It causes it for me Brandi. The sores will always come in the same spots on your body - for me, I get them just above the clitoris (sorry if TMI). If I get too much external stimulation, if you get my drift, boom - a sore the next day. Believe it or not, I used to get them on my ring finger - go figure. We could never figure that out. It's called a herpactic whitlo (sp) and that was stress related. I would feel a tingling in the finger for a couple of days and then I got blisters and my finger would swell up so bad it looked like it would rip open. I haven't had that happen in over 5 years and trust me - I've had stress during that timeframe. So remission is also possible. That's why you need to find your trigger. I've heard that some people have outbreaks by eating certain foods - usually spicey foods. My ex used to get them in his nose when he got colds - friction from blowing/wiping his nose (different herpes strain, but same type of outbreaks).

The stastic is that something outrageous like 25% of people have genital herpes and it's even higher for HSV-1. A lot of people have it and don't know. Someone with a cold sore can give someone else genital herpes. There are some good websites out there so maybe do some researching and see what works for you.

http://www.herpes.com/overview.shtml

http://www.herpeshelp.com/