results. Talk to YOUR doctor and talk to YOUR lab because they are the ones that should know best what YOUR situation is. As patients we don’t always do the best job of explaining what has taken place with us and everybody’s situation is different which is why nobody no matter how qualified they are should be attempting to diagnose, treat, or decipher YOUR stuff on the Internet.

It seems that I too am learning new things every day. I used to speak quite highly of the Herpes Specific Western Blot at the University of Washington. I guess it’s not the “Gold” standard in herpes testing that we once thought it was. Sure, it’s still one of the best tests that you can have done BUT it’s not a test that doesn’t ever have it’s own flaws. In fact, the people that used to say it is the “Gold” standard are no longer telling their patients that any more. At least not from what I have seen lately. Therefore, be proactive and do some research so you will be able to find a healthcare provider with a positive disposition that is going to help you get the answers that you deserve.

What type of doctor should you see if you are trying to find out if you have herpes OR need somebody to fill your herpes antiviral prescription meds? What about alternative therapies? These are excellent questions that deserve honest answers from real people that actually have the virus and know what to do.