Therapy
| No | % of respondents | |
|---|---|---|
| *27% (n = 559) of the sample did not answer this question: 545 left the question blank and 14 reported not using medication. | ||
| †901 respondents provided information on pattern of antiviral therapy (see text). | ||
| ‡There remained 6% (n = 55) of others that were not recoded or put in a new category. These included people who do not take medication, were worried about developing dependency. | ||
| Treatment used* | ||
| Prescription antiviral | 990 | 65 |
| Prescription topical medicine | 274 | 18 |
| Over the counter topical cream | 194 | 13 |
| Pain medication | 12 | <1 |
| Alternative/herbal treatment | 263 | 17 |
| Saline baths | 154 | 10 |
| Ice or cold water | 74 | 5 |
| Lifestyle change | 16 | <1 |
| Other | 35 | 2 |
| Pattern of antiviral therapy† | ||
| Suppressive therapy | 274 | 30 |
| Episodic therapy | 604 | 67 |
| Reasons for not taking suppressive therapy‡ | ||
| Infrequent outbreaks or just diagnosed | 318 | 33 |
| Cost | 297 | 31 |
| Didn’t know could take every day | 203 | 21 |
| Fear of side effects | 173 | 18 |
| Don’t want to be reminded about the disease | 135 | 14 |
| Decreased efficacy | 108 | 11 |
| Inconvenient | 97 | 10 |
| Disease not a concern | 78 | 8 |
| Doctor didn’t recommend | 59 | 6 |
| Wouldn’t make a difference | 53 | 6 |
| Treatment period would be too long | 35 | 4 |
| Doesn’t work | 9 | <1 |