Genital Herpes

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Genital Herpes

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease which is caused by intimate contact between partners, affecting the skin especially the areas around your genitalia. Because the virus is passed between partners who are close, the virus is known as a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

Genital Herpes or Herpes simplex virus as it is also called has 2 main types.

Herpes simplex virus type1 (HSV-1)

Herpes simplex virus type2 (HSV-2)

HSV-1 is most commonly connected with infections to the lips, face and mouth. This is the more common of the two types and can develop from early childhood. Symptoms will include cold sores in the mouth, or lesions or blisters, and sores to the eyes in the cornea.

HSV-2 is the more aggressive virus usually infecting people through sex. It is passed between two people whilst having sex (vaginal, anal or oral), and even if the infected person who has herpes is showing no symptoms they can still pass the virus on

Genital Herpes

The genital herpes virus can take 4-5 days to show after being infected for the first time, but some people may not even show symptoms at all, not for days, months or even years. Once the virus does show you will start to feel different types of symptoms such as,

Tiredness, headaches, just generally feeling unwell or under the weather, aches and pains, swollen glands, pain in the groin.

This will be followed by itching or stinging sensation to your genital or anal areas. The next stage is blisters or sores to the genital and anal area, the thighs and buttocks which eventually burst to inflict pain to the sufferer. This pain will be increased while passing urine and the urine going over the blisters.

Herpes simplex  (genital herpes)is a painful virus but especially so on the first outbreak, but the severity of the attacks decreases over time, but do not forget there is no cure for genital herpes, just a way to cure the pain and stop the virus from multiplying. Recurring infections can last for around a week, and they will usually start off with a tingling sensation, and flu like symptoms. You will still get the sores and blisters, but they are smaller, not as painful and you can control them more easily.

Genital Herpes

If you start with any of the symptoms mentioned above then you need to seek medical attention straight away, you can go to your local GUM clinic where you can be tested. It must be considered though that you may not have Genital Herpes, but some other STI, so you still need to get yourself checked out. It is also imperative that if you get infected with the virus or any other STI, then you need to notify your partner, straight away, even if it is your spouse, or a casual sex partner.

Checks for the genital herpes virus will usually be a swab of the infected area to extract some of the fluid, and a visual observation of an infected area. Treatment will be antiviral tablets taken sometimes up to 5 times a day, for 1 week. As stated earlier the medication is really just to help relieve the pain and symptoms, it can never actually heal the virus itself, but you can still ease the symptoms further by applying an ice pack on a area that is infected for 1 hour. You could also take a cool shower or apply a local anaesthetic ointment to further relieve pain.

To avoid any sexual transmitted disease it is always best to practice safe sex, using condoms, not being promiscuous. If you are your partner are actually infected with herpes or another disease, then avoid kissing in the affected areas like the mouth, and refrain from oral and anal sex when the virus is active.

For more information on Genital herpes please read my other posts to keep yourself safe.

Symptoms for Herpes

The Herpes virus also known as the herpes simplex virus is a highly contagious disease which can be passed on from person to person by direct contact. The cause of herpes is caused by having sex, vaginal, anal or oral with someone already infected with the disease. Even if someone is infected with genital herpes, but not having the symptoms for herpes, another person can still get infected.

Symptoms for Herpes

Someone who is infected with herpes may not even know they have it, as the disease can lie dormant for years, but eventually something will set the virus off, for the outbreak to start. Although there is no cure for genital herpes, you can get treatment for symptoms that you will eventually get.

Once you start to experience symptoms for herpes, they generally appear between four to seven days, once you have been infected to the disease. The first time you are infected with the disease is known as the primary infection, which tends to be the worst infection. Further infections which occur later are called the recurrent infection, and these tend to be not as severe.

Symptoms for Herpes primary infection can include the following.

Vaginal discharge in women

Ulcers, blisters on the cervix in women

Very painful sores or blisters around your buttocks, anal passage, genitalia

Pain when you are passing urine

A very high temperature, fever and generally feeling unwell with bad aches and pains.

All these symptoms can be present for up to at least twenty days, but eventually will all disappear, including the sores, blisters which will heal completely.

Symptoms of recurrent infection

Once the primary infection has been treated it will lie dormant in your nerves, and eventually will trigger the recurrent infection, which will include,

An itching and tingling feeling around the genitals, down the leg sometimes, before the blisters come back. This is usually the first indication that the recurrent infection has started,

Very painful sores around the genitals, recturn and thighs and bottom

Painful blisters or sores in the cervix of women.

These symptoms are not as severe as the first infection because the body has learnt to fight the infection producing antibodies to fight it. Generally the recurrent infection can last up to ten days, and you won’t have the severe temperature or feeling unwell.

After reading this and you think you have symptoms for herpes, then you need to act as soon as possible to get treatment. The disease passes from person to person, so you could be infecting someone else if you have herpes.

For more information on symptoms for herpes please read my post on genital herpes