What are the symptoms of genital herpes?

There are many symptoms of genital herpes. For ordinary people, understanding these symptoms will help to better prevent this highly contagious sexually transmitted disease. However, after the onset of the disease, patients will experience a burning sensation in the private parts, and often lead to some systemic symptoms, such as fever, headache, frequent urination, urgency, and low back pain. When the disease is more serious, it will also cause difficulty in urination and lead to urinary retention, etc.

1. The affected part of the vulva first has a burning sensation

Genital herpes HSV infection occurs about 4 to 5 days after infection. The affected area of ​​the vulva first has a burning sensation, followed by the development of papules in groups, which may be one or more clusters, followed by the formation of blisters. After a few days, it develops into a pustule, which then breaks to form an erosion or shallow ulcer, causing pain. It eventually scabs and heals on its own. The course of the disease is about 2 to 3 weeks.

2. Accompanied by systemic symptoms such as low fever and headache

The skin lesions caused by genital herpes are mostly found on the foreskin, glans, coronal sulcus and penis of men, and occasionally at the urethral opening; in women, they are more common in the labia majora and minora, clitoris, mons pubis, cervix, and also at the urethral opening. Primary genital herpes is often accompanied by general discomfort, low fever, headache and other systemic symptoms, and local lymph node enlargement. The disease often recurs. Recurrent genital herpes is milder than the primary one, causes less damage, and often has no systemic symptoms.

3. Difficulty and pain in urination

When inflammation in the late stage of men spreads to the urethra and bladder, dysuria, painful urination, frequent urination, and in severe cases, urinary retention may occur. In addition, other symptoms may also occur simultaneously, such as fever, malaise, headache, stiff neck, meningitis and sacral nervous system dysfunction. Male homosexuals may develop anorectal HSV-2 infection, the incidence of which is second only to anorectal proctitis caused by gonococci. The clinical manifestations are anorectal pain, constipation, increased secretions and tenesmus, herpetic ulcers may occur around the anus, and sigmoidoscopy often shows congestion, bleeding and ulcers of the lower rectal mucosa.