The Various Stages Of Herpes
Herpes: What It Is Genital Herpes and How I Deal With It?
Herpes is the name of a group of viruses that cause painful blisters and sores.
One kind of herpes, herpes simplex, causes both cold sores around the mouth
and genital herpes (herpes around the sexual organs).
Herpes zoster, another kind of herpes, causes chickenpox and shingles.
How Does Genital Herpes Get Spread?
Genital herpes is spread easily. The virus from contact with an infected person can enter your body through a break in your skin or through the skin of your mouth, penis or vagina, urinary tract opening, cervix or anus.
Herpes is most easily spread when blisters or sores can be seen on the infected
person. But it can be spread at any time, even when there aren't any symptoms.
Genital herpes is usually spread from one person to another by having sex, including oral sex. Herpes can also be spread from one place on your body to another, such as from your genitals to your fingers, then to your eyes or to other parts of your body. Herpes can also be spread from a mother to her baby when she gives birth.
What should I do if I think I have herpes?
See your doctor as soon as you think you may have herpes. Herpes is easier to
diagnose when there are sores. You can start treatment sooner and perhaps have less pain with the infection.
What happens once someone is infected?
Once you have the virus, you'll go through different stages of infection. Each stage is explained in the following sections.
The Primary Stages of Herpes
This stage usually starts 2 to 8 days after you're infected. Usually, the infection
causes groups of small, painful blisters. The fluid in the blisters may be clear or cloudy.
| The area under the blisters will be red. |
The blisters break open so easily that they quickly become open sores. You may not ever notice the blisters.
Besides having tender blisters or sores in your genital area, it may hurt to urinate. You may run a fever and have other flu-like symptoms.
While most people have a painful primary stage of infection, some don't have any
symptoms at all, and may not even know they're infected.
Latent Stages of Herpes
During this stage, there are no blisters, sores or other symptoms. At this time,
the virus is traveling from your skin into the nerves near your spine.
Shedding Stages of Herpes
The virus starts multiplying in the nerves. It can then get into body fluids, such as saliva, semen or vaginal fluids. This is called shedding. There are no symptoms during this stage, but the virus can be spread during this time.
Recurrences of Herpes Outbreaks
Many people have blisters and sores that come back after the first herpes attack
goes away. This is called a recurrence. Usually, the symptoms aren't as bad as
they were during the first attack.
Stress, being sick or being tired may start a recurrence. Being in the sun or having your menstrual period may also cause a recurrence. You may know when a recurrence is about to happen because you may feel itching, tingling or pain in the places where you were first infected.
Is there a cure for herpes?
No at this stage. There are some really good treatments for genital herpes listed below.
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