Re: Tested Positive with HSV1
I think it makes very little difference when you contracted it. Fortunately, there is a topical medication sold over the counter for herpes on the lips (aka. cold sores) called "Abreva." It is the only FDA approved medication for this that has been proven in clinical studies to reduce the amount of time over which it will heel. Valtrex (an anti-viral medication) is also effective at reducing the amount of time that over which herpes sores heel, and it is effective in treating both genital herpes and cold sores. You can arm yourself by using Abreva and by getting a prescription for Valtrex or a generic anti-viral for herpes. Be careful about buying over the counter cold sore remedies. There must be 25 or so different ones sold at Walgreens, but most of them are just snake oil and a waste of money. Make sure you are buying Abreva.
Unfortunately, there is no real way to know when you were first infected, and even if there were, would you do anything differently knowing that its from a long time ago or knowing that its from two months ago? Probably not.
No, don't do anything with Q-tips; you'll only aggravate it.