Genital herpes symptoms in women
In case of women, genital herpes can cause blisters or sores inside or on the:
- Buttocks
- Around the anus
- Groin and thighs
- Inside the vagina
- Labia
- Urethra
In case of females with genital herpes, patients might experience pain more often when they urinate and report an unusual vaginal discharge. Blisters can form inside the vagina that can take up to three weeks or a month to heal completely. Inflammation of the cervix in women can also be a symptom of female genital herpes. It is important to consult to a doctor or your midwife, if you get an exposure from the herpes simplex virus at a later stage during pregnancy as it can cause complications. Genital herpes not only transmits through anal and vaginal intercourse, it is also possible to get the genital herpes infection in the lips, mouth, tongue, and other body parts.
However, the incubation period for the genital herpes causing virus varies and some people do not suffer from the first herpes outbreak until months or in some cases even years after contacting with the infection. The first outbreak might last for many weeks when genital herpes occurs. Once the symptoms of genital herpes begin to subside, the virus turns dormant again until some factor triggers a new outbreak which reactivates the virus. Recurrent outbreaks of genital herpes symptoms tend to pass quicker and are less severe. Typically, the patients learn to recognize the initial symptoms of a genital herpes episode allowing them to start antiviral therapy promptly.
A majority of the people with HSV infection do not know they have it as they do not get any symptoms or signs or because their symptoms are so mild at that point. Symptoms might start appearing about two to twelve days when present after exposure to the HSV. You might experience tenderness along with pain in your genital area until the infection starts to clear. Some people might suffer from genital herpes outbreak only once and they might not face it again while others might get numerous episodes a year. The symptoms and the number of outbreaks on an average also depend on the type of herpes virus exposure. [3]