Learn to Recognize an Outbreak of Genital Herpes

The greater part of the people who have genital herpes don't have any idea that they are infected with the disease due to the fact that they are not experiencing any symptom of the disease. The symptoms that goes with genital herpes are sometimes very mild that they usually go unnoticed by the infected person.

Typically, the first outbreak of genital herpes is worst compared to the succeeding outbreaks in the future. And there are even some people who won't be able to experience the second outbreak of genital herpes. There are also other people who will experience recurrent outbreaks for the span of many years.

The symptoms of genital herpes during an outbreak usually include the presence of small blisters, red bumps, or open sores surrounding the genital and anal areas. The feelings of pain and/or itching encircling the genital areas, inner thighs, and/or buttocks are also part of the symptoms of genital herpes.

Pain or itching is the usual first symptoms of genital herpes and it will start to happen no further than a few weeks after being exposed to an infected person through sexual activity. Few days after the pain or itching, small blisters will appear that will rupture and become skin ulcers that bleed or ooze. Later on, there will be scab formation and then the ulcers will start to heal.

Sores in women usually appear within the vaginal area, buttocks, external genitals, cervix, or anus. Sores in men usually appear on the scrotum, penis, anus, buttocks, within the urethra, or thighs. The presence of ulcers during the genital herpes outbreak will cause pain during urination. Tenderness and pain around the genital area will be felt until the genital herpes infection heals.

During the first outbreak of genital herpes, the infected person may undergo flu-like symptoms like muscle aches, headache, fever, and swelling of lymph nodes especially in the groin.

Genital herpes recurrences are pretty normal but vary from one person to another in certain degrees. The recurrences of symptoms may happen for years or many times in each year. The larger part of the people infected with genital herpes will experience fewer and fewer outbreaks as years went by in their life.

These are the common factors that will trigger the genital herpes outbreaks to recur:
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Illness
- Weakening of the immune system due to medications or other infections like AIDS
- Friction due to vigorous sexual intercourse
- Surgery
- Menstruation

There are genital herpes cases that there is an ongoing active infection even if there are no visible lesions on the skin and this is also contagious.