Herpes triggers
Recurrent genital herpes outbreaks will occur after a period of herpes dormancy. The amount of dormancy varies by person. Genital herpes lies dormant at the base of the spine (in the sacral ganglia), invisible until something triggers herpes symptoms. It wakes up and makes its way to the surface of the skin to the original site of herpes infection. More >
Herpes dormancy
Since there is no herpes cure, it does stay in your body for life. But it’s not always visible. You might only get a few herpes outbreaks per year, give or take a few. Some may never have a visible herpes outbreak. This is due to herpes dormancy. Think of herpes as a bear who hibernates for a while until it is rustled from its slumber to head outdoors again. Sometimes this metaphorical bear is restless, sometimes it sleeps long and hard. (Keep in mind that even when herpes lies dormant, it can still be spread due to herpes viral shedding.) More >
Genital herpes symptoms
What are the symptoms of genital herpes?
Herpes symptoms are different for everyone, depending on a few factors:
- Your general health and immune system
The worse your health/immune system, the more herpes outbreaks you might have — both in severity and amount. Great excuse to get healthy and stay healthy! - The length of time you’ve had herpes
The longer the time, the more your body builds up immunity, meaning less herpes outbreaks and less severity when you do have a herpes outbreak. The more outbreaks you have, it’s like your body is building up a muscle of immunity, getting stronger and stronger against herpes outbreaks. - The physical location of your outbreak
The further your outbreaks are from your genitals, the less often and severe since herpes (especially HSV 2) prefers the warm, moist environment that the genitals provide.
First herpes outbreak
The first herpes outbreak has the most symptoms because of the body being introduced to a brand new virus. Here are a whole slew of possible symptoms you might encounter (you can have any or all of these symptoms depending on the factors mentioned at the beginning):
- Flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headache, and muscle aches. These symptoms usually get better within a week.
- Tingling, burning, itching, and redness at the site where an outbreak is about to occur (prodrome).
- Painful, itchy blisters on the penis, on the vulva, or inside the vagina. Blisters may also appear on the anus, buttocks, thighs, or scrotum, either alone or in clusters. They may be barely noticeable or as large as a coin.
- Blisters that break and become shallow, painful, oozing sores.
- Swollen and tender lymph nodes in the groin.
- Painful urination.
- Abnormal vaginal or urethral discharge.
(via WebMD)
Subsequent outbreaks
For some, a cluster of blisters forms on the genitals; others may never get any physical symptoms whatsoever but could still be at risk of passing the virus on (also called “silent carriers”) because of viral shedding. Some people claim to feel a “tingling” on their genitals before a herpes occurrence that signals that the virus is preparing to surface. Some feel a tingling in their calf, thigh, buttocks or lower back regions because the virus uses the nerve ganglia as its method of travel from the base of the spine (where it hibernates during the inactive times) to the skin.
First herpes outbreak
First genital herpes outbreaks tend to be the most severe, so don’t think that it’s representative of what you’ll be experiencing for the rest of your life! It gets much better, trust me! Initially, the body hasn’t had a chance to develop any immunity to the herpes virus. This foreign intruder sneak attacks the body the first time, so the body doesn’t have time to prepare a defense. With time, the severity and how often the herpes outbreaks occur lessen as the body builds immunity.
The majority of people who are first exposed to genital herpes (either HSV1 or HSV2) will have their first herpes outbreak within two weeks of exposure. Some people will never have a visible outbreak over their entire lifetime (due to herpes dormancy). Even in these cases where there is no visible outbreak, you can still spread herpes due to viral shedding (invisible herpes outbreaks).
