Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted contagious disease for which there is no cure. The infection occurs in the genital or anal area, and the symptoms of genital herpes are called outbreaks. If you are infected with genital herpes, the first symptoms will show within two weeks.
A variety of symptoms can occur due to contracting genital herpes. Where the virus has entered your body, you may see sores. These usually appear on the rectal, genital or mouth area. You may also notice very small, red bumps. These sores can become itchy and turn into blisters, but they can also disappear without any scarring.
The sores may also appear elsewhere on the body, such as on broken skin where the virus may have entered the body. The sores can also appear in women inside the vagina or on the cervix. They may also appear in the urinary passage of both men and women. There are other symptoms that occur with the first outbreak of genital herpes, including difficulty in urinating, muscle pains, fever, vaginal discharge and swollen glands in the genital area. Although these symptoms may occur during the first outbreak, they may not appear during later outbreaks.
There are two types of genital herpes. The herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 infects the mouth area and may be noticeable through blisters or cold sores around the mouth. HSV 1 also causes sores around the genital area. HSV 2 occurs mainly in the genital area.
Although genital herpes is an incurable disease, there are medicines available to help. These help with outbreaks, treat the symptoms and decrease the risk of passing on the infection. There are also genital herpes counselling services available in order to help you talk through anxieties you may have after contracting the infection.
The symptoms of genital herpes vary among people. Most people infected with HSV have no symptoms or have only mild symptoms, but some develop severe symptoms. When symptoms do occur, the infected person usually develops one or more painful blisters in the anal or genital areas that eventually ulcerate and heal over a period of a few weeks.
When a person is first infected with the herpes virus, if symptoms occur, these usually develop within the first two weeks after infection. These symptoms of an initial infection can include:
Fever and flu-like symptoms
Genital itching, burning, or discomfort
Vaginal discharge in women
Swollen lymph nodes
A feeling of pressure in the abdomen
These early symptoms can appear before any skin lesions develop. Skin lesions then develop within a few days of the initial symptoms and are characterized by raised, red, painful bumps or blisters at the site of viral infection (often on the penis or vagina). The lesions can also appear on the uterine cervix in women or in the urinary tract in men. Along with these skin lesions, infected persons can experience:
fever,
swollen lymph nodes,
itching,
vaginal discharge,
muscle aches,
pain with urination, and
pain or burning in the genital area, buttocks, or thighs.
Genital herpes symptoms eventually go away, but the virus responsible for the symptoms remains in nerve cells in the body throughout life. Outbreaks of genital herpes may occur at any time following the initial infection, and these produce similar skin lesions as seen in the initial infection. While the frequency of outbreaks of genital herpes tends to decrease over a period of years following the infection, some people still have many outbreaks per year. Doctors do not understand exactly why outbreaks occur, but many people report outbreaks at times of illness or psychological stress.
There is no cure for genital herpes, although prescription antiviral medications are available that may shorten or even prevent outbreaks and help prevent transmission of the virus to others.
Herpes simplex virus affecting the genital area such as the penis, the rectum or the scrotum can be equally painful, especially during sexual intercourse. This happens because the genitals show skin growths in the form of red bumps and sores. Genital herpes typically causes persistent itching in the affected area.
Painful urination is one of the most common genital herpes symptoms in men. However, when the viral infection is mild living with herpes simplex is easy and the person may not even know that he is suffering from genital herpes infection.
Genital herpes can be asymptomatic at times. This means that many people may not be aware of this viral infection, when they get it for the first time. When symptoms are present, the condition can be quite uncomfortable. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease. The symptoms of primary outbreak can be quite mild, for which many may fail to notice them. Like oral herpes, genital herpes in women can also cause the development of sores. Such sores appear as small red bumps or blisters in the genital or nearby areas. Before the development of the blisters, one can feel pain, itching and burning sensation in those areas.
Sores can develop anywhere in the genital area, buttock, anus and even cervix. The sores or ulcers rupture within a few days, which is then followed by crusting. The urinary tract can also be affected by this condition, which can cause painful urination. Other symptoms of genital herpes in women include vaginal discharge, muscle ache, headache, swollen lymph nodes in the groin, lower back pain and fever. Both oral and genital herpes symptoms in women can recur. The symptoms of recurrent infection are however, less severe and last for a shorter duration than the symptoms of primary outbreak. Various factors can trigger the recurrence of this viral infection, out of which the most important ones are stress, illness, surgery, menstruation and factors that can compromise the immune system like HIV/AIDS, use of steroid and chemotherapy.
So, these are the usual herpes symptoms in women. As far as treatment for herpes is concerned, oral herpes usually does not require medical intervention, as the sores heal on their own within a couple of days. If the symptoms are too severe, then one might consider taking anti-viral medications for cold sores treatment after consulting a physician. Anti-viral medications are also used for genital herpes treatment. Medications that are more commonly used for herpes cure are acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir, which are the oral anti-viral medications. Along with these, denavir is used for topical application. Anti-viral medications can be effective for preventing the future episodes of both oral and genital herpes. So, talk to your physician regarding the use of such medications, if you are suffering from the symptoms of herpes.
Treatment with antiviral drugs can help people who are bothered by genital herpes outbreaks stay symptom-free longer. These drugs can also reduce the severity and duration of symptoms when they flare up. Drug therapy is not a cure, but it can make living with the condition easier.
There are three major drugs commonly used to treat genital herpes symptoms: acyclovir (Zovirax), famciclovir (Famvir), and valacyclovir (Valtrex). These are all taken in pill form. Severe cases may be treated with intravenous (IV) acyclovir.
Formulas applied to the surface of the skin provide little benefit, and doctors don't usually recommend them.
Initial treatment. If you have symptoms such as sores when you're first diagnosed with genital herpes, your doctor will usually give you a brief course (seven to 10 days) of antiviral therapy to relieve them or prevent them from getting worse. Your doctor may keep you on the drugs longer if your sores don't heal in that time.
After the first treatment, work with your doctor to come up with the best way to take antiviral therapies. There are two options:
Intermittent treatment. Your doctor may prescribe an antiviral drug for you to keep on hand in case you have another flare-up; this is called intermittent therapy. You can take the pills for two to five days as soon as you notice sores or when you feel an outbreak coming on. Sores will heal and disappear on their own, but taking the drugs can make the symptoms less severe and make them go away faster.
Suppressive treatment. If you have outbreaks often, you may want to consider taking an antiviral drug every day. Doctors call this suppressive therapy. For someone who has more than six outbreaks a year, suppressive therapy can reduce the number of outbreaks by 70% to 80%. Many people who take the antiviral drugs daily have no outbreaks at all.
There is no set number of outbreaks per year that doctors use to decide when someone should start suppressive therapy. Rather, more important factors are how often the outbreaks happen and if they are severe enough to interfere with your life.
Antiviral drugs reduce viral shedding, when the virus makes new copies of itself on the skin's surface.