Genital Herpes in Women
Genital herpes affects both men and women and is something that cannot be cured, only controlled. The virus causes blisters to break out that are painful. While it can occur on men and women, the patterns of infection can be very different.
Herpes is transmitted from close contact with another person, usually during sex. Women are more likely to get the herpes simplex 2 virus than men are. A woman is also more likely to get it from a man than a man is from a woman. There are a few reasons why women are more susceptible to the virus. One is because they have a larger genital surface area with more moist muscosal cells. Men do not have this. Women also go through hormonal changes that can cause the immune system to be weakened, allowing the herpes virus to more easily cause an infection.
When a woman first gets an outbreak of genital herpes, it can be more painful and last a lot longer than men. Women also tend to have the first case be more severe and can have more complications during an outbreak. The outbreak in women can go beyond the surface and infect inside the vagina. Herpes can also appear on the buttocks and the thighs of women. When a woman first experiences a herpes outbreak, the lesions remain infectious for about three weeks. This is longer than men and longer than women who have recurring outbreaks.
Genital herpes is more than just a rash in the genital area. Women can also experience burning during urination and swollen lymph nodes. Meningitis and trouble with urinating can also be a problem with women during a herpes outbreak. This usually occurs in about 25 percent of women with genital herpes.
While women tend to have more severe cases of herpes, they may also experience symptoms that have nothing to do with herpes. It is possible that a woman can have pain and other problems that may be incorrectly labeled as a yeast infection. It is also possible to mistake herpes as a urinary tract infection. Some women may just have irritation in the genital area during a recurrent infection without actually getting a rash. A woman that is experiencing these symptoms and others similar to should see a doctor to be tested for herpes.
There is no cure for genital herpes and there has been no way to prevent the spread of the disease, so more and more people are getting it. It is estimated that about 45 million people in the United States have genital herpes and there are about a million new infections every year. While there is no cure, genital herpes can still be treated to reduce the severity and the number of outbreaks that occur. Some medications may be able to stop outbreaks from occurring altogether. Some drugs used to treat herpes can reduce the amount of pain and the number of lesions that occur in an initial outbreak. It can also reduce the severity and the frequency of additional outbreaks. These drugs come in many forms from pills to ointments. There are caplets than can be taken orally to help reduce the pain and severity of a herpes outbreak.
No one wants to get herpes, so there are things you can do to prevent it. The best way is to not have sex with people unless you are in a long-term relationship and know that they are not infected. Having unprotected sex with some random person from a bar will put you at risk of getting genital herpes or some other type of STD. Using protection like condoms during sex can also help reduce the risk of contracting genital herpes. A person that is infected with genital herpes lesions should not have sex with anyone else in order to prevent the spread of the infection. Even a person that does no thave any symptoms can still infect their partner. Herpes tends to spread because many people don't even know they have the virus. This is why using condoms when having sex is very important.
If you think you might have genital herpes or just want to make sure that you don't, getting tested for it and other sexually transmitted diseases is not a bad idea. If you are in a relationship with a partner, then you both can get tested together to make sure that neither one of you has anything that can be passed on to the other.
Having genital herpes is not the end of the world. It is actually quite common. You can still live a normal life even if you find out that you have the disease. You just have to know how to treat it and how to keep from spreading it. For more information on genital herpes, you should consult your doctor for professional advice.
