Outbreak Symptoms of Genital Herpes

When a person becomes infected with genital herpes, the development of signs and symptoms will occur. Usually, these signs and symptoms will start occurring within three to seven days after having direct skin contact with an infected person. Genital herpes infections are like tiny blisters or skin ulcers on the genitals.

The size of each blister or skin ulcer is ideally from one to three millimeters and they tend to group together like crops. Blisters are the first to appear during the genital herpes infection and then the skin opens up where ulcers are formed. Genital herpes infections can be painless or just slightly painful. But there are some people with genital herpes who are experiencing severe pain caused by these blisters and ulcers.

For men, the sores or lesions of genital herpes are usually found on and/or around the area of the penis. For women, visible lesions will appear just outside the vagina. But most commonly, these genital herpes lesions will also occur within the vagina that often causes vaginal discharge and discomfort for women. These lesions are not visible to the eyes but can be seen through an examination by your doctor.

Other areas where these genital herpes blisters and ulcers can be found are the areas surrounding the genitals of a person and also in the area surrounding the anus.

The first outbreak of genital herpes is usually the most painful of all the outbreaks and it also is the longest time to heal compared to other outbreaks in the later years. Aside from the blisters and ulcers on the skin, genital herpes has also other signs and symptoms that can be watch for especially during the first outbreak.

The other signs and symptoms of genital herpes include fever, mild and severe headaches, muscle aches, painful urination or vaginal discharge, and having some tender and swollen lymph glands in your groin. The swelling is usually caused by your body's reaction as it tries to fight against the genital herpes infection.

After the first outbreak of genital herpes occurs, you should expect that the disease would come back again with more outbreaks later and have less severe symptoms to experience. Genital herpes infected people who have already experienced lots of outbreak occurrences will usually feel pain where the infection is even prior to the appearance of the blisters and ulcers on the skin. This early pain felt is by reason of the inflammation and irritation of the nerves that lead to the genital herpes infected area of the skin.

Feeling this pain is already a sign and symptom that an outbreak of genital herpes is about to begin. This is the period where you are pretty contagious even if there are still no blisters or ulcers appearing on the skin.