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Genital Herpes
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Genital herpes is a common disease among sexually active teens and adults. Both men and women can transmit the disease and can get the disease. Its main symptoms include genital pain, itching and genital sores. The virus that causes genital herpes enters the tissues through small tears in the genital mucosa or the skin. It is almost exclusively transmitted through sexual contact with an infected partner. There is no cure for the infection but it can be managed with medications. It is a common cause of embarrassment and distress in the involved individual. There are ways to protect yourself from genital herpes during sexual activity.
Most people who've been infected with the herpes simplex virus have no signs and symptoms. The symptoms can be extremely mild so that you can pass the disease onto another person, not knowing that you yourself have the disease. Some people have just one outbreak and have no further problems. Others have recurrent outbreaks and these can last for as long as forty years after an outbreak.
Symptoms of genital herpes include having small red bumps, blisters or open sores in the genital area or nearby the genital area. There can be itching or pain around the affected areas. When you have genital herpes, you begin with itching to the affected area or pain in the affected area. Then the blisters or bumps appear that eventually rupture, becoming ulcerated lesions that bleed or ooze blister fluid. Scabs form and eventually the ulcers heal. It takes a couple of weeks in order to completely heal from the infection.
Women who have the disease get sores in their vaginal area, buttocks, anus, cervix or external genitalia. In men, there can be sores on the penis, buttocks, anus, thighs or scrotum. Lesions can even be inside the scrotum, making it painful to urinate.
In the first outbreak you have, you often have flu-like symptoms such as a headache, fever, muscle aches and swollen groin lymph glands. These symptoms are not common in subsequent infections with herpes simplex virus.
Recurrences of genital herpes are variable. You can have no recurrences or you may have recurrences every month or so for several years. The outbreaks tend to be less common as time goes on. There are a number of triggers for outbreaks. These include: being under a great deal of stress, having an immunodeficiency disease, such as being on steroids, having HIV or being on chemotherapy. Illnesses can trigger the onset of a recurrence as can menses. Surgeries are stressors that contribute to recurrences and friction can trigger outbreaks. Simple fatigue or lack of sleep can cause problems with herpes simplex recurrences. You can be contagious even when you have no lesions.
There are two types of herpes simplex viruses that can cause herpes genital viruses. These include HSV type I, which normally causes oral herpes but can spread to the genital area. There is also HSV type II that is usually found in the genital area. It is a common virus and is highly contagious, even if you don't have an open lesion. Neither virus survives long when not in contact with a human body so it is virtually impossible to get the infection via contact with towels, toilets or other personal objects.
The herpes virus can be identified by its appearance and diagnosed on looks alone. In questionable cases, a viral culture can be obtained by scraping the sores and putting them in a viral culture. A blood test can show HSV antibodies in the bloodstream. This shows a past history of having genital herpes. A PCR test or polymerase chain reaction test evaluates the presence of DNA related to herpes simplex virus.
Other non-HSV infections can be present at the same time as an HSV infection because STDs tend to go together. Your doctor will probably test for other STDs at the same time as testing for HSV.
Treatments for HSV infections include oral antiviral medicines, including acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir. They can shorten the duration of the attack but cannot clear the body of the infection. The purposes of the medications are to help the sores heal sooner and lessen the severity of symptoms when you get them. They can prevent or reduce the frequency of recurrences and can minimize your chances of giving the disease to someone else.
You can take the medications only when you have an outbreak or take a lower dose every day to keep recurrences at bay. This is called suppressive therapy. It is used whenever you have five or more separate outbreaks during a given year. The medications are safe and work well to diminish the symptoms and frequency of outbreaks.