The severity, frequency and symptoms of can vary greatly from person to person. Some people experience severe outbreaks, with very painful burning and sores in the , while others have milder genital herpes symptoms such as itching and redness during an outbreak. In fact, among the estimated 50 million Americans who have genital herpes, 90% don't even realize they have the disease and could be spreading the virus without knowing it.
This section will help you learn about the different stages of a genital herpes outbreak, as well as the genital herpes symptoms that may occur with initial and recurrent outbreaks. In addition, the Photo Library features actual pictures of genital herpes outbreaks.
Learning to recognize your genital herpes symptoms is the key to treating it. When Single-Day FAMVIR is taken at the first sign or symptom of an outbreak, it has been proven to stop or shorten the outbreak. The effectiveness of FAMVIR has not been established when treatment is started more than 6 hours after the onset of symptoms or lesions.
Identifying Your Warning Symptoms
Many people can tell when a genital herpes outbreak is coming. Learning how and why to identify your warning symptoms is the key to treating them.
You can spread genital herpes even when you don't have any visible genital herpes symptoms. Find out about the "asymptomatic phase" and how you can protect your partner.
An "initial" genital herpes outbreak simply means the first one you have. A "recurrent" outbreak means all the outbreaks that follow. Learn how your outbreaks may change over time.
