You catch genital herpes during sex, by contact
with someone who has the infection on their skin. You are most likely to catch
it if your partner has herpes blisters or moist herpes sores.
You can also catch herpes from someone who has
no visible herpes sores. About 3% of people carry the virus on their skin
without knowing that they have it (because it has never given them any
symptoms), but they can pass it on to other people. This is one of the reasons
it is important to use a condom with a new partner. Condoms give significant
protection against genital herpes.
Because cold sores are also caused by
herpes simplex virus, you can catch herpes if your partner gives you oral sex
when they have a cold sore.
The herpes virus cannot survive for long outside
the body, so it is unlikely (but not impossible) that you will catch it from
towels.
With herpes, you do not usually have symptoms
all the time. The symptoms usually come and go in attacks (also called
episodes).
·
The first attack is the
worst, and starts between 2 and 12 days after you caught the infection (usually
about 4 days).
·
Later attacks
(recurrences) are less severe.
·
Some people never get
recurrences, some people get them occasionally and a few people get them
regularly.
·
The severity of the
attacks varies a lot between individuals. At one end of the spectrum, some
people have really troublesome attacks. At the other end of the spectrum, the
attack may be so mild that the person does not notice any symptoms, which is
how people end up carrying the herpes virus unknowingly.
Women. The first time you get herpes can be very unpleasant. First
of all, you may feel as if you have flu muscle aches, feverishness, tiredness
and headache. Then small blisters appear on the labia (the lips that surround
the opening of the vagina). After 3 or 4 days, they burst to leave small,
painful sores. Passing urine may be very painful indeed, and you will probably
feel completely miserable and tearful. You may notice that the glands in your
groins are swollen and tender. There may be increased vaginal discharge.
After 6 or 7 days, the sores start to scab over
and slowly heal. So it can be 3 weeks from when you first started to feel
unwell to complete healing.
Men. In men, a first attack of herpes is usually less severe than
in women. The blisters and sores may be on the glands (head) of the penis, the
foreskin (which may swell up), the scrotum, the thighs, the buttocks or near
the anus. Passing urine may be uncomfortable, and there may be discomfort or
pain around the anus (back passage). You may feel feverish and generally
unwell. The ulcers on the glands or the foreskin heal softly, but those on the
shaft or scrotum form scabs as they heal.
The third thing you wantto do is avoid sex if there is an active herpes outbreak, a burning, itching ortingling feeling occur.
A burning, itching or tingling feeling could be a result of herpes surfacing
the skin. If herpes is on the surface of the skin a partner is more likely to
come in contact with the virus. The fourth thing you want to do is take
medicine as needed. Medicine like valtrex could reduce the chance of passing
genital herpes to a partner by 50% or more. If you’re planning on taking
medicine for herpes it is important to speak with a doctor to see if medicine
meets your needs. The fifth thing you want to do is your research. You want
research from well known sources. You could visit the following web links to
get accurate information about herpes. There are misunderstanding and
conflicting information about how herpes is spread.
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