Where it affects you?

Almost everyone who’s had genital herpes symptoms will experience symptoms at least once more. Symptoms may reappear from site to site; appearing on the genitals, then next time on one thigh, then on the lower back, then reappearing in the original spot. The reason for all this mysterious behaviour is your underlying nervous system.

Map of the Dermatomes

These diagram outlines the body’s dermatomes regions ie areas of the skin surface that are linked by sensory nerve fibres to a single spinal nerve root.

Spinal nerves activate certain muscles and certain areas of skin. An area of skin activated by a single nerve root in the spine is called a dermatome. Much like one light switch will turn on several lights in a room, the single nerve root can reach several areas of the body.

The herpes virus lives in a nerve root and can spread to those areas the nerve supplies. The first time your herpes symptoms appear they’ll probably be on or near the spot where you were infected. The original infection may have been in the genitals, but the virus can spread to other areas within the dermatome.

There are five dermatomes:

Trigeminal - This dermatome covers the top of the head and face.

Cervical - This dermatome covers the back of the head, neck, shoulders, hands and most of the arms.

Thoracic - This dermatome covers the chest, upper back and the length of the inside arm.

Lumbar - This dermatome covers the lower back, front of the thighs and feet.

Sacral - This dermatome covers the genitals, buttocks and backs of the legs and feet.