What does genital herpes look like?

Genital herpes is caused by the dreaded virus called herpes simplex virus or HSV. There are two strains of this virus namely type1 or HSV1 and type2 or HSV2.

HSV1 causes cold sores and genital herpes is caused by HSV2. If you are wondering what does genital herpes look like, the answer is it is an unsightly sight!

About the disease

Genital herpes infection can be an emotionally straining experience for an individual. In addition, it also causes a good amount of physical pain. Genital herpes pain is recurring as there exists no cure for the disease.

Most physicians will advise infected individuals to refrain from physical contact or sex with their partners until the infection disappears completely.

This can cause undue stress and a feeling of undesirability in an individual. Genital herpes infection is caused by HSV, which is the same virus causing shingles, chicken pox etc.

How does it spread?

The genital herpes infection can easily spread through a number of means. Since the virus attacks lesions on skin, anyone kissing, having oral sex, vaginal or anal sex is a potential target for contracting genital herpes. Even if a person has HSV1 genetal herpes he or she can infect their partner by having oral sex.

What does it look like?

Answering the question as to what does genital herpes look like, the genital herpes outbreak starts as small red blisters. These resemble small pimples and are not that painful. However, as the genital herpes infection starts to spread, these blisters start rupturing and secretions are produced, which are highly infectious.

Then, these blisters turn into sores, which are also known as lesions. While these lesions occur in and around the genitals most times, sometimes they can occur at other areas also such as buttocks, thighs etc.

Most typically symptoms include burning sensation during urination and in women it could be abnormal amounts of vaginal discharge.

Once the genital herpes infection starts in the person, these lesions or sores appear within a span of a week to ten days. The sores continue to be on the person for as long as four weeks or more!

No cure for genetal herpes

The sad aspect about genetial herpes is that there is no cure yet for the disease. Several genital herbal herpes treatment as well as antiviral remedies exist but they can only alleviate the genital herpes pain and associated discomfort but cannot cure the condition completely.

In terms of appearance and what does genital herpes look like the lesions can be very disgusting to look at, especially when they transform from small blisters into big lesions. More genital herpes pictures can be seen here.

They look red, are filled with fluid and are very unsightly to look at. In addition, once these sores burst, they will be covered with a crust or a scab and finally shed completely.

It can be very difficult to know if a person already has genital herpes infection or not because visible symptoms can appear only after two or even ten days.

Hence, it is important to know what does genital herpes look like so that you can keep a lookout if your partner is showing any signs of contracting genital herpes.