What Does Genital Herpes Look Like? Here’s an Excellent Picture
What does genital herpes look like? What should this question interest you in the first place? Though herpes is generally not life threatening unless it gets out hand and affects other major organs in the body, it is contagious. You want to make sure you are aware of the presence of the virus through the symptoms before you get to spread it to somebody else.
What Causes Genital Herpes?
Also known as herpes genitalis, it is sometimes called female genital herpes because it affects women more than men, according to research. It is caused by type 2 genital herpes simplex virus, which can be transmitted through sexual contact.
Since it is a virus, it’s highly contagious and can be passed on from one person to another, whether male or female, when you do unprotected sex. Once the virus is already in the body, you can no longer get rid of it, though you can do something to prevent it from getting “activated.”
Signs and Symptoms of Genital Herpes
Not all herpes conditions bring about very obvious signs and symptoms. In fact, there can be men and women who will never exhibit any problem at all and may not even be aware of the virus’s presence. This is because the virus can lay dormant inside the body as long as you keep the immune system very strong.
However, normally it does, and what you see will depend on the stages of genital herpes. In the latent phase, you don’t feel or see anything, as this is considered to be the virus’s incubation period. It’s replicating itself, ready to attack the nerve fibers and come out of the surface anytime.
Then you go through the prodrome stage where you sense a tingling sensation in the genital area. It may also become itchy. It won’t be long before the pimples will start to appear. In the women, they are concentrated in the vagina and even in the uterus. In the males, the bumps are found in the penis, the anal area, and the scrotum.
These pimples can be very red and swollen; thus, they are inflamed. They can also be very painful to touch, and it’s normal for someone with them to also feel pain when urinating.
Within hours or days, these pimples will erupt and develop into large open sores. They can have some white or even give white discharges, depending on the severity of the condition. The sores can last for days or week, but usually no more than 2 weeks.
How to Know You Have Genital Herpes
If you exhibit the obvious symptoms of the genital herpes, normally the physician can easily confirm the condition to you. However, just to be sure and to rule out other possibilities, you will be asked to undergo testing.
When it comes to herpes, the most trusted is the blood test. The blood is checked to determine if there are antibodies against herpes.
What does genital herpes look like? Surely it’s not something you’ll appreciate. However, you can control the appearance of the sores through antiviral medications and suppression drugs.