subject: Symptoms of Herpes - How Do I Know if I Have Genital Herpes? [print this page] Genital Herpes, or the Herpes Simplex Virus strains 1 or 2, is a very common sexually transmitted disease, effecting around one in six people in the United States. The most common symptoms of herpes is nothing at all, meaning most people are simply unaware they even have the disease, and this accounts for the extremely high infection rate. However, if you're unlucky enough to experience mild to severe herpes breakouts, you should know the symptoms so you can seek the right treatment and get the virus under control, and seek other areas of herpes support and help
Symptoms of herpes can vary from person to person, both in symptoms experienced and in severity. The most common symptoms of those experiencing chronic herpes outbreaks is the characteristic weeping sores that appear on the genitals, lower abdomen, buttocks and around the anus. These sores can be small or large in size, varying from pimple-sized to around the size of small coins. These sores most often appear accompanied by a rash or swelling, and can itch or cause mild to severe pain.
Other symptoms of herpes include flu like symptoms such as fever, headache and nausea, and you may experience fatigue, sore joints and muscle pain as well.
Treating the symptoms of herpes is as varied as the symptoms themselves. Many people have great success controlling outbreaks with prescription anti-viral medication, although others experience nasty side effects, and they can be very expensive too. A cheap and effective alternative is natural treatments, although make sure you select a high quality product as many on the market are not very strong and may not offer the relief they claim. Good natural treatments, however, have proven to be very popular and effective at a much lower price and without the side effects.
Lifestyle factors can also affect the symptoms of herpes, so a good diet with plenty of exercise, avoiding stress and getting enough sleep can go a long way to avoiding outbreaks, and reducing severity when they do occur. Daily doses of vitamin supplements such as Lysine and Vitamin A, C and E are also recommended to fight herpes outbreaks and speed up the healing process.
Symptoms of Herpes - How Do I Know if I Have Genital Herpes?
